BEWARE of employment scam!!! Axiom advertising sells coupons/gift certificates for various clients in the enertainment and food industry. They are NOT a marketing or advertising firm. They SELL; thats it.
The coupons and promotions they sell are legit and do save consumers money on things they would normally purchase anyway. The clients they represent such as Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Erie Otters are reputable and endorse the coupons/gift certificates. Management or more specifically, the owner, does not condone misrepresenting clients in a way as to mislead consumers by providing false promises. However, she does not discriminate when hiring. If you want the job, and have half a brain, she 'hires' you, with little to absolutely no regard of a persons personal ethics. So some representatives have made false promises to intentionally mislead consumers into buying the product. Also, some clients use this form of advertising to entice new customers because they have lost the old clients do to lack of service. This is mostly seen in "ma and pa" salons and hotels. Basically, you are told that you are getting luxury, but you end up with less than terrible service and or product. My advice, if you are unfamiliar with the company (ie salon, restaurant, hotel) dont buy the promotion.
As a former "employee", I recommend strongly against even going on an interview... Its a waste of time. EVERYTHING, the owner tells you is a lie!!!
Lie #1 - "we have administrative positions available" - complete lie!!! She already has an admin. The owner tells people this to get them in the door, convince them to go on "day of Observation", and then promises that they will make a ton of money. They actually use the term "closing" in regards to convincing someone to take the position. "team leaders" who take individuals on their Day of Observation will come back to the office and brag how they "closed" someone and that person would be starting work the next day.
Lie #2 - "We only have 3 positions available" - complete lie!!! Recruiting is the only thing the owner does. They have multiple ads out on careerbuilder, monster, yahoo hotjobs, craigslist. They even have multiple phone numbers and give false administrator names so that the sheer volume of their ads get missed by the untrained eye, or that the ads pop up as "NEW" position available. If you have, warm blood running through your veins, and APPEAR to be sane, they will hire you. Do NOT believe for a second that you are as special as they say you are, because they dont care, they just need bodies to do the work the owner is not willing to do herself.
Lie #3 - "We are expanding and opening a Canton/Erie/Wheeling facility" - complete lie! I personally knew of one new facility that opened, Erie, but it closed again within months. The owner tells people who live in Akron/Canton area that a new facility will be opening, and it never does, forcing those people to drive (spending their own time and money) to Youngstown.
Lie #4 - "You can expect to make $10/hr" COMPLETE LIE!!! The average rep that I personally talked to made an average $70-$80/day (my average one month was $300/wk). That's $350 - $400/week. The hours the owner expects you to work are 7am - 6pm. That works out to be a min of 55 hrs/wk. The Math works out to be between $6.36/hr to $7.27/hr. Minimum wage in Ohio for 2011 is $7.40. You can work at McDonalds and make more money. ALSO, you are required to pay your own expenses including gas @ $3/gallon, phone, wear and tear on vehicle, and food. I personally drove an hour or more 3 out of 5 days/week. I drove consistantly to Erie, Canton, Wheeling, and all their surrounding suburbs. ALSO, if you stay long enough and make it to "Leader" status, you will be expected to stay longer at night to plan territories for the next day. Why the owner cant complete this task sitting in an office all day is beyond my comprehension.!!! This is a commision only position.!!! There are no benefits!
Lie #5 - "You will get a chance to run your own campain" Not a complet lie, but the owner sensationalizes this opportunity. Running your own "campaign" means you get to plan maps and decide which sales teams cover which territories and keeping track of the progress that has been made through the territories. You DO NOT get a chance to work with the clients who want the advertising, nor do you get to design the graphics that go into the coupons/gift certificates. You will get an additional $. 50 - $1 per coupon sold throughout the duration of the campaign for your efforts, but you have to "qualify" to get the additional compensation. You have to sell 100 certificates in one wk or 75/wk for 2 wks straight. The reality of the situation is the average rep sells 6-8 pcs/day (30-40 certificates/wk). So you stay extra hours managing territory but likely will not get compensated because you didnt qualify.
Another thing I want to point out is that the owner will give training compensation anround $400/wk for the first two wks depending on how much she "likes" a person. She does not offer this training wage to everyone.
Additional information: The environment is not always professional. Swear words and derrogatory slander is tossed around the office like candy in a parade. The owner constantly wears grossly innapropriate attire that litterally leaves her chest out of her shirt. She calls her favorite reps (male and female) inappropriate pet names and slaps them on the butt. She trains her "leaders" to repeat the same lies that are listed above to any new applicants and justifies the lies by telling them that people are conditioned to believe in a 9-5 working mentatlity and that she is changing the world by showing people how to be entrepreneurs. "Fake it till you Make it" is their mantra... Literally. You will be SEVERLY berated for voicing any negative concerns you may have in regards to selling techniques, bad campains, or just bad luck. If you didn't sell enough, then it is entirely your fault and you will be read the riot act.
Also want to point out the fact that what ever profit you make, the owner makes as well. So while you are out walking for hours in the pouring rain, dealing with some of the most unpleasant people, she is sitting at her desk making the same profit as you PLUS the same profit the rest of the sales staff makes. Without out the wear and tear on the car or the outrageous gas costs.
The practice of deception at this company in regards to its hiring and employment practices are disturbing. I can only give such detailed information because I, sadly, got suckered into this situation and I quit when I realized that I had to lie to other people and the innapropriate and completely unprofessional behavior was discovered to be a habit and personality distinction versus just an occasional freudian slip.
There are some positives to this position that I feel need to be shared to give a complete account in order for you to make an informed decision. You will get paid cash every day. You will learn sales skills that you will not learn any where else that are valuable, such as building report, asking for the business, and learning to persuade individuals to buy in multiples; all of which will be accomplished in an average 2 min sales call. This is not easy to do and once you've mastered it, you can use the skill set in any other aspect of business. The position will also teach you how to respond to negative responses effectively with out losing your positivity. You will get the chance to actively recruit, hire, train, and manage a small group of people. This teaches you how to disquinish between good personality traits and the overally embellished personailty traits as well as how to motivate others toward a common goal. And if you have an entrepreneual spirit, the position will give you the opportunity to pursue that endeavor with little to no investment. Also, if you cant get a job anywhere else because of a DUI or suspended liscense or even a criminal background, you will get hired at Axiom.
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