I HATE IT AND I AM GOING TO QUIT - Account Executive Vantage Employee Review

Everything was good. Nothing went wrong

Everything was good and convenient

Short Version: Truly incredible coworkers and leaders Superb corporate culture Quick advancement opportunity Almost unlimited earning potential Paid crash course in business TL;DR Version: You get to work with AMAZING people who really care about their coworkers, who have their priorities in order, who are working to grow as people and as professionals. The corporate culture is just really fantastic, and there is insane earning and advancement potential. It is a promising program which will teach you almost everything about owning and running a business. They do this because they are looking to train future management ASAP. Employees who perform well can expect to advance in the company within 2-4 weeks and begin training new recruits. Those who continue to excel can expect their own office location and their own staff within a year. I spoke to multiple people who had advanced that quickly. HOWEVER...

Short Version: Unpaid Training Pay based on commission Sales position High-pressure quotas No job security No benefits Poor work-life balance Demanding schedule: 9 hours M-F + 6 hours Sun TL;DR Version: The three day, 8-9 hours a day training is unpaid. Candidates are informed of that, though they have to ask carefully. I don't think that's deviousness on the part of the company; I think they pay structure is just complicated, and it's easy to get confused or misunderstand. The entry level position is a sales position, and it does involve approaching strangers at a retail location all day long, up to 50 people per hour, in order to pitch them a product or service. The things you pitch are of good quality which are useful to the right consumer, but customers are understandably resistant to being approached for any reason. The earnings are commission based. There is a minimum wage safety net, but anyone performing at minimum wage level will be asked to leave in short order. Employees are scheduled for 8 hours, but are paid for 7, because there is a mandatory 1 hour lunch, which employees are very subtly discouraged from taking (by their peers, not by managment) in favor of gaining more sales. In addition, many employees stay an additional unpaid hour in the evening to gain more sales. This all sounds bad, but it makes a certain sense from a commission-based standpoint, since pay in centered on leads, not hours. The pressure to perform is intense. While your team is motivated to help you succeed, and then will try to teach you and refine your approach, if you don't get the numbers, you will be cut. There are no benefits at any level of the company as far as I know, though I never asked directly about the salaried upper management positions. Those who advance to the 3rd level (2-3 months) seem to have enough money to not need them. This is a great position for charismatic people with nerves of steel. Those who can hack it are richly rewarded. Final notes: I am the ultimate skeptic, yet in three days they managed to convince me that they were everything that they seemed to be. I strongly encourage those who fit the profile to try it out. But if you have some nagging doubts after three days, if you just don't know if it's for you, don't beat yourself up, or let the company tell you that you aren't working hard enough. This job is not easy. It is not for everyone. If it's not for you, appreciate the opportunity you got, remember the experience fondly, and move on. Maybe come back to this site and write about what happened. ;)