"Global Marketing Ventures", AKA "Pinnacle Promotions", AKA "MSL Advertising" is a waste of your time if you are looking for a legitimate marketing job.
I noticed their job listing in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The listing said "Entry Level Marketing Position." It stated that the position was for a advertising/marketing agency that works with top Fortune 500 Corporations. It said the position offered a $35,000 SALARY with excellent benefits.
I called the number listed and asked for further information. The young lady on the phone said that I could come down for an interview and would get all information on what the company does, it's clients, etc there. I asked if they had a web site and she said they did and gave it to me. I looked it up online and it looked fairly legit. It showed the clients they worked with (Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, LA Dodgers, etc...), and explained that the company specialized in direct marketing. It even had statistics on direct marketing and showed the effectiveness of that chosen method over the wasted coverage of mass marketing. I decided to go to a preliminary interview.
I drove 3 hours to the interview. Once there, they had me do the standard stuff (fill out and application, turn in a resume, etc...) They then had me sit down with the "owner" for an interview. The first thing I noticed was that the office was rather bare. Their explanation was that they had just moved in to a new building. The "owner" said that he was working for a similar company, but just opened his own. The interview was short, 15 minutes. He explained that it was just a prelim to meet me and see what my resume looked like. I tried to get more info from him but he kept telling me I will learn all about what they do at the job shadow, "if I got that far". At the end of the interview, after he had learned all about me and I knew nothing about them, he congratulated me and said that I was an acceptable candidate to come back and shadow one of the advertising reps for a day. He made it sound like I had just won the lottery. They asked me to drive back the following day. I was hesitant because I still didn't know anything about the position, but in need of a job, so I did.
The following day, after driving 3 hours home and 3 hours back for a new suit, I arrived for my job shadow. They paired me up with a young guy who was "one of the top reps." He kept being vague and said I will learn more "out in the field." I was there with about 15 other people. They laid out the day for us. We would all start out with our rep. Throughout the day, the rep would evaluate if we are good for the job. Typically, 1/2 wouldn't make it to lunch. They said, "if you make it to lunch, then you will learn about the pay and benefits." You will then go out for the 2nd half of the day. If you make it to the end of the day, you have a final interview. Depending upon the final interview, you may get a job offer.
The first thing I noticed getting into my reps car was that he was driving a beat up '88 Bonneville with a broken passenger seat. He was also wearing a $5 suit.in fact, most of the vehicles were ratty and old. (Tip 1... Pay, not so good). We set out and he pulled out these coupon books and started showing them to me. He said, "this is our product, how we advertise." I said, "coupons?" He told me that they do booklets for Timberwolves tickets, Twins tickets, everything. He said that he personally met with the owner of the Timberwolves and designed a campaign. It started sounding real bad. I don't know why I didn't leave then, but I decided to see what happened, I did drive 3 hours.
Once we got to our first stop, he grabbed a handful of coupon books and told me this is where we start. I looked around and it was all residential housing. We started going door-to-door trying to sell coupons for oil changes! At my first chance, I told him to bring me back. He said, "I can't do that, I am not going to lose sales. If you wait till lunch, you'll see that this is just the 'grunt work' and if you still want to go back, then we can; but I doubt you will once you hear the pay." He then said, "I make $200-300 a day doing this alone, and this is just the beginning. I can't remember the last week I didn't earn AT LEAST $1,000.00." I was thinking to myself, then why are you wearing a $5 suit and driving a $10 car.
At lunch, he explained to me that there is a 10% commission on all coupon books sold. I asked about the $35,000 salary and benefits and he said, "that's what it averages out to be." I told him, "then it's not a salary." He then went on to say:
"You only sell coupons for 3-6 weeks. After that, you get promoted to Team Leader, where you run a campaign. That lasts 3-6 months, I did mine in 2 months, but I worked hard. From there, you go to Manager (I cannot remember the exact name). There you get a salary of $50,000 and your benefits start. You are there for 3-4 months and then become and owner. Our owner, Matt, makes over $150,000 a year." (The funny thing was that Matt was also wearing a $5 suit). He then said, "if you are worried about getting started with money and no benefits, don't. When I started, I had bills to pay. Matt offered to pay my bills for a few months and didn't even want me to pay him back. He also paid my doctor bills and bought me a few suits."
I immeditely told him to bring me back.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR DIGNITY. Unless you want to go door-to-door embarrasing yourself selling coupons to people who get pissed that you are bothering them, don't even interview. If you get a call from any job that won't give you full details of the position, don't bother.
One thing I started doing is asking them to give me a run down of what a typical day of work would be.
The thing that bothers me most is that I have a Marketing Degree from the University of Minnesota. People like this are ruining the term 'marketing' and making it seem sleazy. They are ruining it for all of the REAL marketing agencies out there that don't scam people.
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