Pros
Make no mistake this will be among the best paid, entry level opportunities in your area, with the benefits and facility to impress anyone. Most other jobs can't even compete, and as a recent grad (or really just a person looking for good income and a cool job) that's what initially attracted me to this role. It was exciting to learn about CRE and have the opportunity to work for a huge company with lots of room for advancement. There's also more than just surface level diversity too, which I always look for.
Cons
My first few weeks in training, I thought that I wasn't smart enough to be there, but that's a good thing. There was a lot to learn, this was a new industry for me, and I'm always up for a challenge. Then I got to the last week of training and learned what the job really is. It's not research at all. It's a call center with a soul-crushing twist. You'll call the same people monthly, many of whom have been dealing with the company for some time, and ask them for information on their commercial listings/deals that they either don't have or don't want to give you. They're the exact same questions, word for word, that they've heard from the researcher before you, and will hear from the one who comes after you. To them, it's a never-ending cycle of old questions from new people. Some clients know the deal, and know not to get mad at you specifically, but a lot of those client relationships have soured to the point of no return because the company, in general, calls them more than their own family does, or worse their own potential business prospects. If they do actually pick up after 4, 5, 6... 10... however many tries it takes, you must speak with them directly for 90+ seconds while following the usual script. They must answer your scripted questions a certain way, or else you can't mark it as a successful update, which reflects negatively on your scorecard. That means if they hang up on you or talk about anything else, you'll have to call them again to try and have the same mind-numbing convo from before. You'll do this again and again until they can't take it anymore, and then you might never hear from them again. The scorecard is what really gets to you. Due to factors outside of your control (clients, market location, time of year, etc.) you won't be able to get every piece of info about a listing or deal, and this lack will reflect on your scorecard. Not everyone you're responsible for talking to will pick up the phone or speak to you for exactly 90 seconds, but this will reflect on your scorecard. The company will create new arbitrary categories or restrictions giving you more work and making your existing work a little more difficult, and you'd better believe it reflects on your scorecard. The metrics are the same for everyone in the department, which seems fair at first, but different states have different kinds of people, some are much harder to deal with than others. States also have different laws about disclosing CRE info and even recording phone calls, which can make your job a lot harder than it should be. How do people survive in such an environment? At first I thought I wasn't working hard enough to meet these metrics. The company, through audits and other penalties will have you believe this too. Then you realize it's all a game. No one is talking to the required amount of contacts every month. No one is getting all the required info every time. No one is fulfilling all the new metrics quite in the way the company was anticipating. Everyone is surviving using tips and tricks to meet the metrics, not do the actual job. This realization will split you into one of two groups: One group will soon leave. They'll quit or be fired within a year or two because they're either not playing the game at all, or not playing it smart enough to not get caught. The other group stays a while because they've figured it out, and are willing to forsake some parts of their individuality and sanity for the pay and benefits (many people do have kids, school, etc. so it's not necessarily a judgement). You'll meet some truly solid people but you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their tone that almost no one in this massive department enjoys the bulk of what they have to do everyday. The people that do seem like they enjoy it are a true mystery to me, although some do get blessed with all the ingredients for success (responsive/nice contacts, their state requires CRE sale disclosure, phone calls aren't recorded in their state so they aren't monitored/audited, their manager is lenient on any audits...). If that's you then good for you. It's important to give fair warning that the great pay and benefits offered here can turn into a golden set of handcuffs trapping you into bending over backwards to fulfill impossible metrics. The company is too invested in the appearance of seeing these metrics improve, so either buckle up or find a new job because this train is not stopping. My advice is to have an exit plan and don't change up your lifestyle to match the new perks. Most people know the gig is temporary. Also, people in this department will come and go at an alarming rate. Take that as an indication on how most people feel about this job, and how the job feels about them. Don't work yourself to death trying to be the exception. See the job for what it is and be better than it.