Pros
The employees you will work with are generally respectful and helpful. Of course there will be a few bad apples who try to cause trouble as with any workplace. Once you settle in there is a lot of flexibility in regards to work life balance. As long as you get your work done you may come and go as you please within reason. It seems if you push hard enough or complain you will be able to work from home and possibly advance. The training is non-stop so you will constantly be learning about the job. The job itself is interesting and challenging as well as rewarding. There are snack bars in the building that charge as little as 50cents versus the vending machines that charge more than double. There is an onsite gym that is free and pretty decent. There is a bike trail nearby that comes in handy for jogging or when you need to decompress to regain composure. You can walk to a Dunkin' Donuts. Parking is free.
Cons
Please note: You must have your CT Casualty Adjuster's license for this position. If you do not have it you will need to pass the exam within 6mo of employment. There are 4 major negatives. Pay: Low. If you are extended an offer you must negotiate an acceptable salary you feel is fair. The trend is to strong arm you into accepting what they want to pay you. You will be surprised at what salary they will offer you as it is well below the market average when comparing the job duties and responsibilities with the local competitors. Once you accept you will be stuck with this low unfair salary until you quit and move on. When comparing actual empirical and tangible salary info of local competitors the pay is a slap in the face as other companies offer a 4-5% increase per year + a bonus or if the increase is as little as 2% the bonus reward is very large. Leadership: None. The so called supervisors serve a role as selfish entitled condescending enforcers who use fear and intimidation to motivate their staff. Supervisors are not able to provide immediate relevant and honest feedback. Supervisors are not able to provide any development plans, coaching or career guidance. Supervisors are not able to provide training and technical guidance to their staff. Supervisors are not able to review individual employee's work product and performance fairly because they do not use objective reasoning and are pressured to keep salaries low and promote job attrition. Supervisors have absolutely no passion for their employees, their engagement, or their development. What supervisors are coached in is how to write a skewed review to make a reader conclude something that is just not the full truth. The individuals that are employed as supervisors and manager are truly not qualified for the position. Advancement: None. The Service Center is structured like a Call Center. This is a fatal flaw as you can not adapt a call center mentality to EPL claims handing. There is EXTREMELY high turn over. We are literally losing 1 employee a month. This is a small office thus there are limited functions. When there is an opening outside of the Service Center it becomes a dirty competition with games and politics. Supervisors have actually discouraged certain employees from posting for other jobs within the company. Its more of who you know than your actual work performance. In a nutshell there is no opportunities for any advancement unless you go the complaint and/or disability route. Work environment: Toxic. Very low morale. Lots of talking behind people's back. Dishonesty. Dissension. No respect. People embellishing others' mistakes to make themselves look like the hero. This is across the board from supervisor to subordinate. Unrealistic expectations that are not obtainable as they need an excuse to keep salary low, remove dead weight, and promote attrition. Heavy workload. Negative only feedback and comments from supervisors. Supervisors main goal is to find mistakes and exploit and document them. A sense of fear created as employees are actually afraid to ask questions. Complaints to HR. "Every man and woman for themselves" mentality. "Throw you under the bus" tactic is used often by many. Plausible deniability is a tactic a few supervisors and technical resources use. When employees are openly discussing job searches and job interviews with competitors, being unhappy, comparing salary, comparing reviews, etc… you know there is an issue. If you are considering taking a job in the Service Center think twice about this decision. There are other companies out there that seem to offer more and are not run like a white collar sweat shop. A lot of us see the writing on the wall as they are currently using job attrition and performance management to remove dead weight. It has created more work and we are not getting paid any more and the working environment has become pressurized. At this stage we are doing work that is worth a lot more than we are being paid.