Just the facts, Ma'am (7 USAA Q's)

I've read the other threads, and while there are some good tidbits of information here or there, alot of it is vague or stuck in a pile of angry, embittered opinions. I have a few questions I would absolutely love answered by anyone kind enough, but please don't go off-topic with some wild rant on USAA. I know it's not the best company to work for, but it would be a TON easier to know that for sure when I can judge my job options with FACTS rather than opinions.

1) I was told with a college degree I would start out with a base salary of 33k yearly, and have a commission range of 0-5000. Now that's a pretty freaking huge range right there. I'm wondering, how much can the AVERAGE (read: not superstar) call center employee expect to make a year in commission?

2) What kind of pay raises did you recieve? Were they yearly? Were your review(s) favorable?

3) Expanding off Q2, if I decided to work at the call center for a four year period, what would my pay look like at that juncture? Signifigantly better than now, or with mere COLAs?

4) I hear rumblings of Call Center workers working 4/10's, meaning 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. Is this true?

5) I hear the benefits are good. HOW good? Do they cost a lot(if so, how much?), or are they signifigantly discounted?

6) I'm looking into making insurance a career since the pay can end up being pretty decent. After a few years at USAA I plan on moving to claims with another company, or management in some form. Would the call center position put me on that track somewhat, or is it not that useful when the time comes to move on to bigger and better things in the industry?

7) Are the licenses you gain going through the training useful or lucrative when applying to other insurance agencies?

Thanks a ton for reading this mess. Any non-bs/whiney answers are greatly appreciated.

Note: From the other threads I get the feeling that the four day work week was removed in some locations. From what I was told when going through the testing process, was that it was still in existence in the Sacramento office. Can anyone confirm that?

Miss176 in Davis, California said:
are greatly appreciated.

I do not have all the answers but will do my best. I have a degree & 10 yrs call center experience. I started at less than $30,000. There are NO commissions. There is a holiday bonus and a yearly bonus based on the CEO's perception of performance. The most recent bonus was 10 percent.
Pay raise 2-4 percent. Mine have been favorable - I got 3 percent on my most recent review. They are yearly.
I know people who have worked in the call center 5 years but have no way of knowing what they make. Pay discussions are not permitted.
There is the option of a 4 day work week. Schedule options are based on seniority. In claims, newest people usually default to the 4 day work week, one of the work days is a Saturday. Some people love it, others hate the 10 hour shifts and giving up their weekends.
Benefits are good. You can expect to have about $50-$100 deducted from your pay every two weeks depending on which options you select.
Alot of employees are taking advantage of working at USAA to gain insurance experience, use the tuition reimbursement & leave for another insurance company. If you search the forums for say Progressive or State Farm on this site, you will not find the anger & bitterness you see on these postings.
The licensing policy keeps changing so it is hard to tell if it would be to your benefit in the future.
I have not had a good experience, other than with my benefits, I wish you well in your search.

Can anyone if me of what type of insurance license one needs for the customer service call center in tampa florida. I just had my first test with them and am waiting to her about the results.

thanks

andiedog in Riverview, Florida said: Can anyone if me of what type of insurance license one needs for the customer service call center in tampa florida. I just had my first test with them and am waiting to her about the results.

thanks

20-44

I would say that everything is doable at usaa. I started at 38k per year, almost 3 years ago...now i am at 65k. loving it!

I work in Policy Service and I never say anything but the truth. So here it goes:

There is no COLA at USAA.

Raises are not enough, but most people do get raises every year. They are between 25 cents to 35 cents an hour.

No employees at USAA are on commission. You get salary/hourly pay only.

Benefits are good. They were better but USAA changed to Humana so there were a few undesirable changes. It is taken out of your paycheck and is a little pricey, buy otherwise it covers pretty well if you do not have a constant illness. It will get expensive if you need regular medical attention.

There are options for 4/10 work week, but only certain positions can work this shift and it depends on availability.

I started in the "call center" as a part-time rep, trained for Auto insurance calls only. That was January 1995 and the pay was $9.26 per hour. I left the company for medical reasons September 2007, was fired January 2008, and was making $47k plus, averaging about $54k with bonuses, and I was full-time, trained in all LOBs and then some.

To my knowledge, there are no commissions, or weren't any when I left.

Reviews have been quarterly, then semi-annually, then weekly...now, who knows? Favorable or not depends on who you know or who you've ticked off.

Pay increases come annually, or with promotions, depending on whether you're already in the pay range of the new position.

Bonuses start at 10%, but can go higher or lower, depending on the CEO and board's perception of how well the company has done for the year.