sales and service technician

pest control technician

technicien de gestion

service technician

customer service representative

Orkin

Extermination is unfortunately, a mostly unrewarding career. Very physical, technical, and professional job that few people respect the difficulty of. Also a very dangerous and uncomfortable job considering the chemicals you use and their legal implications. Do not forget you are dealing with mice, wasps, ants, rats, cockroaches and more. Infestations and grumpy customers as well. You are a jack of all trades; Sales meetings, applying pesticides, light construction work, you do it all. While you are offered significant independence, it often feels like you are running the entire company remotely. You are frequently expected to work long or split days on short notice to accommodate customers' schedules. The random nature of this work can take a serious toll on personal life. Management are great people, but most are just waiting to retire and pass on problems. Additionally you are charged $120/month for the truck and there is no yard to park it. Total waste of money because no one wants/needs a 2 seat light truck with pest control decals all over it. Mine didn't even have power mirrors or winter tires.

Pay is also not competitive. Base pay is $600/week + commission to start. Raises were below rate of inflation, which meant I would virtually never reach max wage. As for commission, this is highly dependent on the types of customers you are assigned and how far away they are. Commission can change drastically with route reorganization like mine did. I saw annual income drop by nearly 20% when this happened. I was rarely able to make more than $500/month in commission on average. All said and done I was making Orkin almost $200,000 and taking home about $38,000. 

Bottom line: For between $600/week and about $40,000/year, there are much less stressful and consistent jobs. For those who cannot rely on less than that, commission can be very detrimental.  It changes from an incentive program to a burden when you rely on an extra couple of commission dollars to cover rent. Orkin  is not alone here though, many of its competitors are the same. Until this industry can provide consistent expectations, times of work, and income, it will not be competitive with other lines of work. I

I have been with Orkin for a little over 3 years now. I was with my previous employer just over 7 years. I see no reason why I would not remain here for at least that and more! 

While there were some bumps and challenges to start with, (all jobs have these to be fair) it has been a rewarding experience. I love jobs where I work directly with the public and make a real difference in their lives. Some days are physically and mentally tough and long but worth it when you see how happy people are with your service. 

Individual branches can have very different work environments. At my first location, in the beginning,  management was scrambling at times regarding employee retention but more supportive/steady as of late. Issues with new staff training appears to have been resolved.

Very diverse working environment and supportive of this diversity. Many women in both tech and management positions. Great benefits. Flexible with excellent work/life balance. Wage is competitive. Lots of room for advancement to mid-level management should you wish to.

I work in a highly specialized role within the company and cannot see ever leaving here. Many individuals have worked 25 years or more in my branch alone and it is common in many branches across the country. That tells you something!

Loved the job! The job in itself is straight forward, is ideal for those who are self-motivated and well organized. Every day is a new experience. But if you got an oil & gas route, don't expect a high base pay. You also have to get a pesticide applicator license before you gain any sale or production commission. Which they never provided me the books for.

The management on the other hand is a whole other story. You're more left on your own to figure things out. Very emotional and biased people who won't be upfront with you. Will take away your hours if you worked too over time. Alot of miscommunication or getting swept under the rug until it really matters aka their bonus by getting your route fully completed by the end of the month. 

Don't bother with using your own money for anything and expecting a refund, it will get swept under the rug also.

Hardest part of the job is balancing life and work when you have an oil and gas route. Long days if the weather is bad. Also don't be surprised if they start questioning you. 

Most enjoyable part of the job are being given a brand-new service truck, the views on the drive and places that you service are quite interesting.


You cannot trust management to tell you the truth about what is going on. I took the job for life work balance was told it was a 40 hour week. I was working a minimum 200 hours a month which does not include online courses you have to take, no overtime paid.  Pay system based on production more jobs more pay but they charge some customers so low that you do not make minimum wage will others are grossly over charged. You have no control so you could end up with too many low paying jobs eg hour drive time half and hour to do the job made ten dollars. Call backs are free so no pay.  My route had 6 people doing it in 2 years I lasted 5 before management decided to take my best customers and give them to a company they bought to prop up there revenue. No loyalty for hard work. 
Talked to my manger about hours blamed me for routing. 
Talked to my manager about pay told me I have to sell more and up sell. 
Talked to manger about taking away my customers not in his control. 
Orkin makes you feel worthless.

I was hired on as a pest control technician. A few days after I started, the head boss of my office went on stress leave. Very poor management support. There were a few people in office that were extremely grumpy and make going into the office very uncomfortable. They would talk behind everyone's back. They would actually huff in annoyance at people. Quite a few people were fired and hired within the 4 short months that I worked there. Not a lot of support when trying to get help from management. I went from being extremely excited to hating my days and not wanting to get out of bed. I worked very hard for them only to be terminated with no reason whatsoever. My termination letter also was completely unprofessional with scribbles on it and date changes as it looked like they were wanting to do it 2 days earlier than they did.  I would not recommend employment with this company.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
taking care of customers and the variety of residential challenges. Having time for things like doctor appointments etc. Company truck and uniforms supplied.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Other drivers stupid actions . 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
work environment varies with job locations which is usually fine. Culture is good and lots of help available from service manager or trainer if needed. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Taking care of mthly contracts which is pretty routine and you may even get the odd free lunch from a restaurant.
going to residential calls for preventative pest services or emergency wasp situation for example makes the day interesting and or challenging. Best part is seeing happy customers after solving their pest problem, especially for bees, wasps and rats.

The companies approach to scheduling is chaotic. They give you a list of customers at the beginning of each month and ask you to be a route manager. You contact all of your customers and schedule all your own appointments which is already difficult to find the time to do with many appointments to meet. Orkin is a same day company and you will always have new appointments constantly getting thrown in your day after you have taken the time to build your schedule. This will cause you a lot of stress. This job has a high turnover rate and is constantly understaffed so there will be pressure for you to work 6 days a week often. In one year there were 4-5 manager changes at my branch. That speaks for itself!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the technicians and the customer service staff.. helping companies fix their rodent issues..  having my own vehicle as a service manager.. not having to.deal with the manager on a regular basis


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Manager constantly been nasty to the technicians .. manager not supporting the service managers.. keeping bad technicians around roo long and then putting blame on the service managers when things went wrong at the locations where the bad technicians worked

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Not very good.. lots of complaining about the manager 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Babysitting and fixing issues that manager wasn't willing to deal.with

The job itself was good if you can handle dealing with pests. Company vehicle use for personal use (though you do pay a monthly cost for the privilege). Lots of variety, and you have to think on your feet and problem solve a lot which can be exciting. Ongoing training provided. The more accounts and products you sell the more commission you get. Head office were quick to cut pay and benefits among many other things to save money. Inconsistent managing styles and methods through all management levels. Advancement opportunities were very confusing processes and poorly executed, sometimes taking up to a year to fill vacant leadership positions even with qualified existing employee applicants. Corporate structure and culture.

Service industry in general can be challenging and pest control is no exception. Some of the finest people I have ever known work here. When times are tough during the busy season you may not get the support you want as fast as you want but I assure you that it is not without reason. The managers down to the front line staff are people, and as a result are dealing with the exact same stress in their own way. When things slow down they (management and fellow front liners) are extremely empathic and friendly, we are all at war with pests after all. If you do your best until winter (still busy but not crazy lol) your team will shine from manager to tech. For a big employer it has a LOT of heart if you have the patience to see it.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales and service technician 20 salaries reported	$889 per week
Pest control technician 7 salaries reported	$43,407 per year
Technicien de gestion 1 salary reported	$52,000 per year
Service technician 4 salaries reported	$50,300 per year
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour

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