On Monday, February 6th, I saw an ad in the Pittsburgh post-gazette for management positions - no experience necessary. Since I am unemployed like the rest of the world, I decided to call and find out some information about the company. After a young man asked me if I was interested in an entry level management position, he proceeded to give me directions to the office for an interview.
The location of the office is by Ross Park Mall. There are three different building complexes: 1000, and 3000. The suite number I was looking for was 2009. When you enter the complex, there is a sign with all of the companies listed. Still not knowing the name of the company, I looked for suite 2009 and much to my surprise, it was blank. I decided that it had to be a newer company that just moved in to the complex and they did not have time to put the company name on the sign. I parked my car and when walking to suite there was an empty sign (no company name listed) on the door. I still did not know the name of the company.
On Tuesday, I went in for my first interview. We were taken into a small room where a woman told us that the company was the leading manufacturer and distributor of men and women's cologne and perfume. She told us the owner was a man by the name of Larry Hahn who was worth $300 billion dollars and was on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous numerous times. She then asked us to follow her into her office.
She asked -
What are four qualities you look for in a company?
Do reward and recognition motivate you?
Are you competitive?
What is one thing you want out of life.
After that, she told us thank you and she would be in touch later that evening to tell us whether or not we would be invited back to a second interview.
Of course, I was a little skeptical wondering how you could possibly determine who should come back for a second interview when there are no right or wrong answers to the above listed questions. Around 7PM that night, I received a call asking me to come in for a second interview. When confirming the interview on Wednesday morning, the man that answered the phone said Pittsburgh Wholesale. I then felt better about knowing the companys' name.
On Wednesday, I went in for a two hour interview which ended up to be a group interview. We were told that the company was hiring 60 people for management positions that were being opened up due to expansion within the company. We were then told about the position, the background of the company, the training, and the large amount of money we would be making. We were told that training would last 5 - 8 weeks long depending on our performance. It consisted of marketing (where we would be required to have 50 sales), training and evaluating (where we would learn how to train the distributors), and management and administration (where we would learn how to run an office).
Once training was completed, we had to run an executive office for 4 -6 weeks under supervision before we would be allowed to run our own branch office. Salary during training was between $200 and $400 per week depending on performance. But, it was mentioned countless times how the take home salary for a management position was $52,000 per year. It was actually $70,000 a year, but when you subtracted taxes and your monthly expenses (estimated to be $700 per week) the total take home was $52,000. It was not a guaranteed $52,000. It depended on how much our distributors sold per week. Of course, the average office sells 300 bottles of perfume per week. We were told the reason why this is a profitable business was because we were in the rendition market. We sell quality perfume with the same ingredients as named brands, but without the cost or the familiar name on the box.
After we were through with the two hour second interview, I was sure that we would have a one on one interview with the managers. But, we were separated into two groups. My group was congratulated and told that we should come back on Monday for training at 10:30AM. Most people were estatic and immediately called their loved ones telling them the 'good' news. I on the other hand, had some questions and as I was driving home, more and more questions came to mind.
I came home and after thinking, decided that it sounded like a risky opportunity and it wasn't for me. But, being curious, I decided to research the name Larry Hahn, the founder of the company. I figured that a man with such prestige that was on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous numerous times would have many articles about him on the Internet. And to my surprise, when I searched on google, nothing came up. I decided to search on Mark Larecy, a name given to us as the master perfumer that works for Larry Hahn.
The search results that came up, were countless articles on Perfume Company Rip Offs. The articles sound the same as the one I have written, except the name of the owner is not the same as in the other articles. I do not know the exact extent of the rip off since I have not been to training, but from reading what others have wrote, it seems like they make you do the selling for them during the training period and you must invest alot of money to start initially running the office. I also read in some articles that people never saw a paycheck during the training period.
The reason why I write this in depth article is that I would hate to see anyone believing the information provided during the second interview. I do not want someone to take this risk and end up giving alot of their own money and time to a company who promises at least $52,000 a year.
Anonymous
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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