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When a marketing job is just standing in the street.....
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Zebedee69
Posts: 1,034 Forumite
Hia,
Iv not posted in a while but i did see a post a few days ago asking about a company called KPJ and if it was a con.
Most of these companies sell products via direct marketing and if you ever wonder who those guys in the street selling Gas, Electric, Oxfam etc etc worked for then its probably a company like KPJ. They rarely last long and often popup again under a new name in a new town when they cant be bothered to pay the wages for the month!
The reason i thought id write this post is that i worked in a few and actually wrote a few of the adverts so who better to tell you about how to avoid them!
A Typical Advert
Openings in customer service, sales and marketing for bright enthsiastic people OTE earnings 50,000 per year please contact james@dodgy-marketing company.co.uk
I want to pick a few things out of this advert which tell me its a dodgy one. If you stick to these rules then you probably wont go far wrong. Never be afraid to just walk out of an office if you smell a rat! Courtesy is the last thing you need to worry about with these sewer rats!
1. "Customer Service, Sales & Marketing". Well which one is it? The actual job has very little to do with Customer Service however people will apply if they feel its a job working in an office taking calls. Lots of firms will advertise "Customer Service" when they mean Telesales. Watch for the wording of the job title. Anything other than a traditional title walk away.
2. "OTE earnings 50,000". Lets face it, if you could genuinely earn 50,000 with no qualifications why would people go to uni or college? Keep an eye out for proposed customer service jobs with OTE (Short for On Target Earnings) as this is a dead giveaway that the job is sales, not service. If its too good to be true then leave it well alone!
3. Another dead ringer is if there are lots of similar adverts placed in different places. Most companies will advertise in one area be it the local job centre, local paper or via an agency. These marketing companies will advertise anywhere and often different teams in that company will advertise for new people making things very complicated. Look for adverts with almost identical content yet different contact details.
4. Everyone in the company is young. If you go to the interview and you meet 18 year old managers this is another tell tale that things are not as they seem. Older people generally get wise and leave within the hour but younger people sadly get sucked in by the hype. Think Amway or Kleeneze and you get my drift!
5. Often at interview they will tell you everything about the supposed money and lifestyle. A classic one iv seen used is to burn 50 pound notes infront of candidates. If your at interview, havent been told what your going to be doing and they keep throwing money around and taking about boats, cars blah blah then leave quietly..........!
6. "People who look like they should be in court" These companies will employ ANYTHING and ANYONE. Let this be your guide by looking for young types who would look more fitting taking the stand at the local court in their new suite than actually working for a respectable company.
If you think this is a worthwhile thread please reply and keep it to the top so others can keep away from these scam artists.
Iv not posted in a while but i did see a post a few days ago asking about a company called KPJ and if it was a con.
Most of these companies sell products via direct marketing and if you ever wonder who those guys in the street selling Gas, Electric, Oxfam etc etc worked for then its probably a company like KPJ. They rarely last long and often popup again under a new name in a new town when they cant be bothered to pay the wages for the month!
The reason i thought id write this post is that i worked in a few and actually wrote a few of the adverts so who better to tell you about how to avoid them!
A Typical Advert
Openings in customer service, sales and marketing for bright enthsiastic people OTE earnings 50,000 per year please contact james@dodgy-marketing company.co.uk
I want to pick a few things out of this advert which tell me its a dodgy one. If you stick to these rules then you probably wont go far wrong. Never be afraid to just walk out of an office if you smell a rat! Courtesy is the last thing you need to worry about with these sewer rats!
1. "Customer Service, Sales & Marketing". Well which one is it? The actual job has very little to do with Customer Service however people will apply if they feel its a job working in an office taking calls. Lots of firms will advertise "Customer Service" when they mean Telesales. Watch for the wording of the job title. Anything other than a traditional title walk away.
2. "OTE earnings 50,000". Lets face it, if you could genuinely earn 50,000 with no qualifications why would people go to uni or college? Keep an eye out for proposed customer service jobs with OTE (Short for On Target Earnings) as this is a dead giveaway that the job is sales, not service. If its too good to be true then leave it well alone!
3. Another dead ringer is if there are lots of similar adverts placed in different places. Most companies will advertise in one area be it the local job centre, local paper or via an agency. These marketing companies will advertise anywhere and often different teams in that company will advertise for new people making things very complicated. Look for adverts with almost identical content yet different contact details.
4. Everyone in the company is young. If you go to the interview and you meet 18 year old managers this is another tell tale that things are not as they seem. Older people generally get wise and leave within the hour but younger people sadly get sucked in by the hype. Think Amway or Kleeneze and you get my drift!
5. Often at interview they will tell you everything about the supposed money and lifestyle. A classic one iv seen used is to burn 50 pound notes infront of candidates. If your at interview, havent been told what your going to be doing and they keep throwing money around and taking about boats, cars blah blah then leave quietly..........!
6. "People who look like they should be in court" These companies will employ ANYTHING and ANYONE. Let this be your guide by looking for young types who would look more fitting taking the stand at the local court in their new suite than actually working for a respectable company.
If you think this is a worthwhile thread please reply and keep it to the top so others can keep away from these scam artists.
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Comments
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When I was a naive 18 year old, I went for an interview for a 'Customer Services Executive' in the city centre of Newcastle...seemed high powered and perfect for me...if only I was 30 with ten years previous experience!
I got there and the interview was mostly young people and they invited me out for the day the next day to show me what they did.
Turns out they knock on peoples doors on behalf of a charity to sell stuff...not quite the executive job in mind. So I promptly left them after ten minutes and vowed to steer clear of these companies!0 -
that is pretty much the job spec that was on the internet when i applied. im sure there must be some regulations to stop companies lying about the job spec in adverts and using 3 or 4 different names to try and fool people into applying for the same job? i wish i found this forum before i wasted a whole day following door to door salespeople!0
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Great post. I remember searching and searching on the internet for KPJ after my first interview because I 'smelt a rat' but I found nothing. It seems now people are becoming more aware and a simple google search brings MSE up. That's great, because most people wouldn't bother going if they knew what the job involved!
I still don't fully understand how these people/companies end up making any money though.0 -
ive been looking about on the web and alot of people have had experience with this pyramid scheme and there are hundreds of offices around the country and in America too. Looking at what alot of people are saying, even the managers dont make any money! its only the guys at the very top of the pyramid that make a good living. Managers like Kevin Oneil are still not making any real money. Their expenses are quite high because they have to act as though they do earn alot. You can tell a mile off that they dont though because you get reminded daily, how much money the manager supposedly earns. It does seem that only young people who are still unsure of their chosen career path work at these companies. Anyone older than 25 would smell a rat straight away. Young impressionable people are brainwashed and encouraged not to speak to anyone outside of the business because they will try and talk you into quitting. Thats probably why you work such long hours, so you dont have time to speak to anyone with any sense, or look on the internet at forums.0
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About 15 years ago I once worked for a tele sales company for a day.
They advertised everywhere and clearly got through a lot of people. Training lasted a few hours and then we were let loose on the phones with a copy of the Yellow Pages. We were selling overpriced photcopier paper IIRC. There was a choice of prizes as an incentive.
Whenever anyone made a sell then they hit a bell in the middle of their table. Noone made any sales on the newbie tables, though I think there were a few from the experienced table.
After work they tried to coerce everyone into going to a management meeting. I walked at that point.Happy chappy0 -
During the couple of hours that I was with the 'trainee managers' or whatever they like to be called, I was repeatedly told that Kevin O'Neill is rolling in it:rotfl:
I can't see it myself, all he does is interview people day in day out. And I don't fully understand how it works but the 'trainee managers' must get a little bonus for recruiting people, because the one I was with seemed gutted when I said 'door to door selling! See ya!!!'0 -
bumpity bump..... Keeping the ol thread alive!0
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so legally, is there just one company and it uses three different names, or are there actually three different companies that they operate under?0
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iv been spending alot of time looking around on the net at these companies, they have affilates all over the world! "DS-MAX" is the original parent company. There was some sort of legal battle in America over the ethics of the business. I think they were sewed or something and the group then split into several sub-companies. Cobra group and Pro-sales are the 2 biggest in the UK. I think JPK, KPJ and P & D Marketing are part of the Cobra and Pro-Sales group.
The bare bones of the matter is that they are door to door sales companies that recruit people by telling them that they will earn $100,000 a year and retire when you're like 40 years old! These companies detatch themselves legally and financially from everything and everyone so they have no liability whatsoever. If One of the managers that supposedly is rolling in it, messes up and stops making profit for prosales or cobra, it doesn't matter because you are not an employee, its not like you have any rights or job security, they will just cut you out of the deal. Most of the money that is made from the sales goes to the top of the pyramid. Why would a company that pretty much has a monopoly, let other people in on the wealth. People must think that the guy who owns this organisation is stupid!0 -
I had an interview for a marketing company. The whole interview was one massive lie. From conferences around the world, to the type of car he owned. I found out from a colleague of my DH that she fell for the same thing, and it ended up being door to door sales. When I found out, luckily on the same day as my "first interview" I told them I would not be joining them on the second interview. I'd avoid any of these marketing companies like the plague.
Seems like fish4jobs is bunged up with adverts like
12 openings available- We're looking for ambitious people with a passion for sales/advertising/marketing/promotions. Full training provided from entry-level through to management for the right candidates. Full time only. IMMEDIATE START
and
STUCK IN A RUT?? Ambitious, dynamic sales representatives wanted!!0
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