Writing this after I done a ton of research on this site and other websites about modeling scams, it's EXACTLY THE SAME as to what everyone else says here. After doing all this research and knowing what I know, I went to the interview because I had nothing else to do that day and knowing what I know, it would have be really funny to hear all the propaganda about how great the company is.
I recently responded to a job ad on hotjobs.com titled dream job for Marvel Models, it seemed intriguing because the ad seemed like a really good opportunity, who doesn't want to be in the entertainment industry? We all read magazines, watch TV, and listen to the radio. The ad advertised that there were six positions available, director of scouting, new faces director, sales representative, marketing representative, talent scout personnel, and talent scout. I have a marketing background and currently work for a large marketing firm and wanted a change so I thought this would be cool to work in the marketing department of a large modeling agency. I find out later that there is and will always be only one position and it's the talent scout, and not what I was hoping for.
I got a response to my resume by a woman named Estella Summers the head of Human Resources. But she just asked me to resubmit my resume in a Word format, so I did and I didn't hear from her in awhile afterwards so I called them up, and was pretty persistent, like any good job searcher would be. I left a message because there never seemed to be anyone at the number I was given. But I called again and someone named Edward picked up, I later learned that he is the vice president of women's fashion and I asked for Estella and he told me that she is on a late flight from LA and wouldn't be in the office until tomorrow, and I could leave a message. I called the day after because I didn't get a response from my message, Edward picked up again and said that she missed her flight and was going to be at the office late. Later that day I received an email from her and she told me that she could see me on Tuesday at 10am and that it would last until 4pm so I can get a overview of the company, it was last minute and she hoped I didn't mind. I thought that this was great, I'd go in and see how the company works meet the marketing department, and if I don't get that job, maybe I can be a better fit somewhere else, as this being Marvel Model's corporate headquarters and all.
So after I looked at their website at www.marvelmodels.com I got extremely suspicious because I Googled and Yahooed their site and absolutely nothing came up except Marvel Comics. So I came to this site and looked at what people wrote and it was really amazing how everyone's responses are so similar and what a total rip off this company was. I printed them out and brought them along with me to the interview just because.
The day of the interview I drive there and pass by the ABC tv station, and a bunch of corporate headquarters, I almost miss this place because I didn't think it was what I was looking for. The headquarters is a little office building and it shared offices with a law firm and an insurance agency I think. I get in there and I meet Edward and one other employee that I find out later is a vice president. This company headquarters was nothing more than 4 rooms. On the walls next to a Marvel Models sign was pictures of models that you can definitely tell were ripped right out of a magazine I think I even saw Cosmopolitan and a page number on the bottom. After filling out the little paperwork I was lead into a room where there other applicants for this group interview, just as I expected. And also as I expected they were watching a movie, it was the Matrix this time around.
So then Edward comes in to begin the presentation, he first gives an overview of the company and tells us how it is owned by the Maloof brothers, they also own the Palms Casino resort in Las Vegas and the Sacramento Kings. (Funny after I get home I do a google search of Maloof, modeling and found absolutely nothing). Then he tells us to get into groups and hands us some comp cards, each group has to pick out 3 cards that really stick out and think about if we were to start a modeling company what we would name it and how would we get exposure for the company. After this exercise he tells us about how the company works and the differences between print models, fashion models, and promotional models. And he goes on to tell us how their company works and why they are so successful, he says that their gimmick is different, instead of spending hundreds of dollars to update a paper comp card, they revolutionized the industry and did it all on the internet! Omg! A model doesn't have to spend a ton money to update a paper comp card she can just spend $19.95 a month to update her link on their website. All it takes to be on the Marvel Models Network was a $595 one time administration fee and that monthly rate. He goes on to say that thousands of agencies view their website and there is an 87% hiring rate. Edward then gives an example of a Mercedes campaign that the company did in the past, Mercedes was looking for a blond haired, blue eyed model for a commercial blah blah blah he goes on to a computer and types in a search for blond blue eyed women and 31 results come up all together if they was a huge modeling agency I'm sure that there would be more results than 31 when you search for blond blue eyed women.
Ok so finally he gives us a 45 minute lunch, hmmm whenever I have to attend long interviews or having a company overview they give us lunch or at least offer us vouchers. The only thing Edward said was that there was a sub shop next door and if you tell them your with Marvel Models they will give you a 10% discount. So I go with a few other people from the group and lo and behold everyone there thought it was shady too. I showed them all this stuff on here that I printed out from companies like TCTalent and Wilhelmina and how this is just like there scam. No one that was there at the sub shop wanted to be a talent scout but were marketing majors and thought this was a legitimate company but its not we spent the next half an hour talking about what a rip off this seemed. When we got back to the office one of the girls I had lunch with asked Edward a question about salary and he couldn't answer right away and so she got up and left, she was just the first of many because a lot of other people left. I was going to leave to but I was intrigued and wondered what other lies this dude was going to tell us so I stayed. After lunch he tested us on our model scout skills and told us to get into groups again and to pick out 3 models again according to different criteria, after that little exercise Edward told us that anyone can be a model scout and that you make your own schedule and that you can scout anywhere, clubs, in malls, wherever and that everyone loves the job.
Then comes the part we've all been waiting for, how we get paid. The compensation is just like all the other posts, for the first 30 days its considered training, you have to have 25 people enrolled (which means they come in and pay the $595 and the $20 a month) or your fired. So that means you have to scout a ton of people in that first month. Its straight commission, I guess they figured that most people will quit within that first month so they don't have to give you a salary. After 30 days, you're in a probationary period where you get $600 a week plus commission, but you have to keep getting 5 enrollments per week or your out. After another 30 days in this you're considered a full time employee and you get $750 per week, commission and still you have to get 5 enrollments per week. The commission is $20 per person you enroll by the way. Actually your not called an employee its called independent contractor which technically means you get a 10-99 instead of a W2 come tax time. But it also means that you are considered independent and that they can protect themselves if you screw up and so you take all the blame and they get away scott free, no legal obligations. So Edward goes on to say how in his first year he made $80,000 and that models always calls him to thank him. This is pretty much the end of the presentation and he says we are going to have a one on one interview with him or the other guy that worked there to see if they are worthy to be employed. But while we are waiting he gives us a quiz on what he talked about, questions were like who owns Marvel Models, who are some of their clients, what are the criteria for being a fashion model, what are the benefits of being a Marvel model? And so on. So after he leaves the room to start the interviews, everyone there was in a big conversation on how shady this company is and that it was a total rip off and that Estella Summers was really Edward, a few more people leave angrily and the rest, about 10 or so, stayed for I don't know why, I just stayed because I wanted to ask him some questions and see if they would hire me. So anyways I go into my one on one interview with him and he was looking at my quiz that I cheated on and he looks it over and asks me 2 questions, what skills do you think you can bring to this company? And why do you think you can be a good talent scout. I answer him with two bullshit sentences. He then asks me if I had any questions, I ask him who were his competitors, and with all the things ive read on the internet and the scams I would think he's say TCTalent or Wilhelmina because they run the same scam but he said that they didn't have any competition at this level and that's why they are making a lot of money. Then I asked him if any other company does things on the internet like this because I know that the two I just mentioned does the same exact thing, and he says NO that they are the only ones that does it. Ok so finally he congratulates me and says that I got the job, I said that it was great, but that I'd have to think about it. When I said that I had to think about it I had to keep a straight face because I just saw his face just drop lol. I was hired based on how much I paid attention to his presentation today on the quiz, he didn't pay much attention to my resume. He said that they are filling the position quickly and that I had to make a commitment right now, I said I couldn't do that because I had to think about it, he said that training started tomorrow so I had to make a quick decision and he told me that I can think about it over night and to come in tomorrow morning if I was interested. So then he gave me a business card of someone named Adriana Jo Val, the VP of New Faces (I didn't look at the name on it until I was in my car). When I left I asked one more question, I asked him how many people worked here, and he told me 7, which included him, a vice president that I saw running around that day in the office, and 5 talent scouts. So that definitely means there is no Adriana Jo Val, VP of New Faces, and Estella Summers, Head of Human Resources.
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