photographer

market manager

photographers assistant

automotive technician

dealer

CarData, Inc.

This job is the definition of “getting rich off of the backs of other people”. No matter what your position is, you will never be able to save to buy a house or a brand new car or make any real improvements in your life. All previous managers have told me they have hated the position. It’s 40 hours worth of work with part time pay no matter you position management or field photographer. 
This is a company that’s dying from the inside out and I’ll explain:

Management has poor communication and shows clear favoritism. Training is rushed and not designed to actually help you succeed. The equipment is outdated, and you’re expected to do a lot without proper support or fair pay. The work environment is stressful and disorganized — not a place that values its employees. 

Your first check will be the biggest check you will ever receive because of them not having anyone to cover the role but once your on, they bring out a ton of hidden rules to why you can not be on the clock. Just because one employee has performed at a high level they will expect you to under any circumstance. If your car goes down there is no plan or any help from management when they push you to drive all across Atlanta no matter how much wear and tear is done to your car you worked hard for. If dealerships decide to go another route like using an in-house photographer they will blame you and have you constantly pester them to come back. If the market is making less then the want it to then you pay will be lowered also.

The “regional manager” has a tendency to talk down about other employees in front of everyone including who she’s referring too with out actually saying their name  but the employee will know and that has caused a ton of stress. 

Pros: I absolutely love the dealerships I go to and the people I work with on a day to day basis, however, they don’t work for CarData.  I also love the job and have worked for 3 companies like this one.
Cons:  We are completely expendable, even if we are the face of the company.  There is a disconnect between agents and the upper management in other states.  Issues take longer than necessary to get resolved.  There is not much incentive to achieve goals as your pay is based on what a sales person sold a dealership at so you can do the same amount of work but not make as much because the dealership gets a deal, which is not in the best interest of either employee or the dealer.  They solely look at numbers and don’t take into consideration environment, quality, customer service etc.  They issue warnings for things that have no affect on the quality of your work.  Of the 3 different companies I have worked for in this job role, this is the ONLY company that forces you to clock in and out on a map that tracks your every move, even though we are not paid hourly or salary, and not really even mileage.  We are paid solely on the work we produce so this time clock is irrelevant.  I rarely see any recognization of individuals which is not good for moral.  They also cost cut at every corner, including mileage, cameras, label quality. I get they need to run a business but in my opinion If you want quality employees you pay them properly and set them up for success.

I applied for this job because it seemed fun and easy. Well it is very easy and could be fun but there’s a lot of information that isn’t told to you when applying. After you apply, you get an email within a couple of days to set up a shadow “day” and that you would get paid for this shadow day. I was under the impression that it would be in Tampa as that job posting stats Tampa, Florida. Once you send everything over and they schedule the shadow day, it was actually all the way on St. Petersburg, Florida. Not what I signed up for but I went with it because the pay is good but then half way through the day I’m told that it’s at least 5 shadow days and I told get paid until I’m done with shadowing. This doesn’t work for everyone that’s looking for work as not everyone has money saved up on the side to drive an hour there and then almost 2 hours back home. The trainer was nice but he didn’t train or explain anything. Didn’t talk about the program they use to upload the pictures, how they want the pictures to look, nothing. All he did was talk badly about his management and how they want everything rushed so they don’t lose contracts. 

Pros: 
- Independent work 99% of the time. You are effectively your own boss so long as things are running smoothly
- If you love cars, this job will put you behind the wheel of nearly everything
- Great pay*
- Management is very supportive
- Gas reimbursement

Cons: 
- You are outside all day. It gets hot. Very hot. 
- Car dealership management (your primary points of contact) vary from super flexible and fun to work with to super stressful and frustrating to deal with
- *Your work load is entirely dependent on a dealership's inventory. So pay is great, as long as there is work to be done. Management is happy to reroute you to dealerships with inventory available, but this leads into: 
- Pay is primarily commission, and coworkers can get pretty protective of their dealerships if you are helping them catch up
- Not only is pay commission based, but it varies dealer to dealer. It is entirely possible to have 2 dealerships with completely different pay rates for the same exact work. 
- You drive a LOT. If your car is old, or not exactly reliable, this could cause issues

Very independent work as a 3rd party contractor doing photography for preassigned car dealerships. 

Pros: 
- VERY independent workday
- Extremely supportive management
- Pay is commission, but there is almost always more work available
- You get to check out the latest offerings in the auto industry

Cons:
- Florida weather (rain and shine) can ruin a work day
- Workload is ENTIRELY dependent on the dealership you are servicing. If they dont have cars that are clean/ready for photos, you dont have work. 
- Occasionally, management at dealerships will place blame on you for lack of photos online when their cars are over stuffed into tiny offsite lots still covered in their shipping materials. 

The pros heavily outweigh the cons though, and management is extremely supportive when you need help. I love what I do and my only bad days at work are the ones where I dont meet my personal goals for number of cars shot.

The work is easy, great for anyone who can keep themselves on track . You'll learn a ton about vehicle brands and models, I went into this knowing nothing about the field and less than a year later I know most of the vehicles I see on the road. Management is the best I've had yet , just tell them whats going on and they will make moves to correct the situation or help you out.  Everyone here is very friendly, management, sales, reps, everyone. The only part of the job that I could view as negative would be dealing with some of the car dealership managers. Most are very polite and will stay out of your way , jumping to help you if need something, but every now and again you encounter absolute jack wagons in the dealership management position , those guys will try your patience . On the plus side cardata has its reps back so when this happens just let your cardata manager know whats going on and they will make moves to fix it!

A typical day would be arriving to the dealers and checking your NPL to see what has to be done with Used cars right away then proceed to finish everything else in New cars then repeat at the following dealer, I learned to be at your best when dealing with these GM's and servicing the dealership as quickly and organized as possible also the work culture in most of these dealerships is to perform gracefully and efficiently in a professional manner, the hardest part about the job would be the weather permitting you to accomplish your NPL goal and also dealing with rude employees that don't appreciate the effort and time you put in at these dealerships, the best part would be the flexibility to get your work done in a timely  manner and still have family time or personal time but most importantly the money.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Your pay and your performance is only limited by you and your abilities. Great for people who are self driven

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with weather conditions and sometimes the documentation required can be a bit overwhelming

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Independent work on a day to day basis, with occasional meetings with a fun group of people

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start early if you’d like, work hard to get to the next client, get home early most days if you’d can form a good system for yourself, or work late picking up more work at other locations if you’d so choose

A typical day will have you going to dealerships and taking photos and Spin360 videos.  Communication is key so you’re always in contact with the point of contact at dealerships being serviced.   I have learned a lot based on different platforms and apps used which were super easy to use and understand. Management is very hands on but there’s no micro managing.  So it’s important to have great control over time management. Great culture and management is easy to reach out to for anything.  The hardest part of the job is when it’s summer and the sun is blazing.  Once dressed for that it’s easy breezy.  Happy client happy life, that’s the best part of the job. 

As a field tech your paid by commission only. So it’s great when there is plenty of work but sometimes there is slow periods where there is not a lot of work and with no real set pattern it’s hard to tell when that is. When being hired there was talk of opportunity of advancement but sense I’ve been here I’ve haven’t heard no more about it. From what it seems once you make management you loose a lot of quality of life and doesn’t seem worth moving up. Money is okay but with the minimum wage on the rise there has been no talk of increasing our wages which is why I’m on indeed looking around. It’s an easy job as long as the weather is right but your outside for the most part and involves a lot of walking, squaring, bending over and getting in and out of vehicles all day. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Photographer 18 salaries reported	$2,693 per month
Market manager 9 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Photographers assistant 5 salaries reported	$2,040 per month
Automotive technician 12 salaries reported	$2,444 per month
Dealer 116 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour

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