In late October I was looking around on Monster.com at which time I came across Girsh Alarm Company, a local Philadlephia company serving mostly commercial accounts and offering potential earnings of 75-100k per year.
I knew Girsh from passing their offices in my travels. At the time I was employed by another security company which catered to mostly residential customers. My work experience has been predominantly with commercial Fortune 500 companies so I jumped at the chance to apply.
I was quickly contacted by their headhunter/recruiter who asked for my resume, references and information for a background check. Everything cleared and I was asked to meet face to face in early November. At the initial meeting with the headhunter I was asked to take several personality and aptitude tests. I was also informed that the position carried a draw of $52k along with a $500 car allowance, $100 cell phone allowance and full health insurance for my family totaling approximately a $65k compensation package. I was also told the commission rate would be 40% of the profit for each sale. After the face to face meeting with the headhunter I was set to meet with Harry Girsh, the owner of Girsh Alarm.
Harry and I met mid-November and the meeting went fine. I was told I had very high scores on the personality and aptitude tests. We reiterated the $65k compensation package and he told me he would get back to me in a few days and left for vacation in Florida. The headhunter said that whoever is chosen to work there will start in early December. The headhunter also said that Harry was going to hire three people and that there were 6 candidates though he felt I was the best fit for Girsh. Before I left Harry requested that I fill out another entire employment application of Girsh's design and submit to a further background check.
I got a call from the headhunter the first week of December at which time he told me that I had again passed the background check and that I was being offered the job. He also said I was the only one offered a position which made me feel great.
I reconfirmed that I actually had the position and got a start date of December 14th. I gave notice to my current employer the next day. December 14th came & went with no further movement toward my employment at Girsh. I waited patiently.
The headhunter began to get frustrated with Girsh and their lack of communication. Finally, I was told to meet with Jodie Girsh, Harry's wife and office manager on Monday December 26th, a national holiday. I met with Jodie and I felt the meeting went great. We talked for an hour, laughed a lot and she introduced me to all the employees as their new salesman.
Then we discussed the contract. It seemed that Jodie's idea of the compensation package was extremely different then what was discussed with Harry and the headhunter. She offered a $30k draw, itemized car miles, cell phone allowance and no health insurance for six months. This was not even close to what had been discussed prior.
I stood my ground at what I was offered, expressed dismay that I left my previous employment and was not yet being paid by Girsh although I was told I had the job. Jodie said me she would have to talk it over with Harry and that we would talk the following morning.
Tuesday the 27th I called Jodie 11AM at the office and per her instructions. She did not answer and I left a voicemail. I tried again at 3PM on her cell phone again leaving a voicemail. The headhunter did not hear from her or Harry either.
By Wednesday morning I wondered if I had a job at all and called the headhunter. I was told at that time the Girsh's were no longer interested as they felt it was too much money to risk on a new salesman.
The headhunter and I tried to salvage the situation to no avail. Jodie never did call me back though I did manage to get Harry Girsh on his cell at 7PM, Wednesday the 28th.
Harry reiterated that my employment there was no longer an option. He said they were no longer going to invest in a professional salesman and were considering hiring someone out of college at a much lower rate.
I pointed out that they were going to hire three people and ended up with only me. How could they have possibly paid three people if they couldn't even pay me what they promised? In addition, Harry himself noted the $65k when we met face to face and if it was a problem why did they call me back to finalize a contract!
I lost my job, I lost weeks of job hunting and I lost weeks of their promised salary right at the holiday season. My entire family anticipated this new position and we all sacrificed over the last month based on knowing the job was starting.
I can't tell you how Girsh Alarm is toward their clients but I can only imagine how it must be if this is how they treat potential employees...
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