Pros
- Social Scene I met some of the coolest young people in the area while I was there (co-workers mostly). Z57 heavily promotes social interaction...outside of work hours. Oh, and attractive women also seem to be hired there often. - Product: From what I know when I was there, the product was decent. It at least provided a service that allowed real-estate agents to have a functional website developed that understand and met their overall needs. The few people I know and sold to today never had any major issues with the site.
Cons
- Horrible base pay - Commission structure: Is set up so management and the company make money, NOT you. It is very difficult to close deals and I have to assume that the market is completely saturated at this point. The structure (when I was there) was set up in a way that you had to hit a weekly quota to put you into commission earnings. People rarely did this and those who were good, would come close, only to have their success RESET for the start of the next week. Overtime and staying late to hit commission was not allowed. Shocking. - The learning curve: The first month you are working there, you are literally in a classroom, learning how to follow a script exactly in the way they want you to. You are also taught how to properly enunciate, change tonality, and pause... pause...wait for it... don't say anything...BOOM. Your month long training is a success... I guess? You really do not learn anything useful as far as business development, rebuttal strategy, solution, strategic, or any other kind of selling. You're literally learning how to best read a script. - Personalities not included: They thrive on personal individuality, but only if you're willing to throw it away and adopt theirs. -Growth: IF you make it through the first month and are seriously considering staying there for your foreseeable future, then god help you. The rest of the educated and talented people around you are biding their time until a real opportunity happens elsewhere. - Boiler Room antics: They make you feel like kings & queens when you're lucky enough to close a couple of deals a week. When you're not closing, they make you feel like you're about to lose your job. Again, I was able to meet some amazing people that I am still friends with today. Unfortunately, management is that true Bro mentality, who love fresh powder in their downtime(note: there are no snowboarding hills close by). You'd be lucky to see one woman in any type of management role in sales. You're also sitting (often peer-pressured to be standing) in a big open space cubicle farm. High-pressure, high-stress, high-volume. - Work-life balance: You can look at it two ways: 1. They only allow you to log 40 hours, so you're not forced to stay long nights and weekends. 2. You have to work an exact set of hours that they determine. You will receive little to no paid time off, and even asking for a sick or personal day is like pulling teeth or they make you feel like some horrible person for taking it. It's basically like going back to school. Everyone has to be in at a specific time, you all have the same 'recess' together, then lunch, then another short recess, then everyone scatters at the end of the day to the bus (or car). Then everyone gets home and applies to 5-10 new jobs, if they have any mental stamina left. - In-Conclusion: If you really need a full-time job to hold you over and want to meet some people in the area, okay, bite the bullet. With that said, good luck trying to get time off to apply for a real opportunity. The best fit for these entry-level sales role are people with little to no college experience, but have personal skills and a drive to be successful. If you buy in to their process, drink the kool-aid, and have the patience to live off ramen noodles for a few years, you could be a manager and make 50-60k in no time!