"You got a pulse? Hired!"

[Nurian]

Yesterday held a surreal moment for me. I found a listing on craigslist "needing reps NOW!" It had an address, phone number and website. I try the website and it doesn't work. Scam Alert 1 tripped.
So I call them and they say "Just come in and fill out an application and we can interview you today."
"Uuuh....okay," (articulate, ain't i?). Scam Alert 2 tripped.
Still, I get myself gussied up and go. It's a tiny little place in a strip mall. The cubicle farm looks like a lot of tables end to end and everyone is crammed together. Scam Alert 3 tripped.
I go through the application and talk to the manager. He asks me no "interview questions" just "Can you work days? You can't miss work for the first 90 days. Can you do that?" The whole time, he's also looking at his computer and yelling out "Okay, we need 14 more, guys! Let's try for 14 more!" Scam Alert 4 tripped.
"So when can you start?" he asks.
"Well, you have me down for Mon - Fri so, I can start next Monday," I said. He looks at his sheet and says, "How about tomorrow? I have one spot in my training class."
I mulled it over. I looked at all of my scam alerts.....and said screw it. "Yeah. I'll be here."
I'm starting at $8.50 an hour doing semi-warm calling. People sign up on a website and I call them about (services). I talk to them and see what (service) they want and send a note to (service providers). For every referral, I get a $5 commission. At the end of the pay period, I get either my base pay or my commission whichever is higher.
I reserve judgement on how well I can do, however. Selling is not my strong suit, but they say it's not like that. They signed up and we're calling them back. Doesn't mean they'll remember it or know what they were signing up for. But I need the money. So off to work I go.

[Nurian]

Should have went with my instincts. This place is worse than I thought. "Training" was 3 hours (unpaid) of "This is how you get someone to say yes when they've already said no." The money we make from these could be taken away so easily, in fact the trainer told us it happens quite often. My "desk" id a cubile desk without walls and we have almost no room.
I never had a place make me wish I were back at <government agency>. Not once....until today.
Damnit.

[HappyFun Ball]

Reminds me of the ads I have seen in the classified ads that read:

"Looking for 15 people as crazy as me to work in an upbeat, fast paced career"

The "career"? Selling knock off perfume. Fucking shit would smell ok in the bottle but would stink to high heaven when it hit your skin.. And if you didn't sell the perfume, you didn't get and money.

[Mytical]

I learned quick I am not a good telemarketer, so yeah that is not a good thing. Hope you find something better..and soon..good luck.

[Food Lady]

Reminds me of the ads I have seen in the classified ads that read: "Looking for 15 people as crazy as me to work in an upbeat, fast paced career" The "career"? Selling knock off perfume. Fucking shit would smell ok in the bottle but would stink to high heaven when it hit your skin.. And if you didn't sell the perfume, you didn't get and money.

Are they still doing that?? I went to one of those "interviews" once and walked out, being heckled on the way by the meeting leader. Glad I did.

[Barracuda]

Yeeeeah. I once got a similar job through a temp agency. Halfway through the morning, I realized I had a problem. The "trainers" talked a LOT about money, how they were there to make money, how we had to be very serious about making money, about...well, you get the idea; "You must be loooooyyyyyyaaaaallll drones!" They called receptionists "gatekeepers" and encouraged lying to get past them to the business owner so we could make our pitch. Then they fired someone halfway through the morning because they didn't think she was being attentive enough! Yeeeeah, I walked out after that. Never regretted it.

[bhskittykatt]

Ugh. Reminds me of when Hubs worked for a notorious vacuum company. They would canvass neighborhoods, and it was commission only. They made him work 12 hours some days, and he never saw a dime.

Later after he moved, he went back to them, because this time it was a job as a demonstrator, and he'd be paid per demonstration regardless of whether or not they bought the vacuum. So, he goes out with the team...and it's just more canvassing.

They were about two hours away, and Hubs was sick of canvassing, so he told his team leader this wasn't what he signed up for. They got into it, and the team lead kicked Hubs out of the van with no way home! Fortunately, I was off that day. Hubs had to wait at a park for over two hours for me to make the drive down there to pick him up. It was BS.

He never saw a dime from the company the second time either, even though they said some of the training was paid. We didn't think it was worth pursuing, though. We just didn't want to deal with them anymore.

[ADoyle90815]

I went to an "interview" like that when I was in college, only to walk out when I realized it was one of those telemarketing jobs that only paid commission. The only job I was actually fired from was another telemarketing job with the alumni association in college, and I was told it wasn't working out during the unpaid training sessions, so it really doesn't count. Basically, it taught me that I'm not a good telemarketer, and when a temp agency wanted to send me on that type of assignment, I turned it down and gave them my resignation.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Should have went with my instincts. This place is worse than I thought. "Training" was 3 hours (unpaid) of "This is how you get someone to say yes when they've already said no." The money we make from these could be taken away so easily, in fact the trainer told us it happens quite often. My "desk" id a cubile desk without walls and we have almost no room.
I never had a place make me wish I were back at <government agency>. Not once....until today.
Damnit.

I would've walked the instant I knew the training was unpaid.

The way economy is, almost no reputable and even semi-reputable companies are hiring people quickly. Any who are, are doing so because they offer scammy, commission only jobs, or hourly jobs with high pressure sales.

[MoonCat]

Ah, memories...

Back in the dark ages, when I was 16 and had just gotten what were called "working papers" (piece of paper signed by my parents saying I had their permission to work), I ended up working all of two days for a magazine-subscription outfit. They'd stuff you in a car, drop you off in a neighborhood somewhere, and you went door-to-door trying to get people to sign up to buy a group of magazines. It was a package deal: They had to take a bunch of mags, not just one or two. It really sucked. I was very shy and hated talking to strangers, but I really wanted a job. My partner was another kid about my age who gave me his ph# and said he'd like to go out with me.

I came down with a bad cold & never went back. Never got paid for those two days. And the kid who gave me his ph #? I was too shy to call him back. A few years later his name came up in the paper. He was accused of killing his girlfriend.

[Caveat Emptor]

Several years ago I applied for a job on one of the big boards and they called me for an interview. It was at a hotel so I thought "People sitting at tables in a ballroom and a line of people outside." No, I was sent to a single room and was told by a man in a suit and tie that the job was selling insurance door-to-door. Uhm, does anyone still *do* that? I declined and walked out.