SCAMS and FLAMS

Dearest Internet, today I was almost SCAMMED.

A few days ago I was doing my usual job search. There are several methods that I use to find potential jobs, but on this particular day I was using Monster.com.

The words 'entry-level' caught my eye, as most things seem to want at least five years of experience. The webpage said they were started five years ago by a graduate of James Madison University. I support young business ventures for the most part, so, without much thought, I sent out my resume into the internet abyss and towards a company called The Marketing Group.

Within a few hours I had already received a call wanting to set up an interview for the next day. This seemed pretty quick, but my 'look at me! jobs want me!' ego had already kicked in. I scheduled my interview for the following day. She asked me to call if I needed to cancel, but the way she said it made it seem like maybe this happened a lot. They sent me a confirmation email, reminding me to 'dress professionally.' I also thought this was odd, isn't that common sense at an interview?

I didn't even get lost on the way there, surely this was a good omen. The office park in which the company was located was nice enough. Yet opening the door to the suite was a little surprising.

There were three other people waiting to interview... clearly also entry-level recent grads hoping for their own slice of pie. The guy interviewing us worked quickly, people were in and out. When it came time for me, I still wasn't sure what to make of the place. There were two doors off the lobby, one led to the office where the guy was interviewing, and the other one was closed but appeared dark inside.

During my interview, the guy only asked me one question. He spent the rest of the time talking about how great the company was going to be. He smiled at inappropriate times and gave me compliments that didn't make much sense. "I like your business style," he said. And he talked about how I would be groomed for management.

The interview lasted between five and 10 minutes. After which time he told me I was to come to a second interview the following day from NOON to 7:30PM! I had to ask him to repeat that, of course I had heard him wrong. But no, it was actually 7.5 hours long. He didn't ask if I had any questions, and I was quickly shown the door.

My red flag, which was up from the first moment this place contacted me, was now waving and flashing emergency lights. At this point I did not think it was a scam, just that it was not my type of environment whatsoever and that I did not want to go to this interview.

After talking about it with some friends, most people seemed to think it would be "good experience" and that I "had no reason not to go." So around 10pm I decided maybe I will check it out.

Thus, as I would do before any second interview, I began researching the company. I had tried to do this before the first interview, but since The Marketing Group isn't a terribly unique name I wasn't having much luck. This time I got more descriptive, using names and locations.

This is how I found scam heaven, and at about 10:05pm I was beating my boyfriend on the head to get him to wake up and come look at my mysterious and freaky findings.

The first link I found was shocking just for the fact that the company was listed on a website called 'Rip Off Reports.' The page itself was mostly someone ranting. Later links got more indepth.

The Marketing Group... Scam artist pyramid scheme sales organization that disguises itself as a marketing or advertising firm. Misleads job applicants and interviewees about pay structure and benefits. Changes its name constantly to avoid detection.

A little name changing isn't suspicious at all. My favorite page of all was this.

They have changed their name to The Marketing Group after 20 people quit in a 1 week period.

The deal from people who have been through it:

Here's what happens:

After you get called in for an immediate interview. You arrive and realize that another 10 people are also there to interview. Then you get called in and meet with a tough sounding woman named X or a tall guy named X. In 5 minutes tops, you are invited for a second interview that will last all day. During the 2nd interview you go door-to-door trying to sell something, in my case it was Verizon phone stuff. You may even start to feel a little undignified when you are shooed out of a doctor's office or a pet shop. At the end of the day, you go back to the office to "hear their decision". Chances are you get the position. First few days, you are riding all around MD or VA with your "leader"(the person you shadow, until you are ready to go out on your own). You find out your leader's only been their a few weeks. You think, "huh"? Then chances are at the end of the week you are ready to go out on your own. You get a territory(which 10 people have already covered) and run around all day and go back to the office @ 6PM for some sort of Pep Rally, ring/run around the bell crap. At appx. 6:45 you head home, only to have to show up @ 8AM the next day, and the next, and the next. Then you find out once you b/c a leader you have to get there an hour earlier. So you end up working on average an 11 hour day.

So, yes, I'm glad that I didn't go to that second interview. I also saw this posting about the guy who interviewed me:

I was once employed with The Marketing Group. My reason for leaving was a little different then the rest of you. If any of you guys were employed in the last 6 months, you might know of a manager named X. Well, to make story short, he was taking a team down to New Orleans to start his office. I had just started there, less than a week when he asked me to join him and his team in New Orleans. He pitched it as a great opportunity to grow and climb the ladder faster. So, I accepted. The week before we were to leave for training, he disclosed to me that the only reason why he wanted me to go down to New Orleans is because he couldn't bare the thought of not seeing me everyday. He said that he thought we were meant for each other and that I could just quit the job once we got down there and he would take care of me. Mind you, I had told him I had a boyfriend who was very upset that I was leaving and I had known him for at most 2 weeks with very limited contact, only at work. He told me he was falling for me and that we should be together and he doesn't care that I had a boyfriend. If this isn't sexual harassment, I don't know what is. Worst of all the president, his boss, knew everything about it and even encouraged it. I have seeked legal actions. This is NOT how a business is operated!

Thus, beware of things that don't seem quite right. I can't claim that all the above quotes are factual, and I'm not sure if what they're doing is illegal or just unethical, but either way it doesn't seem like you want to get mixed up with them. This page and this also warn about similar Multi-Level Marketing scams.

They called me this morning to confirm my second interview; they are certainly interested in getting new players. The postings are everywhere: Monster, Washington Post, Careerbuilder, etc. I sent some e-mails out about it just incase. At worst they'll ignore my complaint, finding that the company is merely unethical and doing nothing illegal. But at best, maybe I'll help bring down some giant assholes.

I enjoy bringing down giant assholes, or at least publishing allegations of wrongdoing concerning them online. I understand that fellow 20-somethings out in the job market must seem extremely vulnerable to these marketing predators; we're young, inexperienced, ambitious, and trapped in a haze of post-graduate egotism and naivete. But unfortunately for them, inexperience and naivete don't translate to stupidity. And many of us are more than familiar with googling anything and everything, especially interview situations which seem shady.

(Perhaps Career Track Live by Mary Ellen Slayter on Washington Post could do an article on how to watch out for scams while looking for jobs? Her recent article titled Dream Jobs Provide Respect, Independence and Appreciation could certainly pull some things from this experience if what the people above said is correct. How about common phrases scammers use to entice recent grads? How to find great companies that are also legit (like Washingtonian's article on Great Places to Work)?