My Summer Conundrum
So, I have been home for nearly two weeks now. I have run into some serious problems finding work. I have put in quite a few applications at many different places, but as of right now I have not received any call backs. I called a few of the places, only to be told that they had not reviewed any applications, or found that they were actually unable to hire new employees at the present time. Though I had planned to call the rest, I became disheartened, and combined with one other important happening, I found it difficult to call and face more rejection.
The other important happening was a company that contacted me after finding my resume on CareerBuilder. For those of you that do not use CareerBuilder, I don't really have much to say about it other than it got me this call. None of the places I found on the site that I applied for have contacted me, and at least two of them I was unable to complete the applications for strange, unexplained reasons.
Anyhow, needless to say, I was excited when I received a call from Bankers Life and Casualty Company, and decided to go in for what the woman called a "group discussion session." I was excited, until my mother told me that Rebekah received the exact same phone call, went in for the discussion meeting, and came out dissatisfied. Still, being desperate for a job (and secretly believing that Bekah wasn't happy because the job was probably more work than she was willing to put forth), I went to the meeting. After roughly an hour (which is about how long it took me to drive to said meeting), I left the meeting with new knowledge of this fantastic company that I could sell life insurance and other services to seniors, making commissions on sales and probably earning a great deal of money.
Again, needless to say, I was truly excited when I received a call back from Bankers the next day, saying they wanted to have me in for a second (and final) group interview. I went in on Monday, expecting it to be an explanatory meeting, but the man talking to us really only explained two things. The first thing he explained was the pay (which had already been partially covered in the first session and really didn't need such crucial explanation, especially before any of us were even offered a job). The second thing he explained, after sitting us through another boring PowerPoint Presentation and going into all of his success stories, was that we needed roughly a thousand dollars to "start our business." You see, it turns out that we wouldn't actually be employees of Bankers; we'd be subcontractors. This really meant three things. One, we'd be required to pay for our own licensing, Errors and Omissions Insurance, transportation, and any other expense incurred while selling this insurance. Two, the company would offer us no benefits other than "quality pay" (that is, if you were "willing to put forth the effort."). Finally, the company would require us to PAY THEM a start up fee (after paying for licensing and for the E&O Insurance). Needless to say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I was told that if I had the thousand bucks to "start my business," they would provide me unpaid training next month sometime, after I take my licensing exam. That being said, I promptly wrote on my response paper that I would prefer not to receive any more calls from Bankers, and left the building, extremely dissatisfied.
So, I was, again, jobless and hopeless. Until I found an add in the newspaper for summer work. Most of the people that asked me about it were skeptical because the add said only that it was summer work with good pay, flexible schedules, and no experience necessary; no where in the add did it mention a company name, or a job description. Either way, intrigued by the idea of having summer work, I called the number. When I first called, I spoke to a woman that said she was having computer problems and would call me back the next day. She called me during the fateful second interview with Bankers, and I was not really in the mood to call back after that, so I waited until Tuesday to call her back.
Immediately I was set up with an interview, though I had sent in no information about myself. Again simply excited that I had the opportunity to get a job, I went in for the interview. The place was shabby and looked like it may have been tossed together overnight, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I filled out an application and was called into the manager's office, where I sat on a folding chair and he asked me why I wanted to work for Vector (though at this point, I still had no idea what that work entailed). I made up some bull shit and the guy seemed happy, so I went back into the conference room where I was instructed to wait for a group interview. (At this point I should have been leery. The group interview thing is no longer something I'm willing to get excited about.)
The manager came in a few minutes later, gave us a flipping sales pitch, then explained why his company was so great and how we could make tons of money selling CutCo knives to people in their homes (but we won't sell door to door). After that, we were each called back into his office and he asked us what we liked most about this job opportunity, then he said, and I'll never be able to forget this, "Well, Josh, you know I can't hire everybody...but I really think you'd be a great fit for this position." He went on to compliment my resume and tell me that he liked me because I kept great eye contact with him and laughed at his jokes during the group interview, which showed that I'm a "down to earth guy" who's willing to be himself around others. Again, by now I should have been ready to bolt, but something about how he went through the whole script caught me off guard. So I scheduled some unpaid training with them to start today at one.
The good news is, I am not going to the training. Last night my rational mind finally got the better of me and made me do some research online (which I usually do before I even apply for a job but really had no time to do in this case because I was given an interview as soon as I called). I typed "Vector Marketing" into the search bar, and the search assistant tried to tell me that I really wanted to search for "Vector Marketing Scam," (by the way, "Vector Marketing Scam was number one on the search assistant, even before "Vector Marketing Corporation") but I went with my original search anyhow to avoid bias. The first five links were Vector sites, none of which really said anything other than exactly what the manager said during my "interview." The sixth site was Vector Market, Scam or Not? It turns out, after searching nearly fifty sites on two search engines, and reading about Vector on Wikipedia, that I've come to the conclusion that Vector is pretty much a scam. Basically, they hire unsuspecting, unknowing high school graduates and college students to sell these knives, which, while decent knives, are not worth the price, as outlined on this consumer review.
Anyhow, I decided not to waste my time and gas money going back out there. I thought about going in and asking some really tough questions and trying to get a few other kids to see the light, but, to be honest, it's just not worth it. Still, that leaves me, again, jobless. Anyone have any good ideas for work?
The other important happening was a company that contacted me after finding my resume on CareerBuilder. For those of you that do not use CareerBuilder, I don't really have much to say about it other than it got me this call. None of the places I found on the site that I applied for have contacted me, and at least two of them I was unable to complete the applications for strange, unexplained reasons.
Anyhow, needless to say, I was excited when I received a call from Bankers Life and Casualty Company, and decided to go in for what the woman called a "group discussion session." I was excited, until my mother told me that Rebekah received the exact same phone call, went in for the discussion meeting, and came out dissatisfied. Still, being desperate for a job (and secretly believing that Bekah wasn't happy because the job was probably more work than she was willing to put forth), I went to the meeting. After roughly an hour (which is about how long it took me to drive to said meeting), I left the meeting with new knowledge of this fantastic company that I could sell life insurance and other services to seniors, making commissions on sales and probably earning a great deal of money.
Again, needless to say, I was truly excited when I received a call back from Bankers the next day, saying they wanted to have me in for a second (and final) group interview. I went in on Monday, expecting it to be an explanatory meeting, but the man talking to us really only explained two things. The first thing he explained was the pay (which had already been partially covered in the first session and really didn't need such crucial explanation, especially before any of us were even offered a job). The second thing he explained, after sitting us through another boring PowerPoint Presentation and going into all of his success stories, was that we needed roughly a thousand dollars to "start our business." You see, it turns out that we wouldn't actually be employees of Bankers; we'd be subcontractors. This really meant three things. One, we'd be required to pay for our own licensing, Errors and Omissions Insurance, transportation, and any other expense incurred while selling this insurance. Two, the company would offer us no benefits other than "quality pay" (that is, if you were "willing to put forth the effort."). Finally, the company would require us to PAY THEM a start up fee (after paying for licensing and for the E&O Insurance). Needless to say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I was told that if I had the thousand bucks to "start my business," they would provide me unpaid training next month sometime, after I take my licensing exam. That being said, I promptly wrote on my response paper that I would prefer not to receive any more calls from Bankers, and left the building, extremely dissatisfied.
So, I was, again, jobless and hopeless. Until I found an add in the newspaper for summer work. Most of the people that asked me about it were skeptical because the add said only that it was summer work with good pay, flexible schedules, and no experience necessary; no where in the add did it mention a company name, or a job description. Either way, intrigued by the idea of having summer work, I called the number. When I first called, I spoke to a woman that said she was having computer problems and would call me back the next day. She called me during the fateful second interview with Bankers, and I was not really in the mood to call back after that, so I waited until Tuesday to call her back.
Immediately I was set up with an interview, though I had sent in no information about myself. Again simply excited that I had the opportunity to get a job, I went in for the interview. The place was shabby and looked like it may have been tossed together overnight, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I filled out an application and was called into the manager's office, where I sat on a folding chair and he asked me why I wanted to work for Vector (though at this point, I still had no idea what that work entailed). I made up some bull shit and the guy seemed happy, so I went back into the conference room where I was instructed to wait for a group interview. (At this point I should have been leery. The group interview thing is no longer something I'm willing to get excited about.)
The manager came in a few minutes later, gave us a flipping sales pitch, then explained why his company was so great and how we could make tons of money selling CutCo knives to people in their homes (but we won't sell door to door). After that, we were each called back into his office and he asked us what we liked most about this job opportunity, then he said, and I'll never be able to forget this, "Well, Josh, you know I can't hire everybody...but I really think you'd be a great fit for this position." He went on to compliment my resume and tell me that he liked me because I kept great eye contact with him and laughed at his jokes during the group interview, which showed that I'm a "down to earth guy" who's willing to be himself around others. Again, by now I should have been ready to bolt, but something about how he went through the whole script caught me off guard. So I scheduled some unpaid training with them to start today at one.
The good news is, I am not going to the training. Last night my rational mind finally got the better of me and made me do some research online (which I usually do before I even apply for a job but really had no time to do in this case because I was given an interview as soon as I called). I typed "Vector Marketing" into the search bar, and the search assistant tried to tell me that I really wanted to search for "Vector Marketing Scam," (by the way, "Vector Marketing Scam was number one on the search assistant, even before "Vector Marketing Corporation") but I went with my original search anyhow to avoid bias. The first five links were Vector sites, none of which really said anything other than exactly what the manager said during my "interview." The sixth site was Vector Market, Scam or Not? It turns out, after searching nearly fifty sites on two search engines, and reading about Vector on Wikipedia, that I've come to the conclusion that Vector is pretty much a scam. Basically, they hire unsuspecting, unknowing high school graduates and college students to sell these knives, which, while decent knives, are not worth the price, as outlined on this consumer review.
Anyhow, I decided not to waste my time and gas money going back out there. I thought about going in and asking some really tough questions and trying to get a few other kids to see the light, but, to be honest, it's just not worth it. Still, that leaves me, again, jobless. Anyone have any good ideas for work?
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