Please Give It to Me Straight

[JB2831]

Hello all,
I have been considering starting a career in insurance but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I had never thought about the financial services side until recently when I interviewed w MoO & NYL. MoO wants everyone to be in an advisor role & NYL grooms certain candidates as partners. They both seem to have great training programs & nice marketing propaganda to sway a newbie like myself to join their team & they are telling me all good things that I want to believe. BUT THEN I read people's horror stories & terrible reviews of both (& probably every other company if I were to look further) & I start to question everything they're telling me & my guard goes up & I feel like I'm about to get scammed. ie I've read that if things don't work out with either company I have to pay back my earnings & will likely net a negative number, that I'll make 30-45k IF I'm lucky & kill myself working 80+ hours a week, they both do the project 200 thing which no matter how they try to spin it, I can't get on board with, & the list of negatives goes on & on.

I know a lot of you are doing very well for yourselves & have long careers in this industry & my goal is not to knock anyone or any company, I'm just thoroughly concerned with all these red flags.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. Is there a better way (not under these big companies) to get started?

Thanks...sorry this post was so long.

 

[DHK]

If you want it straight:

An Employment Scam in the Financial Services Industry > HOME

Yes, you're being sold. Their job is to SELL you on their company and "opportunity".

Here's my recommendation: You need training of your own to fit what you're doing to do. You can either use that training at a captive career agency, or as an independent agent. It's up to you.

This post within the link should be a great and inexpensive starting point for you: http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...ance-new-life-agents-t29999-2.html#post981748

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This post further down should be helpful as well: http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...ance-new-life-agents-t29999-2.html#post990663

 

[glgamerica]

Hello all,
I have been considering starting a career in insurance but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I had never thought about the financial services side until recently when I interviewed w MoO & NYL. MoO wants everyone to be in an advisor role & NYL grooms certain candidates as partners. They both seem to have great training programs & nice marketing propaganda to sway a newbie like myself to join their team & they are telling me all good things that I want to believe. BUT THEN I read people's horror stories & terrible reviews of both (& probably every other company if I were to look further) & I start to question everything they're telling me & my guard goes up & I feel like I'm about to get scammed. ie I've read that if things don't work out with either company I have to pay back my earnings & will likely net a negative number, that I'll make 30-45k IF I'm lucky & kill myself working 80+ hours a week, they both do the project 200 thing which no matter how they try to spin it, I can't get on board with, & the list of negatives goes on & on.

I know a lot of you are doing very well for yourselves & have long careers in this industry & my goal is not to knock anyone or any company, I'm just thoroughly concerned with all these red flags.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. Is there a better way (not under these big companies) to get started?

Thanks...sorry this post was so long.

The job's not for you.

If you think it is for you, start as a subagent under another agent so you won't have a contract requirement. Work part time while you have another job to give yourself a cushion. Sell only term insurance while you learn the other products and then work on an as earned commission basis. Then see how you do and go from there.

 

[AfroPope]

I'm a captive agent myself at this point (I've only been doing this for a couple months) and I'm happy with that decision at this early point in my career due to the things I value.

That said, MoO and NYL are absolutely brutal for newbies from what I hear, and the Project 200 thing has always rubbed me the wrong way as well.

Keep in mind, however, that many of those horror stories online are from disgruntled ex-employees. What's it called, the rule of three? People are three times more likely to tell three times more people about a bad experience than a good one.

A lot of your concerns are founded, too. It's like one of the guys who trained me said: this business is a really rotten way to make $30k/year. It's a pretty solid way to make a lot more than that, though. But the learning curve is steep and it is HARD.

All that said: Michael and DHK know way more than I do, listen to them.

 

[JB2831]

This is great info. Thank you so much David & Michael! Though I'm not glad to hear that some of these well known companies are basically MLMs, I am glad that my gut instincts aren't totally broken If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, there's a pretty good chance it's a duck, right? I will definitely be looking into Insurance Pro Shop and paying for my own 5-day training course & licensing…which was my initial plan until I got a little sidetracked with the allure from these companies. Back on track now. Thank you again… so glad I found this site.