I had posted my resume online awhile ago after realizing I needed a career change. After that failed to produce many results, I started applying to postings that I found on job boards in my targeted region. Quite frankly, I applied to so many vague job postings that it was hard to remember them all.
One day I recieved a call from Steve saying he got my application and wanted to have me come in to "interview". Due to the aforementioned amount of applications, I had to ask him to clarify what his company was and what role he was calling in regards to. He told me it was World Financial Group, and we set up a time (on a Tuesday evening) to "interview" for a Financial Advisor position.
A short time later, I got an email from another person at the same office, Bob, who also wanted me to come in Tuesday night. Odd, I thought, how apparently their office didn't keep track, but oh well, sometimes paperwork gets shuffled so no harm no foul.
I went to the "interview" and spoke to Steve for all of about 5 minutes before I was put in a room with one other person, a powerpoint presentation, and a very high-energy presenter.
I had a friend who worked for the king of all pyramid schemes, AmWay, and this presentation drew comparisons to that. They showed an impressive compound interest chart, which would make anyone who's never seen that before amazed at how much money they can make for you. They talked about their mission and their beliefs, and somehow completely skipped over the part where they talk about what you do.
I walked out of that "interview" being completely unable to tell my girlfriend what the position even was. I was invited back on Thursday, and I started creating a list of questions that I wanted to ask, first and foremost being "what do you actually... Do?"
Luckily I found this site and others that informed me about how their pyramid-ish company works. I cancelled my second interview via email, which actually did get Steve to call me back and ask why I cancelled. When I told him that I believed his organization to be a pyramid scheme, his response was "aren't all businesses pyramid schemes? Your boss always makes money off of you".
I also then called my Financial Planner to ask what he knew of WFG, and he informed me that their principle method of making money is pushing a cookie-cutter Variable Universal Life Insurance policy on every single client, that hardly anyone in the company has obtained any sort of certification (i.E. CFP) for financial planning, and that he would never recommend anyone to work with them.
To be fair, above 90% of the persons who sell for WFG do have their Series 63 and/or 64. However, this should not be confused with a CFP or other training. Thier certifications allow them to legally sell insurance; other certifications make you a Certified Planner. Not one person I spoke with in my entire visit even had a college degree, which is a requirement for obtaining a CFP.
I am very happy to not be moving forward with them, and I hope nobody else gets suckered by their high-energy, high-pressure sales presentation.
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