What's the company culture at Combined Insurance?

Every business has it's own style. What is the office environment and culture like at Combined Insurance?

Are people dressed in business casual, jeans and t-shirts, or full-on suits? Do folks get together for Friday happy hours and friendly get-togethers?

What is a typical day in the life of an employee at Combined Insurance?

I was an employee with this company for about 2 months...honestly i would have stayed had it not been for the fact that the stress to be promoted and the financial aspects werent as great as promised...whether the fact that i didnt get paid a whole lot had to do with me personally i still dont know...for some reason my sales manager (wonderful girl by the way) did so much better without me and with other people than she did while we were together...i think that this is a job for someone with some way to afford the travel expenses and wear and tear on your car not to mention the fact that the hours are very very long...make your own decisions though and dont go off of someone that had a bad experience it seems that those few people that are bad mouthing the place had one bad experience and its possible that they were the cause of their failure...every company has employees that had bad experiences and others that would sooner die than quit...with this in mind if you are needing a job i dont beleive that beggers should be choosers...

thanks

aaa in Wheeling, West Virginia said: I was an employee with this company for about 2 months...honestly i would have stayed had it not been for the fact that the stress to be promoted and the financial aspects werent as great as promised...whether the fact that i didnt get paid a whole lot had to do with me personally i still dont know...for some reason my sales manager (wonderful girl by the way) did so much better without me and with other people than she did while we were together...i think that this is a job for someone with some way to afford the travel expenses and wear and tear on your car not to mention the fact that the hours are very very long...make your own decisions though and dont go off of someone that had a bad experience it seems that those few people that are bad mouthing the place had one bad experience and its possible that they were the cause of their failure...every company has employees that had bad experiences and others that would sooner die than quit...with this in mind if you are needing a job i dont beleive that beggers should be choosers...

thanks

oh oh oh sorry as far as the dress code its business casual/proffesional i saw people in full suits and also people in nice casual dress clothing...as far as the whole going out for friday happy hours yes in my district there were nights when that was an option and during the manager training trips there is alot of fun....99% of people I came into contact with that worked for the company were absolutely fantastic...and very helpful...

a typical day in the life of a combined insurance agent/management trainee is wake up meet with your group then leave and go out on your appointments...there is a lot of door to door or canvasing as they call it and it can get very frustrating but thats what sales is...

also they are very big on PMA a positive mental attitude..the founder of the company WC Stone wrote alot of amazing books.

aaa in Wheeling, West Virginia said: I was an employee with this company for about 2 months...honestly i would have stayed had it not been for the fact that the stress to be promoted and the financial aspects werent as great as promised...whether the fact that i didnt get paid a whole lot had to do with me personally i still dont know...for some reason my sales manager (wonderful girl by the way) did so much better without me and with other people than she did while we were together...i think that this is a job for someone with some way to afford the travel expenses and wear and tear on your car not to mention the fact that the hours are very very long...make your own decisions though and dont go off of someone that had a bad experience it seems that those few people that are bad mouthing the place had one bad experience and its possible that they were the cause of their failure...every company has employees that had bad experiences and others that would sooner die than quit...with this in mind if you are needing a job i dont beleive that beggers should be choosers...

thanks

i agree w/ aaa. great company. lot of study involved and if you can plan your time wisely it's alot better. then you arent just driving around wearing your car out and working useless hours

It definitely helps to plan out your day BEFORE you go outside.

It's kind of ridiculous. Self help books and stuff maintain a cult-like atmosphere.
And NOBODY gets together. there are no christmas parties. nobody is happy. at least that's how people seemed in calgary.
people were rude and i guess they had endured a lot of rejection so their ppl skills werent turned on with other agents.

maybe that's because you are in canada..

Run very fast from this "opportunity". I worked for this company for about a year when I was 20, like 17 years ago. They are always hiring and the turnover, even with uppermanagement is very high. They talk about PMA and all this b.s. but all their techniques they use with their employees are very negative. Nothing ever changes with them NOTHING. They still use these outdated books when thye try to sneak into your home. No computers that my cost money. 17 years ago you were started out on $500 per week and everyone's goal was to make $1000. I have seen various posts on different sites from current combined employees. They all brag about making $1000 per week.

In reality most agents if they are in the field 5-6 days a week will make 700-800. However ALL OF YOUR EXSPENSES come out of your pocket. Your food, hotel, gas, where and tear on your vehicle. I was single living with a friend paying around 200-250 for rent. I also had no dependants and ery few bills. With about 80% of new hirees are gone in about 6 months. If you have a family being gone all the time is very hard. The pay for the amount of hours you work is horrible. SOme are very dedicated and move up the ladder to Sales Managers and District managers. Within 2-3 years most of the SMs and DMs end up leaving. At combined you are only valuable if you are selling policies. You might have worked their for 5 years, but you are only as good as your last week.

No matter what you sell they never pay any of your costs. No christmas parties, no offices and everyone from the DM's down to the agents are yelled at and belittled. The company is always hiring and they get new agents who still believe in the compnay to sell and the sharp ones do. You see all the BS and get disgusted and leave. I sold more SHIP policies (that is what they were called when I worked for them in 1992) than anyone in my province. The final straw for me was when I was sent about 5 hours away from where I lived. The DM gave me a 'gravy list'

It is no surprise that the new parent company of Combined Ins. is seemingly running Combined into the ground. Instead of continuing a 91 yr+ methodology of generating profits, the short sighted montra that erodes modern US Based companies has spelled the near end to a very Storied and successful company. AON sold Combined not because it was not profitable, AON sold it due to conflicts of intersts with respect to AON's revised global stuctures. Combined was AON's cash cow and still would be if there was a to fit it into AON's current format. Insiders relay that the customer base is eroding at an alarming rate and the current managment cannot see the forest through the trees. Moral is none existant. The new management "consultants" that Currently run Combined are individuals that
have no idea what it takes to make a cash cow continue making cash. Sad, very sad.