52 Comments
 

its an insurance company, you sell products like life insurance (which brings in the most $), ira, etc. its purely commission based. income prospects are up to millions of dollars, but again, we're talking one out of thousands.

simply said, it is Sales.

 

If your goal is to be in an IB department someday, my advice is to get out of here. Those people are insurance salesmen.

> If you have the soul of a saleman (not so sure about the whole soul thing for this kind of gig), you def can go for it! they are pretty reknown on their sector.

 

They had a table set up at my schools career fair, and my buddy signed up for an interview. Everything went well and he had high hopes for the job. They offered him a position, then came the reality. It is 100% sales. You might get your 7 and 66, but i think at first they just have you get your 6. You will start off by hassling friends and family to buy crappy insurance products. You will then cold call, go door to door and compete with several other new hires to get a client or two just so you can support yourself. Then comes the good stuff... You have to rent your cubicle after 6 months. I believe it was over 700 a month (yes, a month) to rent the cube... You have to buy their company computers and other BS like that... I forgot what else he said they told him, but needless to say he didnt take it.

 

Ya, AXA is a shill job. If you are still in school I would say smile, nod, get them to sponsor you, pass your 7 and walk away. They do 7's because they need to have people who can sell stock also. Series 7 test is a joke, but I guess it looks better than nothing.

 

Hey, thanks for the information. I just have one question. What does FA mean? I'm new to these acronyms. Is there a forum thread on these acronyms?

 

I went in for an interview, got through to the second round and never came back. That place is a joke! They expect you to pay for your tests, cubicle, paper, and make you buy a computer from them. If you want to spend money instead of make it, than this is the place for you, otherwise don't bother going.

BTW they must be desperate for people because I applied for one job at AXA on career builder and now I get calls from these guys every week at different branches trying to hire me.

 

So I have an internship offered to me from axa, I don't got to an Ivy league school I have good but I don't have awesome grades. Will this internship be a waste of time, or could I actually learn something from this and maybe network my way to a better company? If its a pyramid scheme like primerica I don't think I would learn anything that will help my financial success. If you have any advice please let me know.

 

Don’t do business with or work for the AXA fiends. Here's what I witnessed at AXA?

• Numerous client complaints from unsuitable investment recommendations and poor customer service.

• Reports of dishonest activities and taking advantage of customers, driven by greed with a total disregard of industry regulations.

• Illegal kickbacks and ponzi schemes have been reported with charges and litigation pending against this company.

• The sales force not meeting regulatory requirements to conduct business as registered investment advisors.

• Testimonials from employees and customers revealing disturbing facts about compliance violations, unethical behavior and criminal activities.

 

this thread may be long dead but i am sooooooo glad i found it. i had already submitted an interview request with my career management center because for some reason i thought it was an actual financial advisor position as in a track toward CFA type stuff. goodness the last 5 minutes has thrown up tons of red flags for me. thanks WSO!!

"Everything comes to those who hustle while they wait." -Thomas Edison
 
Best Response

Let me share my experience. I've been a licensed and practicing advisor for 13 years. It has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Now, here's the negative. Yes, it's sales. But everything that makes you wealthy is sales. This firm is very similar to Ameriprise and the, Johnny come lately, world financial group. If you are genuinely interested in learning the business and using that knowledge to help people there are better ways to do it. If you are an established advisor, have created a base and want some support and infrastructure this would be a good choice.

Many firms will pay for your licensing. They make that money back when they make you sell your mother insurance. What you want is a firm that will teach you the business, teach you how to market yourself and pay you while you learn those things. Unfortunately, those are few and far between. As a result, many people do as one reader below suggested, use these folks to get licensed and then move on to other roles with other companies. The fail rate in firms like this is something like 90% so for every ten one will make it. In the meantime, they've earned a bunch of money from all the friends and family you sold trying to catch dream.

More good news. Once you are licensed there are hundreds of salaried positions you can get with those licenses. Banks, Brokerage firms, independent advisors etc, that want someone fully licensed will snap you up. Up economies, down economies, it doesn't matter. You will be in demand and always employable.

Good luck

MP

 

Yeah these guys spam college job boards pretty hard. They do not seem like they are anything special but I don't have any specific experience with them.

 

A guy I know used to work for them. Cold calling to get people to let you handle their investments at some absurd fee (like 3%). Joke of a job, keep looking.

 

I have a college buddy that does it, now when I see his calls or emails I duck them. Always trying to sell, sell, sell. In summation, working at McDonalds would be a better spin.

 

So they want you to target individuals you know? if done poorly, i'm afraid it would ruin what very small network i built....

 

Are you cold calling/selling products out of the blue? Or are these solicited phone calls and/or checkups on how the account is doing?

Do you feel anything about what you are doing is illegal, unethical, or immoral?

Do you like the job?

How do you feel about quitting stuff?

As some will tell you, I am morally opposed to quitting. But if you hate the job, you hate the job. I'd still give it a couple weeks unless anything illegal or unethical is going on; the first week or two on the job are always tough.

 

First I was calling school's to see if they wanted to set up a presentation to hear about our retirement plans. Now I'm calling clients to set up an appointment for a yearly review of their plans. Calling clients wasn't even listed in the online description of my position and I have a feeling that's most of what I'll be doing. I just don't feel like this is giving me any experience towards my major or the job I want after college.

 

Agree with UFO, I applied there awile ago for a FT position and it was pretty strange. Never even went for an interview because literally 30 min after submitting my application, their "recruiter" called and was trying really hard to sell me on AXA and the position. Logic told me that this isn't normal and there's no way I'm even going to respond.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for freedom of thought which they seldom use.
 

Sounds like you're helping fill up the appointment calendar, which is what many assistants do. The truth is it won't help you towards your major or your target job after graduation; you're a free hand helping the sales guys with a more mundane task while they focus on generating actual revenue. If it's just a few more weeks, stick with it and get the name on your résumé. Other than that, I think you know what you need to do.

All the world's indeed a stage, And we are merely players, Performers and portrayers, Each another's audience, Outside the gilded cage - Limelight (1981)
 

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Get busy living
 

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