[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Marketing Company - YOU WILL NOT BE A MANAGER ONE DAY!!!
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Platinum force is another one of these companies but is part of a different group to JPK advertising, although there probably is some sort of link somewhere. I will give you the interview process so that you and anyone else can recognise these companies as soon as you see the advert or go for the interview.
Kevin O'neill.
Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ
0 -
Let me explain:
First of all you will see the advert in the paper or on the recruitement website that is very similar to the post wildt made on the KPJ thread. This advert looks exactly what you are looking for, so you ring up, or send your CV and you get a reply the very same day, if not the day after. You will be invited in for the 1st interview.
When you get to the office, there will be a receptionist sat on the desk, probably on Bebo or facebook. There will probably be about 3-5 other candidates sat in the reception area. You will be required to fill in a form asking some basic details, name, age, do you have a car? people are getting called in to the interview room, in there for 5-10 mins and then they leave.
When it is your turn, Kevin will call you in, shake your hand and sit you down at his desk. There is a big safe in the corner that is supposed to indicate that theres loads of cash on the premeses. Yeah right, its planted there for that reason. (Why would a safe be in the interview room). Kevin will ramble on for a few minutes about marketing, and why the company is growing so fast, he will drop names like SKY, MBNA, AXA, he works with none of these clients he works with TalkTalk. He will have you believe that there is a massive demand for managers in an expanding market. The only question he will ask you is, "so why marketing, you have no related qualifications or experience". He asks this to put you on the backfoot and make you feel like the job is too good for you. If you do have a degree in marketing, he wont bother because he knows that you would tear him to pieces on the subject.
The interview will finish and you will feel as though there is no way you will get the job. This is a technique that is used day in day out by him called "the Fear Of Loss" makes you think that you are going to lose something that you havent got. Kevin will use this by saying things like:
"Sorry for the interview being so short, I have to interview like 40 ppl today"
and
"Someone will contact you if successfull, we cant ring everyone because it would take me all day"
and
"If no-one has called you by 5pm, you havent got the job"
But obviously, everyone gets the call, but not until after 5pm when you think that you havent got the job, so you are over the moon that you got to the next stage.
You will be invited in probably the next day or as soon as you are available to "spend the day with us and see why we are so effective at what we do"
You will feel great that this big company wants you to be one of its managers. WOW!
Kevin O'neill.
Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ
0 -
You will arrive at the same office at about 11.45 to fill in another piece of paper. You will sit there with perhaps 3 or 4 other people quite nervous and you will be able to hear dance music and raised voices. After a while the music will stop and you will here lots of shouting, clapping and cheering.
Then after a while waiting, Kevin will come through with a Trainee manager for each person who has a 2nd interview. You will be called into the interview room and this is "the set up" Kevin will introduce you to a young lad in a suit or possibly a fairly presentable young girl along the lines of;
"Ellemore, this is Dave, he is one of our top trainers, and has taken the trrouble to clear his entire day to interview you. Now we are not going to be showing you the glitz and glam side of the business today, so we are not going to whisk you off to Las Vegas or anything like that." (the 3 of you share an awkward laugh). "Dave is going to be showing you the more hard working, conceptual side of the entry level side of our business today.
So get in Daves goodbooks and buy him a bacon butty or something at lunchtime" (again another awkward laugh) "but can you do me one favour? and have some fun?"
You leave the office with your top trainer still having no idea what on earth is going on.
Then there is what they call the "CV breakdown" which is designed for 2 reasons, first to make you feel inadequate or under qualified for the job and secondly, to wait for the "rideouts", (other people who already work there and "observations" that will be going to the same area as you. You are reffered to as the observation).
When everyone is ready, you will get into your car if you drive or get the bus or the train to the "territory". You will be paying for the ticket or petrol, and on the way, your trainer will ask questions and put words into your mouth, basically making you come to the conclusion that Door to Door sales is the most effective form of marketing known to man. If the trainer is good at their job they will "pre-empt" any negative things you have to say about it. For example, they will say "on my 2nd interview i thought oh my god door to door sales, but i stuck around til lunchtime where everything is explained, seeing how much money i am going to be on is why i am here" or something along those lines.
You will then spend until around 3 o clock, following this guy around doing door to door. At lunchtime, you will go to a pub for something to eat. Guess what, you are paying for it! there will be some of the same people who came in your car or got on the same bus or train as you there. You will then commence the "Lunchtime breakdown". This is the most crucial part of the day that either gets people on board or sends them running.
The trainer will explain that there is 3-4 stages, you should get promoted to the next stage after 3 weeks, then the next after a couple of months, then to a managers level within a year.
You will be told how much everyone is earning, this is LIES. They will say that "Bill" who has been here 2weeks earns 300 quid a week. "the assistant manager earns 35k salary, and Kevin as a 21 year old manager earns like 100k. They will make it look like they are only doing door to door for a few weeks while they learn how to be a manager. This is also a lie, they will be in the "field" until they wise up and get a real job.
They will gently and carefully break it to you that whilst in the field, you are on commission. Whatever they say they are earning, half it and you are closer to the real figure. At no point is anyone on a salary, look up commission in the dictionary. The assistant manager is still on commission, they just get a slightly higher rate.
At this point the trainer will be able to tell if you have fallen for it all or not. If you have fallen for it all, they will turn into your best mate and tell you that they cant give you the job, only a "reccomendation". They will give you stuff to learn about the "system" to take your mind off another 5 hours of door to door sales.
At 8pm you will all head back to the office for you 3rd interview. On the journey back, they will keep using the "fear of loss" on you teeling you that they might not be able to get you an interview.
You get back and you get yet another form to fill in. A classic tactic used is for the trainer who took you out to come in and take you outside the room and tell you that Kevin is really busy and hasnt got time to interview you. They will ask you is there anything i can tell him about you that might change his mind. You will then try and sell yourself, desperate to get this interview. You go back into the room and you get the interview.
Kevin will grill you about having no experience, even though the advert said "no experience neccessary"! he will then tell you that he sees great potential in you and that you remind him of himself! About 5 mins of bull and he will offer you the job and shake your hand. He will call your trainer into the room and say that the only reason you got the job was because the trainer gave you such a sparkling reccomendation!
The trainer then conducts "the walkdown". This is when he/she will walk you out of the building, congratulating you on getting the job, taking your phone number and telling you to come in at half ten the following day.
They will tell you ho to explain the job to friends and family so that they dont laugh and tell you to get a proper job. It is about 10pm by this stage, when you are on your way home, the trainer will ring or text you offering their congrats again.
You get home thinking that you have made a smart career move and excited for the next day. Your "1st day retrain".
Kevin O'neill.
Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ
0 -
If you are daft enough to turn up for this day, you will come in in your new suit, meet the trainer and they will either take you to starbucks for coffee or if its the end of the week and theyre broke, you just go to the interview room to "do the paperwork". If you read through this properly, or it wasnt so cleverly worded by dodgy lawyers, you wouldnt sign it.
It is basically a contract to say that you are not an employee of JPK,KPJ or P&D. You are SELF EMPLOYED, JPK just give you contracts to sign people up for TalkTalk. You are an "Independent Sales Associate". As far as TalkTalk are concerned you are a door to door salesman, they pay JPK for people you sign up, Kevin takes a chunk amd pays you whats left.
You are well within youre rights to take this document home and get someone to go through it with you. However if you suggest this, you will be told that the job is "not for you" and asked to leave. Otherwise the trainer will come across pushed for time and rush you through signing it all. You dont get a copy.
The rest of the morning is spent cult like rallying and motivating sales. People who are good at sales or kevin himself will get up and speak from the front to motivate sales.
You will hear people talk about "the concept of the business", you will never find out what this is until the day you leave, and you will leave!
The concept is as follows;
Hire as many people as is humanly possible to do sales. Make them stay and "lock them in" by taking their mind off the sales and focusing on getting to management. About 1 in 5000 people that start on the 1st day will get to management. If and when they do get there, it is nothing like it is portrayed.
Sales is the be all and end all of the world.
Hope this helps people who are thinking of going along to an interview with this company or any like it. :money:
Kevin O'neill.
Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ
0 -
Jonboy69, I'm still ashamed to say that I was once so young and naive that I went for one of these jobs (different "company" but same idea). Your description is spot on!!
I actually stuck it out for nearly two months. My total pay in that time? £60! :mad:Proud to be a Clob Clubber :beer:0 -
Jonboy your post is pretty much spot on, JPK is part of PerDM and Pro Sales isnt it. Ive found another report on one of the companies part of the same group.
check it out;
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/358/RipOff0358721.htm
It explains a little more how the company works and how they reel people in. x0 -
Alright guys, i posted about KPJ a while back as a friend had got conned into signing up.(http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11240059)
Can i just ask a question...
How many of you that went to the interview were told by Kevin that 'you remind me of myself a few years ago, your hired'?
My friend mentioned that line when he was telling me about this amazing job he'd just got (which obviously turned our to be hell on earth) and it stuck in my mind.... it was mentioned by someone else on another post, i wandered whether that was the deal clincher in most interviews?0 -
yes ianianian it is something that he says to pretty much everyone.
There are several different interview techniques and structures to follow that depend on the observations confidence and also ho "closed" they are. Closed meaning how sold they are on the opportunity.
Him saying that you remind Kevin of himself is supposed to make you think that you have a better chance than anyone of making it to management because he did it.
Another brain washing tactic i forgot to mention previously on in interviews is the 3 F's. Which is FELL, FELT, FOUND. It is also a sales tactic but works particularly well when interviewing. It is supposed to help you relate to people, for example, someone who is concerned that it is commission only, the interviewer would reply;
"I know how you FEEL, I FELT the same way on my interview day, but after 2 weeks I got promoted and FOUND that I was making 100 pounds a week".
Kevin O'neill.
Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ
0 -
Excellent Jonboy..you're posts are spot on, down to every last word that they use!
I also got the 'you remind me of myself' and heard all the stories about how Kevin started in the field but 'look at him now'. The trainer commented on how much he was already earning after just a few weeks in the job, and about the flash car he had ordered.
I was told to leave all questions about pay etc until lunch time as well, it was at this point that I told them to shove it. I suppose by sticking around until then I fell for it... but they are doing this day in day out and are very good at it.0 -
First I want to tell you how much I appreciate everyone on here warning others! I want to add some information to that.
I had an interview today with 'coulson corporation'. As far as I know based in Newcastle and Liverpool. It is exactly the same scam.
A few things are different, but there is a consistency, which I would like to share, as another warning:
-10 people filling in application forms in the hallway
-Very young interviewer, who claims to be high up, and make a lot of money
-second interview they invite you to is a 9 hour day
-whatever you ask about wages, no answer
-so-called clients: RSPCA ; SKY
-the 'third interview'
-This guys name is Ben (but he acts like Kevin)
My alarm bells went of went the receptionist answered the phone with another company name. Research showed me this company is exactly the same, all but the name. A look at their web-page-source told me that one of their search key-words is commission. A word that was explicitly dodged in the interview. Luckily I had some reservations before, and managed to pick these things up. Im Dutch, and by coincidence, that is where he went in his first week. When I asked him how he liked the city, he started on another topic.
My internet search gave the following linked companies, which I urge everyone to watch out for!
-Platinum Force
-Coulson Corporation
(in Liverpool, any company on bold street 35, 2nd floor)
-Gr8-opportunities
-DMO (direct-marketing opportunities)
One other consistency which might be a lead to nail them all in this thread is that all of their websites are made by HelpMeGo.To webdesign!
One great thing about that is that their website has a list of companies for which it makes websites. For some reason they are all 'marketing-companies'.
The list: http://www.helpmego.to/recruitment-clients.html
Friday is my training day. I will probably go and try to take one of those contracts home. Maybe warn a few people if I see someone standing outside, nervous for a job interview.
I am angry and I am going to do everything I can. Starting tomorrow, sending mails to every job search site that contains their advertisement. It won't help, but it will make me feel a lot better.
Please people, watch out. And share your experience here, so we can get this thread higher in the google search results!0
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