This company appears to be the definition of “bait and switch.” I was contacted by the company as they found my resume on LinkedIn, and scheduled my first interview. They had several candidates scheduled in 15-minute blocks, so I was waiting with the people I was interviewing against. The first interview was extremely brief and a lot of information was thrown at me. My first interviewer is a very friendly and welcoming person. He informed me that the company has several companies that they represent, “including big box retailers like Sam’s Club and CostCo.” He also said they have several tech companies, in particular AT&T, they represent, which was a plus for me because that is where my previous expertise has been. He ran through the management training program, which would be a 6-8 month process, which again was no big deal. He scheduled a second interview with me for the following week (today, March 21).
This second interview is where things began unraveling. I interviewed with a young woman, who seemed as though she’d gotten absolutely no information or notes about me from the first interviewer. She asked the exact same questions he did. She then began to elaborate on the details of the position. At the entry level, I was expected to sell AT&T products to customers of CostCo. This is NOT a marketing position, it is a job as one of those annoying people who try to sell you DirecTV and other products as you’re already shopping. The compensation is EITHER an hourly rate OR your commission pay if you reach more than your hourly pay, not both. There is no merit-based system to advancement, you are automatically promoted if you hit your sales target. At the second level, you are expected to begin hiring your own team, with higher sales goals and only a modest bump in commissioned pay in addition to a percentage of your team’s sales. It is at this point I began tuning out the young lady, as this seems very much like a pyramid sales scheme masked behind a “marketing firm” and a big name like AT&T.
At the conclusion of our conversation, I was asked to go back upstairs and fill out a questionnaire, with the third round interview to follow. The questionnaire is simply a quiz of the information you retained within that second conversation, and provides nothing of value to the interview process. I filled out two or three questions as I contemplated whether or not to continue, and ultimately decided to turn in my form incomplete and head home.
This company masquerades as a fantastic opportunity for those looking to get into the world of marketing for a firm or for an established company, but it is simply not that. The hourly compensation is subpar to even working at a typical retail store, and the fact that you only get the higher of your commission or your hourly rate is a massive detractor. If you are not getting both, it is not bonus income, it is the standard income. Overall, I am quite upset that I wasted multiple days and over a week of prep time on this company as I would not have accepted a second interview if all of this had been explained in the first one.
As a side note, it is obvious the pay structure is not one of massive saving grace even if you make a great deal in commission. I was chatting with the young lady during the elevator ride back up to the office, and was telling her about my upcoming move to an apartment. She expressly and voluntarily told me that was great, but that she was actually moving out of her own place and back in with her parents. If the pay is not good enough for someone they are trusting to interview potential new hires to afford rent, how would someone on the entry level ever make enough to support oneself? Just some additional food for thought.
