Primerica

 Have you ever heard of Primerica? I certainly hadn’t. Evidently, they sell insurance. So, a rep of theirs reached out to me, asking if I’d be interested in a job. I felt lucky. Here I was, just a handful of days unemployed and already someone reached out to me. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know a lot about insurance. My old employer took care of it all. I’m guessing that’s how it works for most people. Insurance is what your employer provides. I was busy for a bit, getting my imaging done for the cancer screening but she was flexible and finally met today at 2pm.

 

She sent me a Zoom link. Nothing unusual. I’ve used this at work for meetings. Great way for people to meet face-to-face using tech without having to actually give away your number to random people. I was surprised to find out it was a group interview. Here I thought I was getting a one-on-one interview. But whatever. Also, the person who reached out to me was here but she wasn’t the one speaking to us. Instead we got her bosses. They’ve been in the insurance business about 15 years. The company had a stock price of $150 and how successful they were.  Here’s why insurance is important. Obviously, if something bad happens, you don’t want to leave your family with nothing. But never ever actually went over how our day-to-day would be. Nothing on how we’d actually be working. Just that we needed to pay to take tests. Though if we completed the tests in 7 days, the company would reimburse us. This is sounding like a scam.

After 30 minutes, they let us break out into rooms with the person who recruited us. Awesome! She asked me if I had any questions. I was hoping to get some answers.

 

Me: So, they talked about why people should get insurance. That’s great. But they didn’t really go over what an average day for us would look like. I get that this is remote. So, it’s not like I can go into the office and shadow someone.

Well, first I’d have to pass those tests. We’d get reimbursed if we passed the tests within a week. The company had software that would connect us with people. That would cost $25. The company would cover some of the cost of that.

Me: Ok, but what does work look like?

Her: It differs from people to people. Some people do this part time. Others full-time. It depends.

Me: Ok, so what does it look like for you?

 

Her: I just use the software to get in touch with people. I only do this part-time.

Me: What about compensation?

 

Her: Starting out, you’ll earn 25% of what your clients spend. Which is a lot more than the industry standard of 10%.

Me: How many clients do you have?

 

Her: I’ve only been doing this for about 10 months. So I have 10 clients.

Me: And how much do you earn?

Her: I can’t answer that.

Me: Ok, how much does the average client spend on insurance?

Her: Oh, I can’t answer that. It depends on the person.

Me: You’re selling financial insurance and you can’t give me an average?

 

Her: It just depends on the person, their age, health.

Me: How much would the cheapest be?

Her: Probably $100 a year if you’re 18 and healthy.

Me: So I’d make $25 a year just for that person.

 

Her: That’s just the smallest amount. Obviously, most people would be paying more. There’s a calculator we have. We just input age, sex health info and how much they want coverage for. So a healthy 50 year old would pay about 1200 a year in insurance.

 

Me: So if that’s the upper limit and you earn 25% that would mean……you make 7,000 a year? Assuming you got those 10 clients right when you started.

Her: Well, I’m only doing this part time.

Me: So, this is just extra money for you then? I’m guessing you’re married and your husband’s job pays the bills.

No, I’m single. I’m paying the bills.

Me: I’m single too. I’m looking at the math and wondering how you cover rent, food and bills on a measly $7000.

 

Her: I think it might be better if you talk to my coach.

Me: I don’t. If I start out, I’m going to start out close to you, not your coach who has been doing this for over a decade. In the meeting she said this would be more than minimum wage but if I spend an entire month just to get 1 person in a $1,200 plan. That’s only $200 a month. That’s less than minimum wage. Kind of disingenuous to suggest otherwise. I’m not even sure why, if you’re making so little, you’re trying to recruit me. If your entire pay is dependant on getting more people signed up for insurance. You should be out there trying to find more customers, not acting as a recruiter for Primerica.

 

Her: I think we’re done. The meeting has gone on long enough.

Me: We started at 2 and its 2:50 now.

 

Her: Well, the meeting was only for 30 minutes.

 

Me: Well, your coaches took 30 minutes. And then they said we were going to break out with you to talk and answer questions. So here I am answering questions.  How do you balance your bills with this job? You’re the financial advisor here so help me understand how to make this work if I would take this job? Why are you here recruiting me? You get paid based on how many people you sell insurance to. You earn nothing by spending time with me. Or is there a monetary compensation for this?

 

By then she left. I tried reaching out again on LinkedIn. Maybe this was just an inconvenient disconnect. Waited a day. She didn’t reply. I know she saw and read my message. LinkedIn tells you they read it. The disconnect wasn’t a mistake. Being dodgy about compensation is definitely suspicious. Especially here, considering this job is to take how much people earn and teach them how a small investment in insurance would be worth it. So, why the hesitancy? I mean, the whole point of a job is to earn money to pay the bills. Asking how a person would be able to do that with a job isn’t a difficult one to answer. Unless the job doesn’t cover it. My guess is that her 10 clients are actually just people she’s recruited. She gets a portion of what they bring in, hence why she has no idea how much she earns. Because she ain’t earnin it.