I was extremely hopeful after speaking with the sweet receptionist at Steeltown Promotions that I had a solid PR internship ahead of me for the summer of 2011... Despite their seedy website. I figured they're a new PR company, not a bunch of web developers. I showed up early one morning, dressed in business casual to wait for my interview.
I learned, while waiting for my interview, that I was not the only one being interviewed that day. 4 or 5 other boys in business suits sat in the waiting room with me. Several older people were waiting to be interviewed by another company in the same building.
In fact, one of the older women waiting to be interviewed quietly asked the receptionist if "this was the company that went from door to door selling stuff." The receptionist assured her that, no, this was not that company... Which lead me to believe Steeltown Promotions was.
My interview went smoothly, and the manager seemed really excited to have me. He assured me that door to door sales was only a small part of the company's dealings and I would personally get to sit in and participate during meetings with their clients.
Steeltown called me several days later to set up my second "interview". This second interview was more like a day of shadowing what a typical business day would be like. My parents told me to suck it up, even though I was beginning to realize I was getting scammed.
I showed up that day at 9:30 AM and was introduced to the two guys I was going to be shadowing for the day. We all got into a car that was saturated in cigarette smoke and had no air conditioning. (The temperature got up to 90 that day, oh and it rained.)
We drove an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh. It was then that I was informed that this entire day would be spent "in the field" and I would not be sitting in on any meetings. I also learned that employees are not reimbursed for the gas money they spend getting to these locations.
For some reason I decided not to wear heels that day, thank the Lord. We tromped around a large area filled with businesses of all kind. We walked through areas I'm positive we should not have been in, but these rats actually got suckers to buy coupon books.
We went through large, recognizable locations as well that do not accept any form of solicitation... These guys didn't care. It was all a game to them. Who can sell the most books?
After a miserable, hot, rainy car ride back to Steeltown I was greeted by the manager once again. He assured me that I would be heavily involved in the Marketing/PR aspects of the job and sent me on my merry way. I received a congratulatory and rather unsurprising call several hours later saying I was hired and that they'd see me at 7 A.M. Next Monday...
Not only do these poor people have to be in the office at 7 AM in order for them to be at predetermined locations, but there is a chance of NOT getting paid on any given day. It's all about selling those silly booklets of coupons. I thanked them, but declined.
0 comments