I'm a college student about to graduate with a degree in public relations and I've been looking for the right internship to start this coming semester. I sent out my resume to a few places and I scored an interview with what sounded like a legitimate marketing company, Grace Marketing in Austin. It was such a huge mistake.
It's embarassing, but I got excited about the prospects of a job in marketing while I was still in college, getting priceless experience before graduation, blah blah blah... It was a total scam.
I went for what they called a "field interview" which was really a full day's work going door to door selling carwash money saving coupons. I've never been so degraded or embarrassed in my life, standing infront of busy mothers with screaming kids or dads in the middle of household projects, and here I am standing next to a robot spouting something about "do you like to keep the cars clean?"... But then it started to rain.
After walking literally miles and miles around suburbs in north Austin in expensive new shoes I had blisters on my feet that were bleeding, and my shoes were broken. The rain starting pouring and instead of stopping for the day my "trainee" pulled out a laminated copy of the same packages we'd been pushing on people and called it the "rain copy". WOW.
Please picture a college educated 20-something standing in the rain wearing professional office attire and heels trying to sell you a carwash... A carwash when it's raining. I don't think I've ever had such a long miserable day.
Before it rained it was so hot I almost passed out and had to brace myself in the ridiculous heat. All the while, I didn't complain to my "trainee" and was biting my lip to keep from going off on the entire ordeal.
In the middle of the day we stopped for an awkward meal at a local Whataburger, where they proceed to tell you you'll be owner and CEO of your own marketing company in the city of your choosing in 3 - 6 months... Yeah, OK.
It blows my mind that there really is a team of people who work there and take it seriously. They said multiple times "we're not salesmen" or "this isn't a sales job"... Wake up. You go door to door selling ridiculous packages.
That's the worst part of it all actually. The people there really believe they're on the path to greatness! Somebody there must be a genius, to convince all these educated young people with degrees - my "trainee" was a smart girl with an engineering degree - that they should walk door to door selling whatever thing is the flavor of the week.
I wasted my day, ruined my shoes, still have blisters on my feet that hurt like Hell, and got sick from walking in the rain. Please, don't do anything with Grace Marketing. It's not worth your time, I can personally guarantee. Learn from my dumb mistakes.
I hope this gets to the office of Grace Marketing somehow. I'm sure they're all too brainwashed to think anything of it though. I'm thankful I'm smarter than that...
0 comments