I thought it was fishy when I first started. Honestly I could not recommend the endeavor to anyone. I will try to put it in a nutshell:
I worked an average of 60 hrs/week for about $150 to $250/week after taxes in pay. (I would say at BEST you could earn maybe $350/week working your butt off and only if you get assigned to impressively busy events, which is unlikely) You work about 11 hours a day and then a half day on Saturday (which is 'optional' but frowned upon if you don't come in). You're expected to want to stay even later if you are not selling enough.
I was not impressed with standing in the freezing cold, sometimes rain, in front of a Wal-mart or some other business for hours on end jumping around like a monkey to try and sell things off my table for an average pay of less than minimum wage.
If you don't sell enough during the day then you might be expected to continue into the evening. They wanted me (a woman) to walk around a dark parking lot one night to talk to strangers and try to sell them t-shirts. No protection... No credit-giving-identification from the company either, just me and some t-shirts walking up to strangers cars.
Only 5% of the proceeds actually goes back to even help the 'missing kids'.
I had to pay for my supplies. This includes GAS. The events they send you to could be local in Savannah or could be up to 2 hours away and you are responsible for getting yourself there and back, no reimbursement. Chances are you'll be at the same event all week long so thats 4 hours of driving, 5 days in a row. And that doesn't even consider a commute to and from your home, mine was an hour away.
On road trips they stick up to 4 people, possibly of the opposite sex, in one hotel room (something like Motel 6 or Super 8) and you must share a bed with someone you barely know. For a week. On the road trips everyone takes their own car, filled with boxes of uninsured merchandise possibly over state lines, so they can drive to separate events all week long. No reimbursed gas or food costs on that either. If anything happens to the merchandise then you are responsible for paying for it. Hundreds of dollars.
You are paid on profit sharing, which is glorified commission. The only difference is that taxes are taken out which is good. But the downside? Same as commission, you only get paid for what you sell (a portion) and any time you are not selling, you are not making money. Any time you take a day off you are not only not getting paid (no sick pay) but your job is on the line.
You HAVE to report to the office in the mornings and evenings and attend long meetings and sales pitch pratices, you are not permitted to sit down at any time. You will be in the office about 4 hours a day.
There is absolutely no job security.
There is no paid training like the job ad says. Its all commission (profit sharing)
They have something like 6 or 7 different job ads up on different sites, they range from public relations, marketing, sales, administrative, to management, etc. But they are ALL to bring people in for the same table-selling-in-front-of-some-random-business job.
The month I was there, there were only about 6 people out of like 20 or 25 at a time that were employed the entire time. Scary turnover rate.
And here's a catch 22: I was employed there during winter months. Due to standing outside for hours on end in the cold and sometimes rain everyday trying to sell things: I eventually got sick. Very sick. Due to getting sick I was forced to take a couple days off to try and recooperate. They were very put off by my asking for the time off and acted as if I was being foolish. Not only that but during that time I was, of course, not making any money. Therefore the following week I had to try and work extra to make up for some time I missed. That meant yet again, standing outside in the freezing weather and risking getting sick all over again.
They typically hire attractive people and indirectly encourage you to do more flirting and body language than persuasive real selling, especially the women.
They encourage the use of energy drinks or energy providing products on a daily basis. One day, while I was standing all day outside of a less-than-busy Family Dollar in Hinesville I noticed a sticker on the window that said "All applicants will be subjected to a drug screening process". Thats when I realized Northwind didn't perform a drug test on me or even mention the possiblity of one. That not to say I need one but if even Family Dollar performs them, why wouldn't a "successful innovative marketing firm" like Northwind? I would not be suprised if some of them were doing lines of coke to support their 14-hour-never-allowed-to-sit-down-days.
I guess there are some people who could make money out of a thing like that. They say its not for everyone but I really couldn't see it being for anyone. Even when you make it to "owner" level, Quantum, the parent company, can still pluck you out if you do something they don't like. I think if I wanted to own my own business I would want to get it the hard way and own it fair and square with nobody breathing over my shoulder telling me what to do.
So I wouldn't recommend it. Anyone else is, of course, free to form their own opinions however. If you do decide to do it anyway after reading this. Good luck and I hope you have some money in savings, you might need it.
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