Pros
Free beer, day cruise, shared misery creates strong bonds between reps.
Cons
Was made to sign a non-compete agreement as condition to hiring. Non-competes are not enforceable against low-level employees in MA. I didn't know that until a year after I started hating it and finally did my own research. Once I figured it out, I had my resume in as many places as possible. Was classified as an independent contractor for the first three months of my time. So were all my colleagues. This is a violation of both the MA and federal tax laws. Again, didn't know that until I did my own research because my tax bill was inflated due to this classification. I also learned how to report it to the MA Council on the Underground Economy. And now I'm about to be an attorney. Thanks, Steve. Most of the rest of the work sucked. Clients paid between $400-$1500/mo for the same service. Even the high end of that range is low for this type of service. But that was what the clients-- mostly small local shops who didn't know any better-- would pay. All clients got the same service, which was as extensive as necessary to keep the account. Website management, server tech support, SEO, content creation... I had 20+ clients and I was on the low end. That's several times as many campaigns as an actual SEO professional would take on. SEO Specialists all train using the same publicly-available information that every SEO blog pumps out because it's so basic or behind the times that it's safe to disclose. Nothing novel. Not even anything rigorous. No statistical analysis, no putting together a marketing strategy, no methodology for tracking progress. Actually, NO TRACKING PROGRESS at all. Tracking progress meant we could be held accountable, and that would have been disastrous for retaining our clients.