My time at Arrow basically consisted of me struggling to pay my bills while being stuck servicing these nasty apartments all the time. I’m not even joking 90% of what I did at my “ commercial” job was just treating gross apartments. There was nothing commercial about my job.
Low pay. They call it a “training wage” that is only supposed to last for a few weeks during your training period. (Every new technician is required to do a six week training program, regardless of prior experience) However, that training wage doesn’t last for a few weeks, in some cases it could last for a few years. Even if you’re working a full route. I was told by other technicians that they have been kept on a training wage for years and some of these guys had even more experience than I did. (I’ve been in the industry for eight years) so whatever you do, do not accept their training wage. If you end up working there make sure you get hourly pay. That way when they inevitably dump a bunch of work on you when someone quits you at least see some extra money on your paycheck, and believe me, it will happen. This company will straight up double your work load overnight and not pay you a penny extra if you let them. Be very cautious of whatever starting pay they offer you because that is probably what you’ll be getting paid for the next couple of years. Do not expect a raise anytime soon unless a miracle happens.
Nasty Apartments. This company loves apartments. As a commercial technician, you will probably be doing nothing but apartments and the occasional office building. You are literally stuck at multifamily units all day, every day. And these apartments are usually gross and roach infested. So not only are you dealing with the resident but you’re also having to deal with the leasing office, and you’re also having to deal with your own management. It can be an absolute nightmare. A lot of these places are allowed to give you up to 20 units every time you service them and believe me they will give you 20 units every time. But on the bright side, you don’t have to worry about skipping leg day at the gym since you’ll be going up and down downstairs all day long. Not to mention doing the paperwork on multi family accounts is an absolute nightmare. Because you are expected to list every chemical you use at every last single place you used it, inside of every last single unit. So doing the paperwork on an apartment complex is also equivalent to doing the paperwork on like 10 residential houses. It will become an administrative nightmare for both the office staff and technicians. Also, your truck will become your mobile office because you will probably be spending more time doing paperwork than you be actually spraying for bugs. Also, the nastiest things I’ve ever seen in my tenure as an exterminator have been from those apartments, and I’ve seen some really nasty things in my career. But hands down those apartments take the cake.
Endless meetings. This company loves to have meetings for the sake of having meetings. Be prepared to respond to countless emails, tons of random, mandatory training videos, even when you are totally slammed with work, they will expect you to stop what you’re doing to respond to whatever ridiculous and unnecessary request that upper management has.
Cult Vibes. Literally having to recite three different company motos including their mission statement at every meeting like you’re saying the Pledge of Allegiance back in elementary school. I swear upper management gives me some cult vibes. I wasn’t the only technician who felt that way.
