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[wontfallforit]

My experience...

I graduated this summer, having spent over 3 years working in a shop alongside my study. I worked with some great girls and didn't mind the shop work, but the pay was too low to continue working there (as you can imagine, I racked up a bit of debt over the past few years!).

So I registered my CV on Monster and thought nothing of it for a few days, I went about my daily business working in a shop, until I received two responses to my CV:

1) From a legitimate household-name company, offering an interview for work in one of their new sales departments. Salary was 16k.

2) From a company I'd never heard of, offering an interview to work in "graduate sales". The detail on the pay was sketchy, but the "average" salary was advertised at 25k.

I expressed my interest in both offers, and was offered an interview from each, on the same day. Company 1 (household name) wanted to interview me by telephone on a Tuesday, whereas Company 2 (never heard of them) wanted to meet me face to face on the same day.

Being greedy, I spent all of the weekend previous to these interviews convincing myself to forget about the phone interview with Company 1, and to go for the interview with Company 2 instead.

So on the Monday night, I decided to cram in a bit of last minute research on Company 2, before my interview, aiming to impress them with my dedication.

HOW GLAD am I that I actually did this research. 10 minutes of Googling exposed this company to be just one link in a much larger chain, inter-connected with pretty much every scam company mentioned in this thread. I'm no snob, I'm willing to get my hands dirty and can turn my hand to pretty much any job, but 100% commission door-to-door selling, where a culture of lies and brainwashing is rife, is NOT for me!

I didn't turn up for the interview, but I received 5 missed calls and voicemails from them asking where I was and why I didn't show - NO legit company would do that...My CV isn't THAT good!

(By the way, I took that phone interview with Company 1 instead, got invited to a face to face interview, and now work there. It's a sales environment but we're very well looked after, the atmosphere is friendly, there are GENUINE opportunities for progression, and above all the salary is STABLE).

[Tom223]

Originally Posted by wontfallforit

1) From a legitimate household-name company, offering an interview for work in one of their new sales departments. Salary was 16k.

I have a good idea what company this is, they seem to have been advertising a lot of open positions for the past several months. I havent really taken any interest in applying since 99% of the roles appear to be evening work - I used to work in the evening during the week while I was at Uni and it destroys what little free time you have so I'm a bit put off by the prospect. If you thought 9-5 was horrible imagine the ONLY time to get anything done was for 2 days at the weekend.

I understand there being a massive void after all the staff they had to lay off a year ago but it seems strange that they are continually recruiting; high staff turnover maybe?

[wontfallforit]

Originally Posted by Tom223

I have a good idea what company this is, they seem to have been advertising a lot of open positions for the past several months. I havent really taken any interest in applying since 99% of the roles appear to be evening work - I used to work in the evening during the week while I was at Uni and it destroys what little free time you have so I'm a bit put off by the prospect. If you thought 9-5 was horrible imagine the ONLY time to get anything done was for 2 days at the weekend.

I understand there being a massive void after all the staff they had to lay off a year ago but it seems strange that they are continually recruiting; high staff turnover maybe?

Hiya Tom223,

Not sure if we're singing from the same hymn sheet here mate. Obviously I'm not about to reveal who I work for, but something doesn't fit right.

My company has been light on the layoffs, even in the past year, and we don't do evening work.

So perhaps a misunderstanding

I work in a new department that is constantly expanding massively, hence ongoing recruitment (though, I must add, I do believe that recruitment has now pretty much ceased). Staff turnover isn't any higher than I suppose the average is.

Sorry if that sounded like a big advert for my company, rest assured it wasn't intended that way I just don't think we have the same company in mind.

And yeah, I know what you mean with evening work, I don't think I could cope!

[Tom223]

No worries, I assumed it was Barclays. If it is they have obvisouly laid off staff, maybe not in the same office (or division for that matter) but still...

Its always best to play it safe if a company is constantly adversiting for the same positions every single month. Cobra do it all the time

Never been a massive fan of Barclays; I used to have to deal with multiple offices and their track record of supporting employees (and employing mass amounts of inept ones) wasnt great, but i never really had dealing with anyone in their sales/customer service departments.

Still though, I hate the way central Liverpool doesnt seem to have that many open opportunities (took a look on monster and its swamped with advertisments from crappy Office Angels and IMMEDIATE START GRADUATE MARKING jobs we all love to hate). The most recent offer I've had was from a firm in the Chester business park, but a 40 mile commute everyday didnt seem great when the perminant position the agency advertised turned out to be a 6 month fixed term contract when the company gave me the contract.

[wontfallforit]

Originally Posted by Tom223

No worries, I assumed it was Barclays. If it is they have obvisouly laid off staff, maybe not in the same office (or division for that matter) but still...

Its always best to play it safe if a company is constantly adversiting for the same positions every single month. Cobra do it all the time

Never been a massive fan of Barclays; I used to have to deal with multiple offices and their track record of supporting employees (and employing mass amounts of inept ones) wasnt great, but i never really had dealing with anyone in their sales/customer service departments.

Still though, I hate the way central Liverpool doesnt seem to have that many open opportunities (took a look on monster and its swamped with advertisments from crappy Office Angels and IMMEDIATE START GRADUATE MARKING jobs we all love to hate). The most recent offer I've had was from a firm in the Chester business park, but a 40 mile commute everyday didnt seem great when the perminant position the agency advertised turned out to be a 6 month fixed term contract when the company gave me the contract.

Nay, Barclays it is not.

Not sure I've heard of any jobs from them, perhaps not in my area.

Still, must be better than Cobra and their ilk! (who isn't!)

Although big brand companies obviously have their downfalls (I think pretty much everybody who's ever worked for one will have a horror story or two), but when it comes to "sales" jobs, I'd (now) opt for a large, well-known company anyday, given my near-bad experience with one of the scam companies.

My company has the obvious sales environment that you'd expect elsewhere, and to be honest, there's a lot of pressure applied.

BUT...and it's a big BUT, they have an excellent support structure in place. If you're not hitting your sales targets, you're still treated with respect and consideration, and are advised by more experienced senior staff as to where you're going wrong (job isn't that hard, and there's NO hard selling whatsoever).

From what I gather, if you 'fail' within the Cobra group, you're treated like dirt, and at worst can end up flat broke :S

[bumble24]

I went for an interview yesterday with a company called Bradford marketing on Dickinson st in Manchester. Jake Bradford interviewing me. I had an inkling it was dodgy as there is no info on the website. Does anyone know anything about this company??

[Enfieldian]

Originally Posted by bumble24

I went for an interview yesterday with a company called Bradford marketing on Dickinson st in Manchester. Jake Bradford interviewing me. I had an inkling it was dodgy as there is no info on the website. Does anyone know anything about this company??

Hmm. Try reading the other 146 posts and make up your mind from there.

For example, if you have been asked to attend an "assessment day" in the field, be very wary.

Alternatively, if you decide to take the job be very, very wary of coming anywhere near me.

[bumble24]

Forgive me for being slightly naive but this was my third job interview since I graduated. FYI I'm not taking the job I should wondered if anyone had any information on the company!

[bigd2808]

hey guys

i have just expierienced the trial day and 3rd interview it was exactly as described in the previous posts thought it was a little odd but as an ex chef ive had to do trial shifts before (alhough not for 11 hours) so went with it thought i waould look them up just to answer a few questions i had and this was the first page

i wanted to say a massive thanks was gonna go tommz after being accepted was sceptical and was going to decide on the day if i was going to go through with it but after reading this i will be having a lie in instead =)

a lil info for you the one in mancheste is now called bradford marketing run by jake bradford (i had my interview with him thought that was a lil odd for a massive company) its now located at

Bradford Marketing Ltd
Dickinson House
20 Dickinson Street
Manchester

M1 4LX

was wonderin did anyone get told that once you were a manager you could open an office anywhere in the country and in selected places around the world they would set you up an office and get you started up (to good to be true anyone ???)

apparently thre are offices in madrid, dublin, south africa and somewhere in australia and they want to open 20 more by the end of next year !!!!!

thanks again look forward to your replies

oh yeah has anyone heard of josh cotter(think thats how you spell it) apparently he started this business in the states but not seen his name mentioned (might be cos i spelt it wrong though)

[tinyminime]

I have been asked to go for an interview at Suite 303 Cotton Exchange, Liverpool for a company called Business Advertsing Ltd.

Same thing sent CV via a recruitement website, few hours later got a call saying dying to meet me next day. The caller finished the call saying "thanks darling"!. The interview confirmation came from someone on gmail.com?

Tried to find a website to do a little research could only find the recruitment websites they had posted to. Googled the address and found they are in the same suite as P&D marketing and then spotted this forum.

I dont think ill be going to the interview! Feel so stupid for applying in the first place.

[Chazolate]

I would just like to add to the name and shame BPM Marketing and MJT Marketing in Ipswich.

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by tinkerbell85

after my experience with JPK or KPJ whatever they call it these days, i can only say that, yeah, there is an oppurtunity to get promoted into a manager/owner, but the chances of that happening are very slim. It is no different to working for a high street bank or a supermarket. There is an opportunity to progress through the company and become a manager but the amount of staff a company needs is alot higher than the amount of managers that they need.
The problem i have is that people end up working for this company, under the illusion that they will be a manager, putting his/her feet up and watching the money roll in. When in actual fact, in the extremely rare circumstances that you get promoted to a manager, you certainly wont be putting your feet up! And you will still be buying your suits from primark!
If you asked everyone who works "in the business", they are convinced that they are going to be a superstar and earn more money than all their friends put together. But if this is the case, why arent managers of TESCO and NEXT and places like that, quitting their 50K jobs, and going to work for a farce like JPK advertising??
Answer; because they arent young and impressionable, and would laugh at you if you tried to sell them the business. They probably dont have to lie to their staff every morning about how much they earn either!

JPK and KPJ are on every recruitment site going and it looks like the best job in the world. You will go through the three stage interview process. They will Fear of Loss you! make you think you want the job, need the job. convince you that door 2 door sales is fantastic, you will only be doing it for a few months, then they will close you and make you fight for the job.
When you are offered the job, someone will wlk you out of the building and tactfully tell you not to tell your friends and family that its door2door sales and that its commission only and you work 12-14 hours a day, they will give you the answers to tell your family to in their support.
You go for one job, and they manipulate you into wanting another job that is nothing like the advert you saw on the web.

doesnt sound much different to various employment agencies I have used in the past. They typically advertise a job that does not even exist just to get people on their books and then if you lucky they do find you a job but it will be different to whats advertised.

[TempUser13]

Just my experience of Oval Innovations Brighton,

I've been looking for a marketing job, found oval innovation [Brighton] the website looked very one man bandish so I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I applied two days later I had my first interview, the interviewee was very amateurish and when I asked "what do you actually do in terms of marketing" He did he’s best to avoid the door-to-door selling and make out it was a marketing job with ad-campaigns.

I ended up coming in for the 'second interview.' I went with a young lad to a small housing estate to do door to door sales all day (which is an insult as the job title was marketing). This guy had been there a while and was certain he would be able to be a manager or assistant manager on a minimum of 60k. I could only feel sorry for him that he brought into this scam and had been doing door to door just in the hope of being promoted, when he is just making other people money who are taking out a massive cut from the original company who wanted the sales to be made.

Payment =

100% commission (which he tried to keep quiet)
£30 per sell.
'Self-employed' so the company wouldn’t have any liabilities

It’s very annoying how this company portrays itself and I can only feel sorry for the guys doing door-to-door, day in day out when all their motivation was they COULD be a manager on a SIX FIGURE SALARY which is ridiculous as this was a small company which doesn’t need managers it needs people doing door-to-door.

All I can say is if you’re looking for a marketing job don’t waste your time here because it’s selling.

[jonboy69]

Originally Posted by bigd2808

hey guys

i have just expierienced the trial day and 3rd interview it was exactly as described in the previous posts thought it was a little odd but as an ex chef ive had to do trial shifts before (alhough not for 11 hours) so went with it thought i waould look them up just to answer a few questions i had and this was the first page

i wanted to say a massive thanks was gonna go tommz after being accepted was sceptical and was going to decide on the day if i was going to go through with it but after reading this i will be having a lie in instead =)

a lil info for you the one in mancheste is now called bradford marketing run by jake bradford (i had my interview with him thought that was a lil odd for a massive company) its now located at

Bradford Marketing Ltd
Dickinson House
20 Dickinson Street
Manchester

M1 4LX

was wonderin did anyone get told that once you were a manager you could open an office anywhere in the country and in selected places around the world they would set you up an office and get you started up (to good to be true anyone ???)

apparently thre are offices in madrid, dublin, south africa and somewhere in australia and they want to open 20 more by the end of next year !!!!!

thanks again look forward to your replies

oh yeah has anyone heard of josh cotter(think thats how you spell it) apparently he started this business in the states but not seen his name mentioned (might be cos i spelt it wrong though)

Yeah its Josh Cote, jake pronounces it Cody though if I remember!

Josh Cote is one of the guyys who brought the idea over from the USA with Jesse Young who was also based at the Manchester office.

By the sounds of it, Jake Bradford has not only changed his company name from "EA Worldwide Aquisitions" to "Bradford Marketing", but he has moved offices aswel! probably due to the increased awareness of these scam companies on websites like MSE!

His old office used to be on the corner of Newton street and Dale street in Manchester, not far from piccadilly gardens.

These companies are all the same and constantly need to conseal their true identity for fear of being recognised !!!


Business advertising ltd

Kevin O'neill

303 cotton exchange,
Bixteth Street,
Liverpool.
L3 9LQ

[jonboy69]

Originally Posted by tinyminime

I have been asked to go for an interview at Suite 303 Cotton Exchange, Liverpool for a company called Business Advertsing Ltd.

Same thing sent CV via a recruitement website, few hours later got a call saying dying to meet me next day. The caller finished the call saying "thanks darling"!. The interview confirmation came from someone on gmail.com?

Tried to find a website to do a little research could only find the recruitment websites they had posted to. Googled the address and found they are in the same suite as P&D marketing and then spotted this forum.

I dont think ill be going to the interview! Feel so stupid for applying in the first place.

Yep thats the place!! ha

Kevin O'neil is now on his 3rd company name in 18 months!

KPJ Enterprises to JPK Advertising to Business Advertising Ltd !

What a joke!

Whats even funnier is that Kev has to keep changing his company name because this thread always appears at the top of google when his company name is searched!!

How long is it before it will appear every time someone searches Business Advertising Ltd ?

I'd start thinking of another name Kev! You;re running out of initials!

Business Advertising Ltd

Business advertising ltd

Kevin O'neill

303 cotton exchange,
Bixteth Street,
Liverpool.
L3 9LQ

[bigd2808]

Originally Posted by jonboy69

Yep thats the place!! ha

Kevin O'neil is now on his 3rd company name in 18 months!

KPJ Enterprises to JPK Advertising to Business Advertising Ltd !

What a joke!

Whats even funnier is that Kev has to keep changing his company name because this thread always appears at the top of google when his company name is searched!!

How long is it before it will appear every time someone searches Business Advertising Ltd ?

I'd start thinking of another name Kev! You;re running out of initials!

Business Advertising Ltd

thats how i found you was the first thing on google when i looked up jake bradford thank god you were otherwise i could be poundin the streets right now lol

[u_rang_nothing]

theres a lot of talk about these pyramid schemes trying to ripp off a lot of pple,,ill agree that there are quite a lot of these companies but oms is not one of them...after 12 months of hard work putting in 15 hours a day six days a week...nt having time to see ur family or socialise and having to put up with families and friends inexperienced stories ..trying to learn everyday and helping others achieve their dreams i can honestly say dat for arguments sake that person can sit on a chair and be able to earn a lot of money(even though theres a lot more worked involved),,,,,these companies havnt got all those offices because their not promoting ppl and helping others...ull always get those unnsuccesful ppl who cant achieve their dreams and are now trying to rip off others with their lies and conspiracys....ull neva knw till u try it out urself...dnt let some unsuccesful and devious person tell u otherwise....be smart think for urself

[curiousaboutcobra]

WOW WHERE DO I START.... this is my first post here, first of all I am unemployed and have been for a number of months now. On Sunday 01/11 I sent my CV to about 20 different 'Telesales' companies within Manchester city centre with the hope of getting a job before Christmas, low and behold on Monday morning (before noon) I received about 4 calls from different companies inviting me to an interview.

I already have quite a strong background in sales despite the fact that I am only 19 years old,
1) I was first concerned when the secretary (a lady with quite a sexy voice if I say so myself), was using words like darling, chick and all that kind of thing. In the past when I have worked along side secretaries in admin I have never heard them say words even along them lines so alarm bells rang immediately.
2) Another thing that concerned me was the way in which the secretary was trying to tie me in to an appointment by using the phrase 'we have 2 slots available.. when would be best 11am or 2.30pm?', (which anyone in sales would know is a CLOSE).. unfortunately at the time I actually thought it was all genuine and fell for it myself.

Anyway.. interview day came and I put my brand spankers new suit on and was determined on securing at least one of the four possible jobs. My first interview was with:
MD - JON JOHNSON
PARAMOUNT FORCE,
MICHELLE HOUSE,
16 CHORLTON STREET.............01612281312
I walked about 8 flights of stairs to get the top floor office where this company was operating and there was one huge reception desk with 3 stunning receptionists. There was about another 10 people waiting for interviews, I had to fill in a simple application form then I was one of the first in... I sat down and listened to an onslought of how good the company was, who all their 'blue-chip' clients were, how much everyone was earning, how he wants ME to be a leader (bearing in mind I applied for a telesales role), and quite frankly I couldnt really get a word in edgeways.. he didnt ask me at the end of the interview if I had any questions (like most other companies do). Anyway I am invited to go back tomorrow for observation he actually gave me a card there and then. I was delighted.
Then was my second interview....
LAURA ?
HR DEPARTMENT
BRADFORD MARKETING
DICKINSON HOUSE
20 DICKINSON STREET.............01612001102
Another scummy building really... and same again I was held in a room with probably about 15 people this time... waiting to be interviewed. I was handed exactly the same application form I was asked to fill in for PARAMOUNT 2 hours earlier... ALARM BELLS RINGING AGAIN. Then the second interview was exactly the same couldnt get a word in, just had to listen to Laura basically sell the company to me using the names of all their 'blue-chip' client e.g sky, talk talk. And then she had the cheek to try a bit of reverse phychology on me, 'If you are successful you will need to come in for an assessment tomorrow'.. followed by the question 'Are you available tomorrow?' (which effectively showed weakness on her part). I replied 'no.. is tomorrow the only day available?' .... she said yes!!. I explained that I was due to have an assessment the next day with PARAMOUNT and as soon as I mentioned that her body language changed completely.. she was uncomfortable. She rushed to end the interview and I thought that the BRADFORD MARKETING was effectively out of the window. But I got a phone call once I got home saying I had been accepted onto the assessment on Thursday.. (2 days from now.. the day after PARAMOUNT assessment). WEIRD - LAURA said the assessments were only running the following day.

SO... obviously beforehand I didnt have the knowledge of the COBRA AFFILIATION/SCAM but I went home and did a bit of research and looked at a few forums and it all makes perfect sense. I knew something wasnt quite right. THE BOTTOMLINE IS... that both companies were umbrella companies of this COBRA company and seeing as my interviews imitated 100% of all posts on this blog I dont think I will be going for assessment. BEWARE PEOPLE they are very persuasive, they make lots of promises, they are obviously trained by the COBRA head office into advertising and recruitment techniques and I can see a lot of people falling sucker to this one.

PS After looking up the other 2 companies that I was due to have interviews with on Wednesday... both of them are also COBRA. So of that I know of in Manchester there are...
PARAMOUT FORCE LTD
BRADFORD MARKETING
SRJ MARKETING LTD
3D ORG

[jiranimo]

hey just letting people know i was emplyed by the company a couple of weeks ago... like many of you i saw the title and thought wow!
in my previous job i had driven past the premises of 3D organisation but never knew what they did...
so i went on to key 103 job search and it gave me this job discription which seemed too good to be true.
low and behold 1 hour after replying i had an interview the following day. i was sent a email, stating where everything was and what i needed to bring this that and the other.
as this was my first real interview i was nevous. but looking at the three beauties sat behind the recpetion kind of put me at ease.
i was asked to fill out a 2 minute form. and the MD would be with me soon. so i handed back the form and i waited for no longer than 2 minutes. the interview went well he didnt try and sell the company really he was more asking about me and stuff and yes he used the line 'i used to live up there.' when i was asked about how far i lived away. but still i didnt think anything of it.
he explained that the division in which i would be working is new and only been up and running for a couple of months and how it started with two and and soon expanded. he asked me about questions, i couldnt think of any to start with but as a joke said when can i start. he laughed and said we'll be in touch with you at about 6.
6pm came and nothing so i was a little down hearted, the next morning i recived a phone call at about 10 asking if i was able to come in for a second interview and to wear a suit. now i didnt have one so i rushed around and spent alot of money on a suit.
when i got there i was taken into a room full of people about 150 to be precise and told about how morning meetings were good and to commend those that had done wellt he previous day.
when the meeting had finished i was pulled off to one side and placed in a small group, he was pepping them up for the day i thought that they were just going to be in a local area.... boy was i wrong BLACKPOOL.
no offence but a bit of warning about what was about to happen would of been nice. so i proceded with the journey and made small talk whilst in the car journey up there. i still didnt know what to expect so when we finally got there they started putting on purple bibs and handing out information. i started to read through a flyer quickly and relaised it was a big fundraising campaign to save premiture babies, now dont get me wrong its a good cause but you know knocking on peoples doors saying save babies becuase this many are dieing each week kind of puts you off a little.
but i persaviered with it, we headed back at about 8.30 to get back to manchester for my last interview, to which was said this is it your leader thinks your good at it. you show a keen interest and want to make lots of money. the whole commision based only wasnt explained to me untill after i signed the contracts. and the 40% of what i make is taken away just incase the customer wants to back out its not fiar i made £270 in my first week and all i got at £100. how can anybody live like that?
but all im going to say is the training they give is deceptive and i urge all people who feel they need these jobs to be good at what you do... becuase i didnt make the grade in the job i was fired and now im having to repay for my suit £200 and living costs. and travel expenses as well as a kid. cobra group is a organisation that lies and is exactly the way that people have been writing about listen to it and hear it.... it works.

[Scousebird]

I had an interview for P&D about 2 years ago now, I think they got my details off my CV on Monster, I went for the interview, got invited to the assessment day and didn't go....smelt funny from the outset and realised it was a scam when it seemed too good to be true and the office was strange. The whole set-up was.

Anyway, I now have a fantastic job in Nursing and I really like it. But be warned because Business Advertising Ltd were on the phone to me the other day saying they had my CV and they had some great job opportunities. I cut in and said I already had a job and I wasn't looking for work. At one point I was actually called 'hun' which I thought wasn't too professional for a business.

I thought this contact was strange as I haven't sent any CV's out for almost two years (but my mobile number has always been the same) and judging by a previous post here my intuition was proven correct.