My experience was much the same as everyone else's, and if you'd like to debate whether or not Cydcor/DS Max or whatever businesses shimmy underneath their umbrella are cult-like, consider this:
1. The first interview is always very brief. About 80% of the time, you are brought into the office in pairs.
2. The second interview is always the next day, promptly at 9am. You are not told that you are going to follow a sales representative and view a cold-call outing first-hand. I personally was told I was going to see some presentations. How about being more specific...
3. The overly-enthusiastic secretary. What is up with that? Honestly, that secretary is the luckiest one there with an hourly salary. And she has full control of #4...
4. Loud music playing. Ok, the average age of the employees under Cydcor's umbrella is 23. And if managers are making 6 figures, they can afford a really nice stereo system to blast music, most-likely R&B or rap, down corporate hallways. For people who take themselves so seriously, this hardly fits such a reputation.
5. I'm sorry, but when you work 16 hour work days and are asked to go on retreats, road trips, and meetings in the early morning and evening and Company Nights, you have now considerably isolated yourself from people who are NOT in the business. There's pride in your company and enjoying what you do and then flat out manipulation of your surroundings and influences. If you're a Cydcor employee and you can't see that, then you need to see a psychologist to help you realize what you can't realize for yourself.
6. The notion that if you haven't made a sale today, you have failed. Or the notion that if you've quit Cydcor in a few hours, days, weeks, months, or years, you have failed. That, again, is a wonderful manipulation on the part of the managers, team leaders (team brainwashers sounds more like it), etc. It's not about not being cut out for cold-calling (because, after all, isn't your training supposed to be AMAZING? Making each sales rep SUCCESSFUL if they really want to be?). It's not even about HARD WORK. It's about ETHICS. When you realize you're bothering businesses (my 2nd interview took me to a dentist's office. It's like going to a hospital emergancy room and soliciting THEM...), you quit because it's UNETHICAL. When you don't want work to become your entire world or are losing sleep, losing weight, watching your health deteriorate, and feeling unhappy and you quit: THAT'S NOT FAILURE. That's intelligence.
7. Money is used to justify all actions. You can't argue with statistics. Managers ARE making 6 figure salaries, as promised. I suppose that helps pay the debts they've dug for themselves in the lower levels. Because you can't argue with the OTHER statistics: making LESS than minimum wage in the entry level position. 16 hours, Saturdays, etc. And you've put milage on your car, you're out a couple tanks of gas among other things. And the managers will say it's YOUR problem. You've failed. Are you seeing the psychotic nature of Cydcor's ideology now?
8. Chanting and codewords. JUICE, for example. I witnessed the 1-2-3 TEAMWORK!!! I text-messaged my boyfriend with, "OMIGOD, I THINK THIS IS A CULT" while I waited to go on my 2nd interview. And boy, was I right. It's not bad to have enthusiasm in what you do or where you work, but doing this every day, twice a day, 16 hours a day... They've basically got you brainwashing yourself.
You're welcome to ad to the list.
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