Job Responsibilities
My primary responsibilies were making sure my store ran
smoothly: making sure everything is consistently stocked,
ordered collateral, making sure my fellow co-workers were
adhering to conduct (name tag, complete mystery shop
requirements w/ every customer walk-up), make sure time sheets
were done, employees on time, etc. My major responsibilities
were to uphold an example of the informed, moral, hard-working
sales representative. About 1 hour each day was for cold-
calling, client developement, & followup letters/calls (post-
sale). We were required to keep up on the everyday, changing
information that we received via email & distribution voicemails.
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Job Requirements
Verizon was very good at keeping their employees trained &
informed which is absolutely critical in this type of industry.
The classes were always very thorough & provided very well for
feedback. Everytime a new product or new rate plan structure
came out, a class was immediately formed.
There was only a high school degree required to be able to get
hired as a sales representative. A bachelors degree is required
for any management positions though.
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Uppers
The uppers at verizon were the contests. We would have a data sales contest quit
often. The contest prized, which I won once, was $250 in american express gift
certificates, or Nascar or U Of M football tickets. And with the winners, there
was always tremendous amounts of recognition via distribution voicemails. I did
like the aspect of being able to meet new people EVERY day through walk-up
traffic. And getting to be at the forefront of new information in the industry.
It gave me an advantage over non-employees. I was able to get the newest phone,
the newest features, & know of the latest data capablilities. Plus the people I
worked with at Verizon were very great. They're wasnt anyone I DIDNT like or get
along with.
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Downers
The downers far outweighed the uppers towards the last 2 years
of my job. I worked for Verizon for 7 years in sales, & the
overall impact on my mental health & stress level far outweighed
my pay compensation to make it worth while. The management (in
the Midwest area) was my default. By this, I mean that the
current area president got his position by it being handed to
him to quickly fill the void at the time. With the fall in
sales, came the wrath of rising quotas & management by
threatening coercion. The last 1.5 years at least were very
threatening. It reduced the moral in my area, & made a lot of
sales reps & managers far stressed out than they needed to be.
I'm sorry, but I would never work for Verizon Wireless again in
sales. Its a good company nontheless if you work in a different
department like IT, human resources, or network quality.
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Lifestyle
I was not required to do any travelling besides to the training classes which
were no more than 20 minutes away from my home. I worked a normal 40 hours per
week, but during October-January, don't be surprised by working 55+ hours per
week. I was absolutely stressed out every holiday per year. And having to deal
with the traffic load every Christmas holiday is enough to make anyone want to
hibernate in their home after every shift. The dress code was the same for
everyone is sales:kacki or black pants & the company logo shirts; dress shoes, no
open-toe; no face-piercings; no tatoos showing; no off-color dyed hair; & at
times, they didnt even want you to wear lots of jewelery on your hands & ears.
Diversity was very much encouraged. Verizon was very adament at adhering to
affirmative action, & it was very common to not work with all Caucasean people at
any location. That was very nice to see. Also, Verizon strived to have a least
one spanish speaking person at all locations. For job seekers, the only thing I
have to say primarily, is when you go into the interview, you must be able to
have experiences 7 situations with the public to talk about, how you handled it,
& the outcome.
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Compensation
compensation was very good. I made above the average worker. I
actually make, including my commissions every year, more than my
mom & dad combined. Its very possible for a full time sales
representative to make $60,000 all the way up to $80,000 per
year depending on their work ethic & how much effort they want
to put in. We did have stock options, 401k, a brockerage account
(for free), profit-sharing every year, one raise per year unless
you move up in the company (you'd get more), full medical,
dental, & vision. I actually only paid about $26 per month for
all my benefits. That's amazing. My base as a senior retail
sales rep was just hitting $28,000 & our commissions on top of
that were tremendous. The pay is VERY good but the stress level
is way too high.
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Advice to Jobseekers
I would not recommend anyone working at Verizon Wireless unless
you are going to work in non-sales, like Human resources, IT, or
network quality (engineering).The Sales department is very
competitive even between co-workers. The moral is not high &
workers find way around the system to benefit them over the
customer/company. When you consistently raise the quotas every 2-
3 months, stress levels go up, mangement gets more aggressive, &
the retail sales workers at the bottom are on the receiving end
of all the frustration (unless you have a mentally sound &
strong boss who understands that all the force coming down from
upper management need not be lashed out on the workers). So, I
recommend not going into sales unless you are strong mentally &
can deal with stress. Also, you have to have a lot of patience
to have to deal with all the rif-raf that wants to walk up &
talk to you about cell phone service.
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