Pros
The earning potential is there People you work with are typically very good people Easy going (for the most part) work culture You have a lot of autonomy Benefits and base salary are good, also reasonable PTO and 401k match Get to talk to varied homeowners, and if you are personable you will have some awesome interactions with really cool people! This job can leave you feeling on top of the world after a good day Consecutive days off (Saturday night to Monday) Potential to leave early if you hit daily quota, which is great because you get paid the same for the day (depends on your Manager) some fun company events tons of exercise (average 8-11k steps a day or around 4-6 miles)
Kontras
Here's the meat and potatoes: There's a whole slew of cons for this job, and I think it is important that before you do take this job, it is important to know what you're getting into. They will tell you that you can earn 75k-100k a year. The likelihood of this is not high. It's not impossible, but does require a specific kind of person and is statistically unlikely. I have seen people who definitely make lots of money doing this job. The facts are that you are going door to door, convincing people to take free information from a solar professional. There are many factors that go into this. The market is saturated and it can be extremely challenging to find people especially if they have heard the shpeal multiple times throughout the year. The culture is odd at times, and borderline cult like. They do loud chants, and inject positivity into every thing and at times feels contrived. Required daily meetings are scheduled at awkward times throughout the day, making your effective work start time around 9:45am-7/8pm (depending on the season). In these meetings they do trainings that at first are helpful, but after the 5th or 6th time you've seen them become redundant and frustrating to listen to. Very high turnover rate. They promise you 40k or 52k salary, but put you on training pay which works out to around 15 an hour. You get to the salary after you get 10 appointments in a week. Which is entirely doable if you put your mind to it. On average people tend to graduate within the first 2 weeks. They will drop you like a pin if you are not hitting your numbers and you are new. There are very few long term employees. Career growth deception. Yes, it is possible and I have seen people move up the ranks, but you do need to be exceptional to do so. People move in and out of leadership very frequently as it is entirely reliant on numbers and production. Tread with caution before you hedge your bets on making a career out of this, as it is very difficult and mentally exhausting. Put your head down: they intentionally (and for good reason) keep you in the dark about the actual workings of their "no cost" solar program. If you want to actually learn about renewable energy/solar, outreach is not the position for you. Every question you have surrounding it is always met with them saying "that's a great question for my solar professional" It can be extremely beneficial to people and you are not scamming or lying to them, they are just taking information at the end of the day. Do not be like me and assume it's free, the word no cost is intentional. You will be knocking at people's homes in the dark, it is expected. Always want you to be working on your pitch (staying after meetings, coming early, that is the sign of a leader in their opinion, so if you want to make nice and stand out, prepare to sacrifice a lot of time) Depending on your territory, commuting can be absolutely brutal on top of the daily meetings. Once you see through the veil, it's hard to unlearn and look at the job the way you used to, there's a reason there's low retention. Upper management can come across extremely pompous and arrogant. You will occasionally get guest speakers and everyone claps when they enter, which feels really strange. They go on long winded speeches about the potential you have here and how good they were and how much money they made, which at times feels like force fed propaganda. Your bad days will make you feel the lowest of lows. Your legitimate feelings surrounding the job will get washed with positivity which at times can feel demeaning and pointless. All in all I can go on and on, but that would take a long time. My general advice is to stay away, though if you need a job and are willing to work rain, snow, storm or heat wave, go for it. I do not regret taking the position, but it did have a serious strain on my mental health. It's hard to be happy doing this job day in and day out as it isn't very stimulating. If you really buy in, it's possible to make something out of it, though don't be surprised when you're out there you realize it isn't what you thought it was/ what they make it out to be.
