Beware Job Seekers: After a month or so of job searching for another technical job with no luck in the upstate of south carolina, I decided to give the sales route a try. After applying for numerous jobs, the very next day I received a request from "Incentive Marketing Group"... I remembered them because on the careerbuilder description they had thrown up the names of local sports teams to make a young job seeker think that they were heavily involved and add a "cool" factor.
I showed up for the first intervew at a business complex and found them on the second floor. I was definitely unimpressed... There was a receptionist and a tall guy behind the desk. They were exceptionally friendly and the tall guy called me back for the interview in his office. He introduced himself as the "owner" and explained how his company provided an alternative to the expense of mass media marketing with "guaranteed results".
After only about 10 minutes as the most he said he would be calling "selected" applicants back for a second interview. I was extremely excited about the possibility of a new career field, especially one involved with sports teams... I got a call back around five and was congrajulated with an invitation to a "second phase interview"... The next morning I showed up at 9:00AM and sat beside a female applicant. We made small talk as the receptionist answered phone calls. The receptionist reassured us that the meeting was running a little late.
Finally the "owner" came out from behind the doors and called me back first... He introduced me to all of the other employees who appeared to be around 20-25 years old. He said he was going to put me with "Ray" who was supposedly doing very well as he was getting ready to go to SECOND PHASE (whatever the hell that was) I was vary impressed by the suits the guys were wearing and everything seemed ligitimate.
To make a long story short, Ray was practically a robot and was being very discreet... We proceeded to solicit at local buisnesses going from door to door in the hot sun trying to sell coupon packages for atlanta braves (i guess that was the sports aspect) meineke car care, and other companies... We did this from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm... Ray dodged any specific answers about the company and when asked by one potential customer at a business he told them he worked for "smart circle" which apparently created the coupons...
At the end of the day I was brought into an office and congrajulated by the "owner" on being given a position... (while waiting to meet with the owner i was giving a "questionairre" to see if I had been paying attention to the vague sales pointers ray has given me... At the bottom was a space for me to write any questions I had for the owner... I guess he needed time to come up with his evasive answers. Luckily I had enough since not to come back and eventually found identical operations all over the U.S. Which were connected with smart circle.
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