New York Life Reviews

Current Employee – been working at New York Life full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great Company with industry leading products and services.
Great training
Great culture
Unlimited income potential

Cons – No base salary
Can be a very tough job if you don't make a market for yourself

Advice to Senior Management – Needs more structure

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at New York Life part-time for less than a year

Pros – If you love people and have the sales skills, this place is your heaven!

Cons – 100% Commission
Cubic is not large enough

Current Employee – been working at New York Life

Pros – The training program is excellent.

Cons – There is no base pay. 100% commission.

Current Employee – been working at New York Life part-time for less than a year

Pros – Excellent training and mentoring programs. Solid benefits.

Cons – Commission based job. Stressful during times of low business production.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Life full-time for less than a year

Pros – Training bonus if you fully utilize your contract.

Cons – No income.
Very little support from management unless you are a quick producer.
New management has "unrealistic" expectations and requirements.

Advice to Senior Management – Do not "write off" employees if they start developing clients in the third month or later. Realize that not all markets can be developed within 2-3 months in some areas. Support your employees!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Life as a contractor

Pros – - Decent training (outstanding outside sales process, BTW)
- Good income POTENTIAL
- Passionate people around you
- If you're searching for drive, NYL will help you find it . . . or they'll help you find the door. (Nothing wrong with that, BTW. For sincere success in life insurance, you'd best be driven.)
- Scheduling flexibility. You are your own boss, provided that you're hitting the numbers (Nothing wrong with that, either)

Cons – - Recruitment isn't upfront and direct about costs. There is much "talking into the hands" when it comes to what costs will be incurred. The big shocker will come at about the two-month point when the agent finds out the cost of the mailers they'll be sending to all the people they've approached about being on the mailing list. Granted, it IS your own business, but I often felt that management was using that as camouflage for not being upfront. I would suspect that the whole truth scares away recruits, so it's best to "ease them in." Truth be told, I figured something was up when I was given the full-court press on how much money I could make (in fact, that seemed to be the go-to topic of discussion whenever morale would flag)!
- Beware the prospecting. The typical agent burns through their warm market in a hurry. The focus on prospecting was non-existent. Referrals, yes . . . but you'll find client push-back on referrals, until you actually accomplish something for them. Develop some strategies, and FAST!! Voice the concern early and often with management/training. Just asking won't cut it. Keep in mind that the sweet spot for life insurance is late twenties/early thirties, starting families, and asset accumulation. If your warm market is past that, they probably have planning in place; doesn't hurt to ask, you might be able to help, but don't rely on it!!
- Compliance is on the agent. Learn the rules, and learn to file . . . efficiently!!! You won't have time to fix it!!
- Management is spread thin. If you're looking for a mentor, try an established agent. But don't be surprised if they don't have much time for you, as they have their own business to run. Also, they might charge you for the privilege (keep in mind that the primary recruiting tool is money). Don't count on your manager/partner; they're often too busy recruiting to give you much time. In fact, much of the admin associated with hiring will be handled by the new agent. Again, nothing wrong with that, I just wish management would set proper expectations. They're actively recruiting independent, entrepreneurial spirits that can handle it, just be upfront. I was particularly frustrated that my manager/partner double-, and even triple-, booked appointment times with me; I wasted much time waiting (not to mention doubted his commitment to my success). At first, I thought that it was a mystique/rarity tactic during recruiting, but it proved to be commonplace.
- Lots of meetings -- which led to lots of homework -- which made appointment scheduling a challenge. Again, nothing wrong with that . . . it's a tough business!

Advice to Senior Management – - Be upfront. Nobody wants to waste time. Lay it all on the table . . . if it's not a fit, it's not a fit. If an agent followed a similar approach with clients, he'd be in a LOT of trouble!!
- Schedule appointment time appropriately. Punctuality is a virtue!!
- Start with prospecting. The low-hanging fruit will be there AFTER a solid prospecting effort. Prospecting skills lead to long-term success. Emphasize them!!
- Throw the agent a bone on office supplies. If it doesn't work out, the agent probably doesn't need boxes of file folders, file tags, two- or three-hole punches, and a case of copier paper.
- On the other hand, NYL is a solid, proven company. They must be doing something right in their process. I just feel that there could be a few less "dead bodies" on the path.

Former Employee – worked at New York Life full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Sales Training
Location
Knowledge of Industry
Financial Strength?
Good name recognition

Cons – - expensive products
- inadequate compensation
- culture
- difficult underwriting

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at New York Life part-time

Pros – no pressure good place to live

Cons – no chanllenge poor mangment less opportunity

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Life full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Upside - competitive salary, good benefits, nice internal cafeteria for employees, good NYC location.

Cons – Two years of record sales growth and they layoff over 650 people in 2012. Told my group of 85 people we were safe and no other cuts would be happening, 30 days later, myself and dozens of others were let go. They actually called in a First VP from her vacation under the false pretense that they needed her only to fire her when she came back.

Bonuses were stopped, salary increases stopped, outsourced hundreds while cutting American jobs.

Moral is very low and the company is addicted to scheduling internal meetings for the sake of having meetings. Plans get written but take months to get approved and implemented, if they ever do.

Right wing, uber conservative, very slow in making decisions, layers upon layers of management to go through to get anything approved and you are only good as your last project. CEO is an egomaniac.

Advice to Senior Management – I can't begin to list what they should do. No reason to anyway, they wouldn't listen unless it saved them money.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at New York Life full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Supportive and training is great

Cons – commission only; have to create market

Advice to Senior Management – none

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend