Pluspunten
As an Allstate agent you do have some flexibility with work schedule, but you are still required to be open 44 hours a week. If you hit the quotas, the pay can be good.
Minpunten
At Allstate, there is a lot of corporate politics. Book of business sales sometimes are not approved by upper management to the best or highest bidder, but to who upper management likes the best (usually a friend or family member). Also, forget about benefits. There are none. The company treats you like an employee, even though you are considered an independent contractor (no benefits, but required work hours and difficult quotas to reach). Quotas change randomly, and not reaching your numbers two years in a row can bring about termination. They seem to pull these quotas out of thin air, with no explanation. It is difficult to work for Allstate in California. They have not offered homeowners insurance here in CA for the last several years, and with the real estate market being very solid for the past few years, it is a missed opportunity as homeowners is a great lead line to get auto and life insurance. You can broker homeowners through other companies that Allstate allows, but it is a mess trying to know underwriting guidelines for several different companies, as well as trying to know the other companies' website and system. You might as well be an independent broker. Also customers come away disappointed that they are not getting an Allstate homeowners insurance quote. It's like going to a Toyota dealership and being told we don't sell Toyota products here, but here's a great Mazda for you. Also, leadership has been trying to force agents out by making quotas difficult to reach. Several offices have been forced to sell and close shop. It's definitely been a challenge working here.