STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

kenzie · Chanel

How to approach this topic?

halleybird · Hermes

Ahhh! My husband got involved in one of these one summer when he was like 19. They had all these "rally meetings" where they cheered and they would all hang out together on weekends. He made sh*t for money, too. I am not sure what to say. If she brings anything negative up, I would point out some of the downsides. I am not sure what else you can do.

jacL · Coach

My BF just went to an interview for one of those comapnies! We feared that was what it was, but he went anyway and it was so crappy. They made him wait, then talked to him for five minutes and refused to answer any questions, saying they would just like him to see for himself by shadowing someone for a day. They called back but he didn't even bother to return the call. I had a friend do that, and it was so crappy. Sure, some weeks he would make a lot of money, and he wasn't doing dooor-to-door, but other weeks he brought home nothing.

kenzie · Chanel

Does anybody know what the parent company of all these little offices is called? I wish I could remember. They have so much bad press on them it's ridiculous! It's a complete scam.

bex · Chanel

i dont remember the parent company either, but i went on one of these interviews too. i even got called back for "shadowing" which i went too(!) purely b/c i thought maybe it wasn't what i thought it was going to be. oh, but it was... we walked around neighborhoods for 8 hours (and i was in my black stiletto boots dressed for an interview!) and asked people to buy these bingo cards for some charity- i felt so dirty and awful for doing it...

the only thing i can suggest is maybe telling her about your own experience with these companies. if she is a bright girl she should already be feeling some of the same feelings that you (and many others) felt at this point that this is a scam.

kenzie · Chanel

bex wrote:

i dont remember the parent company either, but i went on one of these interviews too. i even got called back for "shadowing" which i went too(!) purely b/c i thought maybe it wasn't what i thought it was going to be. oh, but it was... we walked around neighborhoods for 8 hours (and i was in my black stiletto boots dressed for an interview!) and asked people to buy these bingo cards for some charity- i felt so dirty and awful for doing it... the only thing i can suggest is maybe telling her about your own experience with these companies. if she is a bright girl she should already be feeling some of the same feelings that you (and many others) felt at this point that this is a scam.

bex, I totally got called back to 'shadow' at the two places I interviewed at. I never went. I seriously think they'll hire anyone (not dissing anyone who gets hired there, but everyone I've heard of who interviews with them gets a call to 'shadow').

She is so excited about this whole thing and since she isn't familar with advertising at all (no major in it, no internships, nothing), she doesn't know what to expect. I would hate to burst her bubble b/c she thinks she's landed the gig of a lifetime. When I asked her which side of advertising it was on, she didn't know I what I meant (of course, I meant creative or business). I explained what I meant to her and she told me that it was on the creative side!!!! Then she proceeded to tell me all about what the position entails.

My bf told me that I shouldn't say anything b/c 'it's not my place' and 'she'll figure it out on her own.' ACK! Maybe I'll just zip my lips and not say anything??

Luv2Shop · Kate Spade

Well, it sounds like she is understandably a bit niave seeing as though she is still young and has never had experience with this type of thing. It sounds like all the stories on your post
"My boyfriend went to one", "I went to one", "my friend went to one" They all ended up in disaster and everyone realized how crappy it was and what a scam these companys are. I know you are being really nice and trying to protect your friend, but it's kind of like having kids, you have to let them learn from their own experiences and mistakes. You need to let her discover just what kind of companys these are on her own, especially if she is trying to get into marketing/advertising, she is going to HAVE to learn to disifer between the real jobs and the scam jobs in her field.
I can probably say each one of us has or knows someone who has gone to one of these things and lives to tell about it, and it's in their "terrible interview files" forever. I think it teaches us a lot about the real world and especailly the business world.

Just be there for her when she is done with the "what is probably going to be a horrible interview" when she discovers just how much of a scam it is. Poor thing, ahhh to be young again!!

-- Edited by Luv2Shop at 12:22, 2005-08-05

lynnie · Chanel

what are these companies and how do they make their money? How can I be sure that I'm being called back by legit companies and what are some warning signs of these kinds of companies?

Luv2Shop · Kate Spade

lynnie wrote:

what are these companies and how do they make their money? How can I be sure that I'm being called back by legit companies and what are some warning signs of these kinds of companies?

They all make their $ in different ways. But the things to look out for are:

"Student Mentality" - They want someone who they can mold into what they want, who has no experience.

"Secure your future!!" - No real job would say this! A real job would list what you would be doing and what SKILLS they require, not what personality traits they require. Real jobs are not trying to get as many people as they can to apply, they are trying to find specific people with specific skills, not someone who the scam jobs put as "sports minded" or "fun and energetic"

"fast growth path to future training and managament positions" - What this means is that as soon as they train you to sell whatever it is that they are selling, they are going to try to get you to teach as many people as you can to do the same. real jobs will not mention anyting about moving up in the company because they want to see if you can even perform that job first!!!

Just keep an eye out for lots of exclamation points and that they want you to have awesome social skills and be a real team player and want to make tons of money and grow really fast!!!
While all those things sound great, a professional place will not put out an ad like this.

jacL · Coach

Definately warn her. Tell her your experiences with such companies and then she will make up her own mind.

Hermes

I wouldn't say anything. Let her learn from her mistakes. Besides, she might read your warnings as jealousy, and most likely will only believe what she wants to believe anyway...

Cortney1982 · Chanel

You can't get a fabulous marketing job without working for it! Obviously a selling job. I wouldn't say anything, she would assume you were jealous. And if she did listen to your warnings, and decided not to do it, she could blame you for missing out on a good opportunity.

In the summer when I was 18, I did this sales job that you "travelled the country" while making lots of money. They pay for your hotel room and give you small spending cash for meals and such while you are training. I spent all day on a bus (you can't bring your own car) to get to their location. All we did was sell magazines ALL day long, walking about 12 hours a day. And there was a meeting in the morning and at night. So you really only got about 6 hours to yourself a day which is spent sleeping. I got too exhausted and left on the 5th day. Plus it's dangerous since you go door to door by yourself. I came home with a sun burn and no money!

jen · Kate Spade

I agree with Detroit. I wouldn't say anything-she'll just think your jealous or trying to be mean. She'll learn herself.

kenzie · Chanel

I remembered the name of the parent company! It's Cydcor! They taut themselves as a leader in face-to-face marketing (ie, door-to-door sales!!). There is all kinds of bad press on them out there on the internet as well.

I guess I won't say anything to her. She'll learn when she's trudging around some neighborhood peddling crap to people who aren't interested.