Vantaggi
In order to get your Series 7 license you need to be employed at a firm that will sponsor you, so you can always get your licenses and leave, except most firms with positions that require a 7 also require multiple years of experience, furthermore most firms that will sponsor you will not only pay for your licensing but also pay you while you study, not AXA. For the first six months after you pass your exams you are in "pre-employment" (you don't actually get to work for the company yet) in one of two divisions: traditional or retirement benefits group (RBG). In traditional you are making 100 cold calls a day to either households or businesses with a list that you have to buy yourself (expect to spend hundreds of dollars), I actually like making cold calls, the problem is that no one has ever heard of AXA, so expect to have to explain what your company does in every call. RBG is composed of people who sneak around schools trying to sell teachers the employer sponsored retirement plan (403(b)s) and then cross sell life insurance. Many school districts have changed their system of compensation such that the commission on a 403(b) is roughly $2. I could not make this up. If you want to make any money in RBG expect to drive for hours back and forth every day to a school district that has not made the change. Did I mention that the school's administrators and security do not actually want you there? Expect to be called into the principals office or asked to leave the premises several times per week. RBG would have been a goldmine when insurance companies first cornered the education market, but now it is highly oversaturated. Expect to hear about your last five predecessors from the people you speak to. The hurdles (production requirements) are ridiculously low compared to other firms due to all of the aforementioned reasons. You really do have the freedom to set your own schedule although if you aren't going to work 12 hours a day I would not bother. AXA has such an extraordinarily high turnover that after you leave, everywhere you go you'll meet people who were once your coworkers, which helps with networking.
Svantaggi
You will likely make no money ($0) while working at AXA. They pay you $1,200 or something when you pass your exams, but that's only because they lost a lawsuit in California forcing them to. After you pay for your three licenses yourself that $1,200 quickly approaches zero. There is pressure to sell products you do not understand haphazardly to friends and family. The only retirement products you have available to sell are life insurance and annuities, making you an insurance agent. To make matters worse you can only sell AXA insurance and AXA annuities versus other options that could be less costly or produce a higher return for the client. There are other insurance companies like AIG that let you sell non-proprietary products and pays you a salary on top of commissions to do so. Managers received promotions based on their ability to sell annuities, and do not have a clue how to recruit or train new employees. Not a protocol firm, meaning you cannot take your clients with you. Many other firms will allow you to take your practice with you, furthermore firms will pay you up to 3 times your residual income in the form of a bonus, to do so, this is not available to you at AXA. There is also a severe lack of training, expect to spend one day (if that) with your manager then you are on your own to learn all about the securities industry and bring in clients.