I was contacted by Jane (stated as a representative of the local dealership hiring) regarding an automotive sales position (they had found my resume on careerbuilder.com). The email stated:
"I represent Weston Pontiac Buick GMC in Gresham. We came across the resume you posted on Careerbuilder.com and would like to invite you to to come in and speak to us about a career in auto sales.
Interviews will be held Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
You don't need automotive experience! Let me know what day and time would work best for you. Let's talk!
Sincerely,
Jane"
Being an optimistic person, I thought I would take some time and explore this. We agreed on a scheduled time to meet with John Priest at the dealership Monday morning, this was under the assumption this individual was a manager at said dealership (I have been involved in retail recruitment such as this prior, so this was not something I was surprised by).
Some additional background, an ad was placed on monster.com and careerbuilder.com as follows:
GM SALES REPS
No Experience Wanted!
We Will Train You Our Way!
Join Our Professional & Fun Team!
We Have Full-Time Positions With Benefits!
Hiring for Multiple Positions:
Customer Service Reps
Showroom Floor Sales Reps
Internet Sales Reps
Phone Sales Reps
Applicants must be enthusiastic, high-energy, people-persons!
Do you like cars? Do you like Trucks? Do you like American-made automobiles?
Do you just want a chance to try something new and fun?
Do you want to make a really good income (with benefits) in a professional and fun atmosphere?
Can you drive around in brand new $30,000 - $60,000 automobiles?
Can you talk and look, like a professional?
Can you treat people with respect and be enthusiastic and FUN about it?
THEN YOU CAN DO THIS!
Now looking for energetic "People-Persons" to hire!
Is it time for a brand new "fun" career?
EARN WHILE YOU LEARN!
$4,500 Guaranteed Income while Training!
no experience wanted!
We will show you the weston way of doing business!
WESTON PONTIAC BUICK GMC BENEFITS: RATED #1 COMPANY TO WORK FOR IN OREGON BY THE OREGON BUSINESS JOURNAL! $4,500 guaranteed income while training that starts as soon as you are hired! Average annual earnings for salespeople is $55,000! Our top salesperson earned $150,000 last year! Family minded work schedules! #1 volume Pontiac Buick GMC dealer in the entire Northwest! Community oriented dealership! Exciting Professional Training Provided for you! HUGE TRUCK CENTER Ongoing, Professional Corporate Training! Family owned dealership for over 35 years = we treat our customers right! Winner of GMs prestigious Standards of Excellence Award! Huge, 5 acre campus full of new and pre-owned vehicles! Ongoing career path advancement system (we promote from within!)
rated #1 company to work for in oregon - oregon business journal! All Interviews will be held at:
Weston Pontiac Buick GMC
22555 SE Stark, Gresham, OR 97030
Interviews are 2 days only!
Monday, April 7th & Tuesday, April 8th
from 9:30am 6:00pm
Ask for JOHN PRIEST at the reception desk!
Bi-lingual is a plus! Make sure you bring your own pen and dress professionally for the interview. Save time by applying online! Use the APPLY ONLINE button to submit your application or just show up! No phone calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer & Drug Free Work Place.
Monday morning, I arrived as I would to any job interview (about 15 minutes early) and stated I had an appointment with John Priest. The sales associates there (all standing around becuase there were no customers) handed me a sign in sheet for this "open interview style" job fair) and said he should be down shortly, then handed me something that he said was an application. I sat in their waiting area and completed this application. I have years of recruiting and hiring in retail and had never in my life seen such a horribly constructed "application" (red flag #1). Appeared as though someone had thrown it together in MS Word, asking for basic information.
I completed this in about 5 minutes, and waited. And waited more... About 30 minutes go by and some people that appear to be candidates come and go. A small group of about 3 people leave after I have been there around 40 minutes. Shortly after (45-50 minutes or so) an asian looking gentleman dressed very well (full suit) walks through the lobby with a handful of papers and heads directly to the reception desk (this was John Priest). He talks with the sales people for a few minutes and stood around, then headed back up stairs. Roughly 15 minutes later, he returns back to the reception desk and stands there for another 5 mintues. He then heads toward me and addresses me by name. John mentioned he appreciated me waiting, and would be back in a few minutes as he was finishing up with some folks. As I sat on the couch - I could hear two individuals talking on the balcony - John Priest and someone else. Roughly 30 minutes later, he returns and we walked to a conference room for this "interview". This interview was not a normal sales interview, as John did most of the talking asking only a few specific questions not related to sales, automotive, or customer service in any way! The questions were focused on personal interests and personal life. This is ok, as I typically ask these types of questions myself when interviewing for sales positions, but those follow everything else as a character builder.
After about 10 minutes of us talking, and me having to write down on a piece of paper why I would be a good fit for this job, John said "congratulations! Of behalf of the dealer, I would like to invite you back to our training which will take place at the Pony Soldier hotel Wednesday - Friday this week!" (red flag #2) He stated if I had any questions, these would be answered Wednesday and we would see if this was what I wanted to do (as he stated with each person). I thanked him and said I would be there, and we would see what pans out... All in all, I waited roughly 90 minutes for this person (who I had an appoitnement with), all to talk for 10-15 minutes. A side note - I had never seen any other people leave prior to heading to this conference room since the initial three... Red flag #3).
John Priest had introduced himself as a consultant, who specializes in recruiting within the auto industry. This I could understand - again, I have been exposed to legitimate consultant recruiters in my past.
After leaving, I did some research on John Priest and his company (JKP & Associates) only to find that he was associated with Automax Recruiting, and that his "clients" (dealerships throughout the west) were listed on his website. The interesting piece of information I found was that there is absolutely NO contact information listed anywhere for John Priest or JKP & Associates ANYWHERE! The Better Bussiness Beurea has no accredidation with him, nor have current contact information - the address listed with BBB was of a bogus one in downtown Gresham, OR! (I also found another address for his company in Gresham, that was false as well... (red flag #4)
Red Flag #5 = None of his "clients" list any information of John Priest, JKP & Associates, or Automax Recruiting on their webistes for employment.
From my professional experience, this is a normal item to have listed - If you have a consultant completing your hiring, you would direct applicants in this fashion...
With all of this information, I decided I would attend the "training" to see what would happen - thanks to posts listed on this site, as well as others I found out that in the end they want you to purchase a "certification" from Automax for a substantial amount of money. I'll get into this more shortly.
Wednesday morning, I arrived at the hotel for this training. A number of people were roaming about, and a very diverse group as well. I went in, and found a seat. Everyone then piled into this little room (at a cheap hotel I might add...) John started his introduction and agenda. There was informatoin provided on the industry and such, followed with some group interaction and team introductions). John was a great public speaker and very enthuiastic speaker - he can certianly grab your attention!
He got everyone in the room pumped up, and excited quickly (great sales person). There was a break every hour just about (again, good tactic - people stay focused, attentive, and involved). He did not allow any questions to be asked at all - he would simply continue talking over anyone with questions. I patiently awaited some conversation and topics of the job, how many positions there were (there were 18 people in this training), and general discussion about customer interactions, service, and sales. John then went into his life story for upwards of 3-4 hours! Everyone was intoxicated by his life - he would mention over and over about how much money he makes, how he started out in auto sales accidently, money... Money... Money! He knows how to get people involved.
Something interesting - every person in that training (including myself) were currently unemployed (red flag #6). The most unprofessional portion was when he began to give "gut-checks" as he put it to the group. He polled and asked how many people in the room owned there own home - 2 people confirmed. He stated "that's pittifull!" add 30 years to your age now, you'll never be able to afford to buy one! He went on and on about how everyone in this room was, for lack of a better term - "poor", and that any job you get would never allow you to live the way you want. As I looked around the room, it seemed as though every person was bought into his ideas, and statements (true or not) and on board with him. And why not!? He made some enticing statements and pursuasive remarks on how well we could do in this industry!
I was ammused, and at the same time disgussted by all of this. After about 4 hours of John talking about himself, and finally the pay structure, dealership, and business itself - it finally came up! You can have all of this for a price! He stated that this certification from Automax entitles each person who purchases this, lifetime placement with dealerships, ongoing training, and access to John Priest himself for communication! You would also receive some manuals on how to sell cars, and a scheduling tool (book) to schedule appointments with your soon to be clients! The normal price he stated was $549.00, however - the dealership was sponsoring a portion of this so it was reduced to only $299.00! Now, if this was a benefit you would not neccasarily push it - he stated to the group that since they probably don't have any money, to borrow it from someone - it's worth it! This payment would have to be made by Friday morning since he needed to inform the dealership of who was purchasing this or not (why would they care if it's not required, unless those who don't purchase have absolutely no chance of getting a job!) Additionally, we were given the "actual" application for the dealership at this point - which also led me to believe that we would need to go through the entire interview process with the hiring managers, or "HR process" as he called it. Things are now completely adding up!
To further entice everyone in the class, he stated that if everyone was a person of their word, and everyone returned the next day - every person in the class would recieve two free airline tickets! (the link to these promotion tickets is listed on his site, as well as Automax website). On top of this, everyone who purchased the certification would recieve another pair to give to their first customer! I think I saw everyone salivate at this point! I was completely convinced at this point the entire day and process was a sham!
Once home, I did some further research only to find that JKP & Associates, Automax Recruiting, and John Priest have no affilitation with NADA, or any other auto industry organziation what-so-ever! Nor with any training organizations, sales organziations, or recruiting organzations! If this was truely a professional group would they not want affiliations such as this? Most companies have these sort of supports...
Needless to say, I didn't return to get my free plane tickets (can only be used for certain locations and are extremely limited as well - I believe they can only be used by "customers"). When speaking with one other person in the training throughout the day, he mentioned he had interviewed with another dealership down the street (by chance the one that Joh Priest started out in auto sales with) and told them he was attending this training and may not be back. They told him they know all about the training and John Priest - and that he would be back!
In summary, this is a complete waist of time. The entire process is made to weed out those who are unemployed and are persuasive enough to become "Transportation Consultants". Mainly - people John Priest thinks are succeptible enough to buy into his presentation of the wonderful life and support his six-figure income by purchasing a worthless paper stating they are an "Automax Certified Sales Person" (which means nothing to any dealership. He is a sales person, and a good one! Don't buy into his statements or empty promises. These "recruitment and training" events are not sponsored by said dealerships. Call the dealership directly if you want a job - This class deos not teach you anything new if you have been in customer service or sales within the last 4-5 years as I have.
If it's to good to be true, it probably is!
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