Beware of Rocket Lister. In my experience, this company was extremely unprofessional and shady.
I was terminated after training under circumstances that made no sense and were never clearly communicated to me. During training, my shadow Jacob repeatedly told me I was taking great photos and even said he was confused about why I was not already flying solo. At no point did he tell me that speed was a major issue or that I was being evaluated on photo pace in the way it was later described to me.
What makes this worse is that Jacob would review my photos after nearly every room, which obviously added time to the process. If management actually wanted me judged heavily on speed during shadowing, that should have been communicated upfront, and he could have reviewed the photos after we left the property. Instead, I was given positive feedback to my face, while I later found out he was apparently telling Byron and Angel that I was too slow.
There was also a serious safety issue. Byron and Angel had us work in a house with no air conditioning and did not provide water. Arizona may not require air conditioning in every workplace, but employers are still responsible for protecting workers from temperature extremes, and OSHA requires potable drinking water to be provided in places of employment. Arizona's ADOSH heat program also specifically recognizes heat hazards for both indoor and outdoor work and emphasizes protections for new or returning workers. That made the situation feel even more reckless and unacceptable to me.
There was constant miscommunication throughout the training process. Byron later told me that the reason they did not give me direct criticism was because most people in the company take critique personally, so they wanted my shadow to build my confidence instead. That is not a valid excuse. If an employee needs to improve speed, accuracy, workflow, or anything else, the company should communicate that directly and professionally so the employee has a real chance to improve.
I also had an unprofessional experience with Jacob at a property when I followed the exact guidance given in week one of training, which was to do your best to complete an agent's photo requests. An agent wanted two kitchen sets, one with flowers and one without. I followed that instruction, and Jacob responded in a disrespectful way. Overall, the training environment felt dishonest, political, and gatekept.
Another red flag was the pay compared to the demands of the job. They expect photographers to drive unreasonable distances, work in harsh conditions, and handle a lot of responsibility for only about 18 to 19 dollars an hour. Jacob even told me that I would be making more than some people who had already been there for one to two years, which says a lot about how the company values its workers.
I did a lot for this company in a short time and was discarded without honest communication or basic respect. Based on my experience, I would not recommend working here. Anyone considering this company should be very cautious. read more