software engineer

claims representative

claims adjuster

software analyst

senior claims representative

Sentry

What is the best part of working at the company?
The PTO and health benefits were excellent - among the best I've seen in this community.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The  role was highly  metric-driven, which often led to micromanagement. While I personally performed well and received consistent positive feedback, I can see how that level of oversight could be challenging for others.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The  work environment was call center-based and highly structured, which limited opportunities for social interaction.  The role was highly metric-driven, with close monitoring of adherence. Unscheduled time away from the desk was tracked and could impact performance scores, which contributed to a structured and managed work environment. The culture tended to be straightforward-employees generally either enjoyed the role or found it wasn't the right fit. There was little time  for informal interaction, and team engagement was minimal, typically limited to  Teams meeting that were intended to be monthly, but at times went several months without occurring. Daily work communication was primarily through Teams messages.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day was very structured and consistent. After arriving and logging in, the majority of the day was spent on back to back calls. Breaks were scheduled, including a 15-minute break in the morning, a 30-minute lunch, and another 15-minute break later in the day. Outside of those times, the expectation was to remain on the phones, with limited flexibility due to adherence to the schedule.

I would recommend this job to anyone who is comfortable cold calling prospective accounts, and doesn't mind getting told to get lost numerous times a day. In order to succeed in this position you must be persistent. That means calling on the same leads 5-10 times before the decision maker will even talk to you in most cases.

You get a company car and little supervision, so the perks of this job are nice, the 401k match is great and the health care is cheap and affordable. The benefits and perks to this job are great, but that is because it is a hard job, it is certainly not for everyone.

 I am more of a cut and dry person, so having the persistence to continue to call on business owners who couldn't be bothered just wasn't for me. The previous rep in my territory did very well because he was persistent. Many of my customers told me that when I took the territory over. That is another plus to this job, only rep for Sentry in your territory and you are a direct writer so not even brokers can get your quotes, it makes you different. Which Sentry would have you believe is a much bigger deal than the average business owner will care to hear. 

My manager was good, he definitely wanted me and all his reps to succeed and would give you the tools to do it. I decided to leave the company because the fit wasn't right, but I can see how someone who is a little more aggressive than me could be very successful.

On the whole, this is not a bad company. They have historically been willing to listen to issues from the field, but at some point one wonders if the plan all along was to listen and not actually change. 

Local management is fine, however at the director level (one specifically comes to mind) there are some issues with ruling by fear of reprisal, which obviously has a negative impact on office morale and associate expectations. It is not unheard of for an associate to be dismissed without warning and without a clue why this occurred. It cannot be understated how damaging this is to morale and the impact that has on people's decisions to leave the company of their own accord. This further snowballs into causing caseloads to rise, especially when it appears they commonly fill an experienced desk with a trainee. I suppose one could look at this as allowing opportunity for advancement. 

The company match on the 401K is excellent, dental is also fine. The health insurance benefit leaves quite a bit to be desired and while the HSA shift is common, the premium to go along with it is considerably more costly than offered elsewhere. Depending on your department, the pay is either below average or average. 

Claims training is almost non-existent, although someone handling California can expect considerable training on jurisdictional issues (with a wonderful trainer). Otherwise, most newbies are put into a sink-or-swim situation. 

Since the rebranding, any attempt at balancing customer needs with claims staff needs is not the least bit evident. Customer expectations are not being tempered in the least, which sometimes given the nature of claims needs to happen.

For a claims representative its a good stepping stone, problem is in this location there is nowhere else to go; Sentry has an excellent business model locating several offices in locations where they're the only game in town...in other words, you're stuck.

Despite what you may be told at interview or offer time, there really is no way to move up...unless you're excellent at brown nosing and/or flirty with male managers.  The company and its first and second level managers generally do not promote based on merit or skill. 

Work load is probably similar to any other claims office however Sentry loves to use various "job aids" which take the better part of your day but serve no relevant function.  Goals are frequently met in spite of these nuisances however be prepared to spend many hours working to stay off the nasty list.  

In general first level managers are willing to work with you however be aware due to ridiculous demands their time is frequently spent in meetings leading to unparalleled frustration which can be taken out on subordinates.  Communication is also weak, the company does not give managers the proper tools to effectively manage.  It is extremely rare claims representatives at any level are given the autonomy to make decisions and learn from them either positively or negatively.  

In closing you'll probably end up with decent co-workers however be prepared to spend most of your time commiserating how much you dislike your job and how you could do a better job if...just if you had less micromanagement hanging over your shoulders.  I'm thankful for my time at Sentry but I'm even more glad I no longer work there.

After starting at sentry, management is very welcoming. At first it does seem like good job where it entails meetings, helpful resources and standard scheduling but a little after completing training they do change those expectations. Workload is increased and if you do well they do offer trainings in other departments to further develop your progress but completing the trainings makes it harder to be promoted. This is especially if you’re bilingual as they don’t want to lose Spanish speaking associates to other roles. If you’re bilingual expect more workload as you will be taking both Spanish and English calls, at times they will require you to translate calls if translators are not available. The pay is not much of a difference when comparing to English only associates. The culture is welcoming but new management, including supervisors from other departments, do act unprofessionally it is best to not associate with them. This year scheduling has changed, as associates will now be required to work more weekends which sometimes can cause to have long work weeks that can extend up to 8 days working without a day off in between. You will work a weekend then the following week a Saturday, afterward be off 2 weekends and repeat. You will also be required to work late shifts up to 10pm CT. Overall at first it does seem okay but then after when they change your scheduling or offer trainings the job does get more difficult as well as they are strict in regards to adhering to your metrics as a lot of associates are let go for not having “good” metrics. Metrics include adhering to schedule, customer service quality, and etc.

Working at Sentry was a mixed bag.  They were very flexible and allowed me to do whatever I needed for my personal life.  I worked in the home office so I had access to a clinic, physical therapist, auto garage, and gym onsite.  I got the feeling they really want to give their employees the extra perks.  The benefits are very good and they don’t make you wait (if you are hired as a regular employee) to receive them.  My pay was much too low, but when I got the job I wasn’t in a position to be picky (lay-off).

The culture there is something else.  There are some real bullies working at Sentry.  They’ll try to walk all over you and make your time as unpleasant as possible, almost like they get off on it.  In my unit a couple of us tried talking to our supervisor about it and not really anything was done.  It was disheartening.  I didn’t want to keep working in this department anyway so that was the push I needed to start looking for work.

I have heard similar reports from people working in other departments.  Some managers allow bullying and just don’t care and some are great.  If you are lucky and get a good manager or a great team you’ll be fine.

The push I needed to look for work OUTSIDE of Sentry is when I heard the HR Manager and a Senior Recruiter talking out in the open about someone who interviewed for a position within their department (me!) not knowing I was standing right there and how unqualified they were.  I haven’t felt that humiliated in quite some time.  But I applied for a similar position externally and got it, no mockery included.

At Sentry, there is no work/life balance. The company has lost so many quality employees in recent years, due to poor management, that there is a large issue with staffing. PTO is routinely denied; many employees work 7 days a week, early mornings, late nights, as well as through their lunches. Management doesn't care about their employees - they just want to hit their numbers and will do anything to keep "warm bodies" in their seats (yes, this is what management calls some of the adjusters).

Anyone with a passion for their job, and skill to do their job, their time will be abused because they will be required to assist the lack of results coming from the "warm bodies" on their team. 

Morale is low. Leadership holds meetings to try and retain current employees. Meager attempts are made to try to promote "fun" at work by organizing events that take you away from your desk, however not many people from the claims department attend these events because missing 1 hour of work to eat ice cream and play bingo would put them behind in their work, and they would have to be made up throughout the week (during COVID, these "morale-boosting" events were held via e-mail and Skype).

There is no seeking to understand, just to be understood. It's an "every man for himself" type of environment. 

My recommendation would be to clear out current management and bring in new faces with a fresh perspective and with some compassion.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
The $5 stipend that is given daily to employees for meal usage

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No good individual  training for new employees that has no insurance experience whatsoever. Subrogation dept is the worse to start off in if learning insurance claims altogether. No lead trainer that is focused on your abilities.  Your co-worker’s who have to leave their desk just to come and sit with you are your trainers. That’s not fair to them! Manager’s are not a help as well. They sit behind a cubicle and demand overtime, because their numbers are making them look bad!! No interaction at all unless they call for a meeting…

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cultural is laxed.. I see people walk around with their shoes off more than those who wear them. This is supposed to be a professional setting and that is far from the truth. People wear what they want, really no dress structure.. Also, culturally it needs to be more diverse, more minorities should hired!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You stay at your desk, working claims, literally. You get two 15min breaks and half hour lunch.. If you stay at lunch longer then you should, your co-workers will snitch and you are now called to your managers desk, who has the slightest clue what time you left vs what time you should be back. All word of mouth from people who can’t mind their own business! Messy environment!

Sentry is a great place to start out in your career.  They offer stability as well as allowing new associates to become acclimated to the Agile Project Methodology.

A typical day is to come in from 7-8:30 and leave around 3:30-5.  Work will be assigned out to you. You'll meet with your team each day for a 30 min scrum.

Management directly above the associate level is very receptive and understanding. Past that, metrics take over and the upper management is clearly looking at those.

The associates at Sentry are very friendly and want you to succeed.  There are very little politics with the other developers and engineers.

The hardest part of the job is getting your machine ready. There is a lot of red tape to go through in order to get your machine and applications on it. This makes the first month pretty boring and tedious. 

Once you move up a couple levels in the ladder of IT, you are pigeon holed as far as what you are doing.  The team they put you on initially is most likely the team you will be on for the rest of your time there. There is very little shuffling from Production Support to Active Development and vice-versa. There are several opportunities to do outside work, but those tasks are short lived.

My time spent on the Network Infrastructure Team at Sentry Insurance as an Intern was an experience that I do not believe exists outside of the fortune-500 world. An incredibly competitive experience, Sentry only accepts the best when considering possible employment. When not spent actively engaged and working alongside the Infrastructure team at Sentry, my time outside of work was spent studying for equivalent certifications while staying in my company-provided housing, free of charge. I have never worked harder in my life than I did to receive an offer to be on the Infrastructure team, and due to a change in circumstances, I was unable to accept their very generous salaried offer. One would be foolish to not consider working for this company as it is, without a doubt, one of the best companies in the world to work for. I have never met more driven and friendly employees while working with a company and have made friends that I know I will have for life because of Sentry Insurance. If you are one of the lucky few to be considered for a position at Sentry, do not hesitate to accept.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 18 salaries reported	$91,267 per year
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