Well well... There is absolutely NOTHING good to say about the company that wasted a large chunk of my life. I am writing this to warn anyone who gets a call or who applies for a job with the HOF Group or any of it's Smart Circle affiliates; but you wouldn't know that Smart Circle has anything to do with the company until it's too late. From moment you click on the online ad on Monster or careerbuilder or read an ad in the newspaper, you are lied to. If you want a good laugh, take a look at the 'keywords' this company uses to be pulled up in a search! I'm surprised 'Janitor' is not in the mix. Here's how it works... They DO NOT tell you anything over the phone. They get you in for a first round interview, if they like you, you are invited back for a 'full day' interview. Here's the trick. You are not told what you are getting into until it's too late! Long Story short, if you start with the company, be prepared to work your ass off for nothing!
I was pretty high up amongst my coworkers, meaning that I interviewed and trained people everyday. Trust me, from a business point-of-view, Smart Circle is BRILLIANT! The company does not pay a dime to train or pay it's people. This job is 100% commission! They say that you'll make 30-60K benefits, blah blah blah! If you don't sell, you don't make anything for the day. So imagine being at the office at 7 am (that's the time you are expected to be there) work ALL day, and by 'work', i mean COLD CALL, DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES!!! And somedays you don't sell anything! And the kicker is that YOU PAY the people you trained for the day from YOUR POCKET! They company gives you NO money. They tell you you are "building a team" to get to management when the whole time you are working like a slave and making no money. There were definately days when I made negative money because I had to pay out other people. We worked from 7am to 7 or 8 at night EVERYDAY. And be prepard to work every Saturday, too! (not to mention Christmas break. We were supposed to get over a week off and at the last minute, it was changed to only 4 days off!)
Overall, after being in this company for a year, I saw so many people come and go, but I stuck with it, hoping that all I was promised would actually come true... They tell you that you will own your own business and never have to work for anyone else ever again and retire by the age of 35!! Bull! You are NOT a business owner because you have to answer to the HEAD GUYS. They promise that you will make over 6 figures your first year as a manager, which could be true, but the reason that works is because they hold your money in an "account". It was crazy to be told that managers make GREAT money then go to my manager's appartment and he didn't have cable. Or furniture. Or a decent car. You make money because you live in poverty.
Getting out of this business was the best decision I ever made. Looking back, I can't believe how brainwashed we all were. Believing that we could make tons of money, but the moment you have a bad day, they turn their back on you and look for 'the next guy'.
I hope anyone who reads this thinks twice about getting into this business. If you like working 70 hours a week and making $400, be my guest. I was one of the top people in my office and still couldn't pay my bills. Good Luck!
B2B (Brainwashed 2 Broke)
Baltimore, Maryland
U.S.A.
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