I was about to graduate college when I submitted my resume to this company. I received a call back that day and was very excited about the interview. So excited that I told one of my Advertising professors. He told me not to go because companies like this one are looked down upon by real advertising and firms and that the work was 'degrading' and basically a mistake.
I ignored his advice and went to both interviews. They went exactly the same as other comments describe it - I won't bore you with that. When I was hired on the day after my second round interview, I was very uneasy, especially about the commission-only pay and the lack of fuel and mileage reimbursement. I continued to look for a different job but to no avail and decided to give AG a shot.
The first day had begun with a 3-part meeting that included: being forced to memorize a sales pitch, pricing items for customers, and playing some stupid game.
I drove home crying after my first day. I felt like a ten pound piece of you-know-what that my life had seriously come to this. Despite this I stayed for a number of months. Yes, I know - idiot.
But the way the company works is literally a pyramid scheme. The managers will swear up and down that they are not but believe me, they are. The company is literally a revolving door. People are constantly being interviewed, hired, and quitting - all within a week or so. The point is to get as many people as possible under you so that you make a 54% (or so) commission off of what they sell while they make a mere 28%.
I was in charge of taking people out on second-round interviews. I was told NOT to talk about pay or reimbursement in front of interviews and that the manager would be in charge of that. I was told exactly what to say to these people, including a description of the company being part of a large chain of marketing companies that works with Fortune 50 & 500 clients, blah blah blah. I was not to mention we are cold-calling. I was to refer to cold calls as 'clients'.
I was working from 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 at night, sometimes a little later. I was constantly kicked out of office buildings, doctors office - you name it for soliciting (we were told to tell people we were 'following up on information that was sent out' and told to flash a sales brochure). I was turned down alot by 'clients' (cold calls) who just didn't want to be bothered. And who would? This job seriously wore me down and I was so miserable. On top of that, I wasn't making money - and definitely not the 'six figures' as discussed at my second-round interview.
My relationship with my boyfriend suffered because of this job. All he knew was that I was gone more than 40 hours a week and little to no pay to show for it. We literally could not talk about my job because it was always a fight.
I got to the point where I would take people out on interviews and feel so bad for them. I wanted to tell them to just go home; they'd wasted enough of their time.
By the time I finally quit (after roughly 3 months), I had spent close to $1000 in fuel alone to work this job - NONE of which was reimbursed back to me. I was literallylosing money working this job. One morning after the meetings I just cried. I decided I was done - I was cutting my losses and finding a new job.
I am embarrassed to say that I worked for this company. I feel completely duped and refuse to put this experience on my resume. I would rather have to lie in an interview and say that I was unemployed for that time than say that I was slinging office supplies door-to-door.
So, people, challenge yourself. Keep looking for a job - a real one - before thinking about this place. Other companies associated with this one to look out for are structured the exact same and will give you the same runaround are:
Rockland International
MIICAH
Energy Marketing Service
One more tip. If you are searching for a job on careerbuilder or yahoo hotjobs, be wary of companies that have multiple postings, a lot of caps/exclamation marks, use 'executive' and 'entry-level' in the same posting. I recommend using Monster to find a job because these companies rarely post on there. It must cost money or something.
Good luck to everyone.
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