Pros
Pay and Benefits are nice for a starting position (50k base + up to 23k in commissions once you are in the field as a seller first year). During the four-six month training program, food is FREE/INCLUDED during week days (except Friday dinner) and housing is discounted heavily ($250/month) allowing you to focus on learning the new job and save money. Pool and recreation room is very nice and allows a social gathering area. Pay protection is an option for the first three months as well (I would recommend not getting off until you have to... even though I did). End of the Day: If you enjoy a person who likes the money, enjoys and does well in a fast-paced and cutthroat environment, go for it. If you are collaborative, team focused and like to build rapport and trust with clients and teammates, look for other opportunities... or take the training and pay for four months while you interview for other positions.
Cons
The job is straight up cold calling and email spamming businesses. 70% of training occurs primarily within the first month which means it takes a true sales person to achieve success in the environment by grinding through your calls. Sales Managers (SMs) are hit or miss. I was fortunate with solid and well meaning managers however other coworkers had rude and unapproachable SMs that would ultimately discourage them asking questions. Limited flexibility in roles; The roles that are open upon graduation are the only options even if you show extreme talent and tendency towards different parts of the sales process. Upper Management, HR, and Ethical Concerns: Extremely opaque organization with unknowns becoming a daily occurrence (This would seem to be caused by the program being expanded to a huge level compared to previous years, a major growing pain). CRM tools across AT&T are not integrated and Salesforce is just being implemented, consequently you may call into 'select accounts' with designated sales teams on accident. Upper management encourages an "open door" policy, but concerns seem to fall on deaf ears while they try and hit the bottom line. Personally witnessed sellers attempt to steal sales from others, practice "full sipping" sales they were only allowed to take half credit on while SMs turned a blind eye. Truly is a cutthroat environment, never felt comfortable working in it. Work life Balance - In my class of about 100 people I would have rated myself in top 5-7 in hours put in at the office, I hung out with the others who did so as well. I put in anywhere from 50-70 hours/week. Went in on Saturdays and Sundays frequently to prep for the next week and research products that I would pitch to customers. Nothing to be proud of, but learned to work really hard and made the decision to leave all the easier.
