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    New York Life Reviews

    Updated June 25, 2017
    1,764 reviews

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    Full-time Part-time
    3.5
    Star Star Star Star Star
    Rating Trends Rating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    New York Life Chairman, President and CEO Ted Mathas
    Ted Mathas
    872 Ratings

    1,764 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • No support on client acquisition they expect you to sell your friends and family members (in 70 reviews)

    • No base salary makes it a difficult ramp period (in 69 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (192)

      "Greatest Opportunity in Corporate America"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Glendale, CA
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Glendale, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at New York Life full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Right out of college, I had an opportunity with the New York Life. Being young I felt that I was at a disadvantage but I worked hard, I was relentless, and ambitious. My first full year, I was able to make a six-figure income. It wasn't easy but is medical school easy? Is law school easy? The training and development at New York Life was unmatched. I knew nothing about the Insurance and Financial Services industry until I was given an opportunity at New York Life and the training was exceptional and has led me to the success I have today.

      Cons

      You have to work hard, be relentless, entrepreneurial, invest a lot of time and effort into the business and above all, expect a higher standard of living and strive towards that goal every single day.

      New York Life Response

      Sep 26, 2016 – Head of Engagement Communications

      Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback – we appreciate it. As you say, a successful career as an agent requires dedication and commitment. For many, including you, the professional ... More

    2. Helpful (2)

      "I came in for a job and got a career. There is no glass ceiling here - you are paid what you are worth. Bring it!"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Southfield, MI
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Southfield, MI
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at New York Life full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      The easiest way to make a great living without a masters degree coming in the door. Use their systems, take in the education, and you can achieve a meaningful career, make a real difference in people's lives and make an extremely good living. Residual income and pension.

      Cons

      Hard work is needed and a steep learning curve. Not for the faint at heart. Everything is earned and tenacity pays off. Not every day is great and work does not end at 5.

    3. Helpful (2)

      "Decent company overall, Variable Products is HELL!"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Variable Products Representative in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Variable Products Representative in New York, NY
      Recommends
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at New York Life full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Opportunities for advancement, personal and professional development. Respectable benefits, including time off, bonuses, etc.

      Cons

      Immature managers, high-school like atmosphere in my department. Antiquated equipment, policies and procedures. Very slow to change and implement effective changes. Department managers and corporate vice presidents claim to care about team members and retaining long-term employees but negatively impact employees who vocally express desire to remain long-term and advance within the company. Representatives are essentially told to "figure it out/get it done" on your own using out-dated and convoluted departmental procedures (up to 500 pages long for one process out of the two dozen plus processes we had to be fully aware of), antiquated systems and managers who would disappear during times of high call volumes. All of this while being in compliance with the corporate, FINRA, SEC and IRS rules and regulations, being bound by ridiculous time constraints , suffering through inept agents and ill-informed clients . Also, ridiculous qualitative assessments performed by people who either never worked in the position or had done so more than ten years ago.

      Advice to Management

      Actually put into place the much talked about upgrades, improvements and changes. Some key departments should be restructured. More compensation and less frivolous promotions.

    4. Helpful (1)

      "Representative"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Representative in Austin, TX
      Former Employee - Representative in Austin, TX
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at New York Life full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Good company to work for

      Cons

      Just sometime normal problems with mail machine for daily work

      Advice to Management

      Supervisor needs to do a little more supervision

    5. "Financial Services Representitive"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Financial Representative in Tacoma, WA
      Current Employee - Financial Representative in Tacoma, WA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at New York Life full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Flexibility of schedule, unlimited income

      Cons

      Difficult to balance work/life. Make sure that your goal is to make a lot of money. If you care more about teaching and helping others you may find it difficult to prospect and be completely on your own.

    6. Helpful (1)

      "New York Life AARP"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Sales Representative in Tampa, FL
      Former Employee - Sales Representative in Tampa, FL
      Doesn't Recommend
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at New York Life full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Fantastic training in realistic environment, so well prepared for the job

      Cons

      Call center sweat shop mentality

    7. Helpful (4)

      "Selling life insurance to strangers"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Insurance Agent in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Insurance Agent in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at New York Life full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      You get to set your own schedule. You work as much or as little as you want.

      Cons

      Training isn't too helpful. They cover most topics in 2 weeks then just repeat everything over and over. They will tell you to start by selling to your family and friends which most people are not comfortable doing. Beyond that, its up to you to find sources of business. Through cold calling, going door to door, talking to strangers on the street at a table/kiosk. Not much guidance.

      100% sales based commission. When you start they tell you about "training allowance" of up to ~$2300/mo. Its a little misleading in that it sounds like a stipend but is still tied to sales. What training allowance actually is, is they match your sales by 80% up to $2300/mo. So in order to received your $2300 you need to make $2900 in sales, and you'll have $5200. No sale = zero pay.

    8. Helpful (2)

      "Agents Can Be Demanding, and Lack of Computer Literacy Doesn't Help!"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Techniccal Support Representative in Greentree, PA
      Former Employee - Techniccal Support Representative in Greentree, PA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at New York Life full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      There are nice and understanding agents.

      Cons

      New York Life will hire ANYONE -- and I mean ANYONE -- to be an agent. I've had agents call, and based on how slow they were and how much help they needed, I was utterly baffled how they became an agent in the first place. It's a good thing they know how to sell life insurance! A few can also be demanding. Then you also have agents are don't speak English as a first language or agents who have a heavy accent, and talking to them on the phone can be a struggle. Working on Asian computers? Come on! Working at a call center as a tech rep can be hard enough -- the agents don't have to make it harder.

      Advice to Management

      Teach your agents basic computer literacy -- have them take a class. And for the love of your tech reps, teach them how to use GTA! I've had agents take 30 minutes to GTA before -- wow! Teach them to be a bit more empathetic and polite to the tech reps. I've had agents call who think they're the center of the universe! And pay your tech reps more! They fill out tickets and help your agents do their job and sell insurance, helping the company make a lot more money!

    9. "Work in the call center answering customer calls concerning their annuities"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Customer Service Representative in Cleveland, OH
      Current Employee - Customer Service Representative in Cleveland, OH
      Recommends
      Negative Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at New York Life full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great culture and comradery. Pretty easy to succeed in metrics. Provide good pay for this kind of work. NYL really tries to get their employees engaged in other aspects of the world beyond their jobs.

      Cons

      Your time is heavily monitored with strict adherence. When not taking calls, you process financial "widgets" which can get very repative.

    10. Helpful (1)

      "Current Employee"

      Star Star Star Star Star
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Agent in Carmel, IN
      Current Employee - Agent in Carmel, IN
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at New York Life full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      nice people and help staff

      Cons

      lack of support and mentoring

      Advice to Management

      increase lead generation

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