I came from another financial services firm at the time. My recruiter asked thorough questions about my serving of clients, my short and long term goals, and about how I would want to pursue marketing myself in the community. He was amazingly positive, and I found the small cost for a background check and registration was very reasonable, quick and easy for me as an independent agent. I read another contributor complaining about having to PAY to join the firm, but this isn’t a job opportunity. It’s a business opportunity. For the amount of support staff provided, training given, and much higher commission levels over almost every other firm I reviewed, it was so worth it.