[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Marketing Company - YOU WILL NOT BE A MANAGER ONE DAY!!!

alwe150789

Jon did u used to work at KPJ enterprises?

x

celestialtea

I've just had an interview with XS Worldwide Marketing. The job role was advertised as "administrator". I'd been (briefly but shamefully) taken in by P&D Marketing a year or two ago (I left after half a day!) so went more out of curiosity than anything else- surely they'd pay their administrators an actual wage?

It was fairly predictable. The administrator/recruiter told me how mad/fun/fantastic it was to work there and how much she was looking forward to the upcoming trip to Tenerife (ahem). The manager began, of course, with "this will just be a brief interview, I've got 40 people to see". No indication that he knew I had applied for the admin job rather than one of the "WE WILL TRAIN YOU!!!!!" sales positions. When I'd gone over my admin experience he looked thoughtful and said "you know, I don't think the admin job is right for you. I think what you really want is a career and our Business Development Plan would be great for you."

He looked a little surprised when I assured him that what I wanted was a salary and not a 100% commission-based door-to-door job. He tried to reason that admin only paid £12-14000, whilst I could earn £30000+ on the management track (if I had an open mind). I remained unconvinced. He did admit it was 100% commission based though, which was information I had to coax out of another sales person at P&D.

Ah well. Add XS Worldwide to the list .

jonboy69

Hi celestrialte that sounds like a new tactic they're using! Was the interview in liverpool,if so where exactly is the office and what was the interviewers name?
Hi celestrialtea that sounds like a new tactic they are using to coax people in for interviews!
W

Kevin O'neill.

Business advertising Ltd
Cotton Exchange building
Bixteth Street
Liverpool
L3 9LQ

jopwo_87

I applied for one of these scams once. I went to the interview for an "admin" job. I turned up in this big old decrepit office in Dartford and was surprised to see about 15 people all waiting in the corridor outside. Eventually we were all called in to sit round this big table and we were told that unfortunately the admin jobs had all been taken (yeah right!) but he still had some sales jobs left if we were interested. (OK so he has 15 people all turn up for one job at the same and suddenly its gone- very convenient!)At this point, one guy stood up and walked out and the three "managers" all started slagging him off and saying he wasn't worthy of our salary, and wasnt going to get anywhere in life etc. He then went round the table asking us each whether we were interested and of course, no -one had the balls to say no in front of everyone else after that. Anyway they waffled on for a little while before breaking up for a T-break and i found myself hotfooting it out the door along with a few others.

These people are scammers and its not fair. I spent god knows how much on petrol and parking to get to this interview for the admin job and of course there never was a job, how these people get away with it, i dont know!!

Kaka1985

Attention all recent graduates who are currently navigating the job market in search of the elusive mistress employment!! Beware dodgy sales companies!! These are ten a penny and really get on my nerves. This issue is close to my heart as I lost a whole day of my life to one of these companies and would like to spare others the same ordeal. These companies pose as marketing companies and initially appear as a god send to graduates, as they require no experience and provide on-the-job training culminating in a managerial role. These companies are actually direct sales companies and the role involves you, trailing the streets for 12 hours daily, trying to sell a bag full of crap (not literal crap) to reluctant passers-by. I attended an interview with one of these companies myself in Liverpool, under the illusion that I was applying for a Marketing junior role, and was genuinely delighted to hear that a company had been ‘impressed’ by my CV. Upon attending the interview, my suspicions were initiated when the mere infant who greeted me at the door, who I had assumed to be the office gofer, informed me that he was the managing Director. After an illuminating interview with the infant, I secured a second interview for myself, but was slightly alarmed when the scruffy and slightly drunk-looking man whom I had asked for directions on the street appeared to be waiting for an interview as well!! Deciding to be open minded I returned for round number two. Myself and another interviewee were given the privilege of shadowing another ‘Managing Director’ for the day. Instead of watching a marketing department in action as I had imagined, we spent 6 hours trailing from shop to shop in the local town centre watching this senior executive trying to sell cosmetics to anyone who would listen. I was informed that the hours of employment were 7am until 7pm and the wages were £5.00 for every item sold with NO basic. Surprisingly I didn’t snatch up this juicy offer. After having been ordered out of a Mercedes Benz dealership by an irate manager, who was seemingly annoyed that someone was persistently pitching eyeshadow pallets to his staff, and acquiring several large blisters I informed the senior executive that I was going to be a calling it a day. My travel expenses back to the initial point of rendez-vous were not offered. These companies annoy me as they lure people to the interviews under false pretences and waste people’s time and money. They advertise on a wealth of job sites under a wealth of different positions and will hire anyone, almost instantaneously. I hope this helps people to avoid being in a similar situation. Spend your time applying for proper jobs and always do your homework on a company before attending the interview.

Kaka1985

Hi all below is a post from my blog that I thought you'd like to read. I really want to expose this stupid organisation whose entire ethos is based on ripping people off! Have a read,

Attention all recent graduates who are currently navigating the job market in search of the elusive mistress employment!! Beware dodgy sales companies!! These are ten a penny and really get on my nerves. This issue is close to my heart as I lost a whole day of my life to one of these companies and would like to spare others the same ordeal. These companies pose as marketing companies and initially appear as a god send to graduates, as they require no experience and provide on-the-job training culminating in a managerial role. These companies are actually direct sales companies and the role involves you, trailing the streets for 12 hours daily, trying to sell a bag full of crap (not literal crap) to reluctant passers-by. I attended an interview with one of these companies myself in Liverpool, under the illusion that I was applying for a Marketing junior role, and was genuinely delighted to hear that a company had been ‘impressed’ by my CV. Upon attending the interview, my suspicions were initiated when the mere infant who greeted me at the door, who I had assumed to be the office gofer, informed me that he was the managing Director. After an illuminating interview with the infant, I secured a second interview for myself, but was slightly alarmed when the scruffy and slightly drunk-looking man whom I had asked for directions on the street appeared to be waiting for an interview as well!! Deciding to be open minded I returned for round number two. Myself and another interviewee were given the privilege of shadowing another ‘Managing Director’ for the day. Instead of watching a marketing department in action as I had imagined, we spent 6 hours trailing from shop to shop in the local town centre watching this senior executive trying to sell cosmetics to anyone who would listen. I was informed that the hours of employment were 7am until 7pm and the wages were £5.00 for every item sold with NO basic. Surprisingly I didn’t snatch up this juicy offer. After having been ordered out of a Mercedes Benz dealership by an irate manager, who was seemingly annoyed that someone was persistently pitching eyeshadow pallets to his staff, and acquiring several large blisters I informed the senior executive that I was going to be a calling it a day. My travel expenses back to the initial point of rendez-vous were not offered. These companies annoy me as they lure people to the interviews under false pretences and waste people’s time and money. They advertise on a wealth of job sites under a wealth of different positions and will hire anyone, almost instantaneously. I hope this helps people to avoid being in a similar situation. Spend your time applying for proper jobs and always do your homework on a company before attending the interview.

loopylou85_2

I have just registered on this forum because, from searching through Google, I came across a thread which has just saved my younger brother a lot of time and money by the sounds of it! So thank you everyone!

My brother called me this morning all excited, to tell me that a company he applied to on Thursday had responded this morning and requested he call them to arrange an interview (yes, he applied Thursday eve - Friday was Good Friday and they replied this morning - yesterday was Easter Monday...bit quick?!!). He gave me a quick run down, told me the company name B]P&D MARKETING LTD[/B in Liverpool and said it was a Sales & Marketing role for Graduates where they'll be trained from scratch and will be working with clients in the Sports and Entertainment industries. At first I felt really positive for him as they way he described it, it sounded great! And having worked in recruitment for the last 4 years, I'm always keen to do a bit of research into a company.

So...on to Totaljobs I went to track down this advert he'd seen. Not great when I noticed the salary was OTE or "Performance Based" as they'd stated so I thought I'd research the company a little out of curiosity...oh dear! From typing P&D Marketing into Google, only companies in Gloucestershire and Nottingham come up and the only results that seem to come up for P&D Marketing, Liverpool were masses of job adverts via masses of different job sites: "80 roles available", "immediate starts", "ambitious graduates wanted", etc, etc. Eventually I found the right site (ww.p-d-marketing.com) and after taking one look at the site I knew straight away that this company was not a good one. The website is appalling and I couldn't find the company registration number anywhere on the 11 poorly created pages of the site. It's when I started searching for the company registration details that I realised there is no company of that name registered at the address that they've stated. Then I picked up the thread from the forum which obviously explains the number of different names the company trades under. Thank you forum!

I hated the fact that I had to call my brother back to tell him what I'd found out about them but after reading the forums himself, he could only thank me. We both agreed he should call this Danielle Dunn back about the interview and dig around a little to see how much info he could get over the phone. The first question she asked was whether he would relocate from York to Liverpool (even though he clearly stated that in his application), then she tried to arrange an interview for tomorrow! He then had to explain it would be a bit difficult to get there the next day with him still being at uni so a date next week would be better. He then also reminded her that he doesn't finish uni until July so his start date if he was successful couldn't be until then - to which she replied "just give us a call back in July then", bizarre! He then explained he'd looked at their website and also the job advert seemed a little vague so could she give more detail about what the role would entail..."sales and marketing" was her answer, wow she's a good one! So after my brother had to break down his question to her, she managed to explain that they used the "face-to-face marketing approach" (classic), so my brother directly asked if that meant it was door-to-door sales and she could only say yes. It is a million miles from the role that is listed on these websites. My brother said that she was very abrupt, especially when she heard he couldn't start until July which only indicates to me that the recruiters are also on a commission based wage so she didn't want to waste her time on an applicant that couldn't start for 3 months! When she had to confirm it was door-to-door sales she couldn't get off the phone quick enough!

So to summarise....P&D Marketing Ltd in Liverpool will not provide fresh graduates with a successful and professional marketing career, please look at their website and you will clearly see that they are not a competent marketing company! Keep your wits about you and do some research if you come across any Sales and Marketing jobs that promise graduates lucrative careers - hopefully by all of us adding more threads, these forums will come up on the search first and warn more people before they waste any time! It helped my brother :T

Lou x

shreddy

I almost fell for one of these companies back in 2007 when I was a fresh graduate, NZAC Corporation in Manchester, funnily enough after some googling, I've found they appeared to be part of the Cobra Group too! The interview was exactly as described right down to the sitting in Reception with a number of other people and a silly form on a clipboard! When I got there, there was a large company logo behind Reception that was most definitely not NZAC, the Receptionist caught me looking at it and said "Oh just ignore that, it's wrong, we've just moved to these premises and are waiting for our logo to be delivered"!

I too was taken out for a drive on the 'second interview' were it transpired the role wasn't as the advert, or first interview had led me to believe that of a trainee marketing role, but rather standing in shopping centres trying to get people to sign up to AXA healthcare!

I accepted the job at the end of the second day to shut the guy up and followed it up with a thanks but no thanks email once I got home!

Their site is now under construction, but looking back at my old sent emails, at the time a helpmetogo site!

Who do they think they are?!

luscious_lizzie

Hi guys, i too was taken in by these cowboys. I saw the get rich quick add and applied. I was called the following day by the lovely danielle dunn who said they really liked the look of my cv! Great I thought but that was quick. Anyway they asked me to come in asap to have a first interview.

My initial thoughts where that they had a pretty basic website considering they were an international company, that they had a shabby office in the Cotton Exchange, Liverpool basically just a rented room. 3 clocks on the wall giving the times of new york, hong kong and london, also a world map with red dots on probably to signify all their international offices. Something wasnt right but when you need a job...

I was 1 of about 4 people waiting in the reception area. So my first nterview was with one of the managers, didnt think too much of this as managers interview in the place i previously worked (which was a legit firm of solicitors). It only lasted half an hour, the guy just blabbed about how fun and dynamic the place was, tried to relate to me and my interests, make you think your their mate. Showed me a cabinet with awards and pics of Disney and British Red Cross, their clients. Said that they would call me between 3 and 4pm 'if i was lucky enough to get through the first round of interviews as they have alot of applicants to chose from'. Apparently this is a tactic to make you want the job.

They called, Danielle said i did really well in the interview and they would like me to come back tomorrow for the 2nd interview. Was told i would be shadowing a trainee and see how the company works.

So i went back, was introduced to a guy called kevin who i initially thought was an applicant like me, was told straight away that he has taken time out of his busy schedule to show me the ropes AND he's earning £35k!!! Wow i thought.

We then left the office, which i wasnt told because i had stupid shoes on and ended up with sore feet and blisters. Followed him round while he knocked on peoples doors trying to sell talktalk, and asking me questions all the time about sales and marketing, about myself and again trying to sound like my best mate.

Then sat me down in the pub and hand wrote a business development plan on a pad of paper, real legit!! Just basically throwing figures at me and telling me about these road trips they go on and how much fun they have. But that I would be working from 10.30 til 8pm 7 days a week and that there would be no minimum wage and earnings are purely based on sales. Techincally you are self-employed.

He said he was recommending me and wanted me to come back in on Monday, i agreed. However, all the time im thinking 'at some point he'll ask me for money, i'll pay, i'll turn up on monday and the company will have disappeared'. So i decided to investigte... and found all these threads from disgruntled people. Needless to say i wont be going back.

Yes i was a bit naive, but excuse me for being a nice person, i think they are definately good at convincing people that this job is a good idea, coz i fell for it. Dont get me wrong, although i spent the best part of the day with them i didnt mind, what i do mind is being lied to. Wouldnt have applied if they had advertised the job for what it really is... and they are fully aware of this.

Im in two minds as to whether i should turn up on monday just to let the other candidates know what they're letting themselves in for. Go for it if you dont have bills to pay or dont want to earn real money, but dont be fooled into thinking you will be a manager in 7 months, what if everyone could do this so easily!!!

I was going to let this go but i couldnt sleep at the thought that someone else could get roped in. :mad: Thanks to everyone who has posted threads.

Scousebird_2

I almost fell for the P&D thing too. ALMOST being a loose term!

I went for an interview a while ago. I had a call after 2 hours of emailing my CV which I thought was a bit strange. They offered me an interview and it was in the cotton exchange-I thought it was a big office but when I got there it was a small room and they told me that there were people in the bigger room having training and it was all very exciting. I seem to remember that the girls on reception were hot on the phones-everyone was calling in with interest. I also seem to remember that the admin worker certainly wasn't doing what I would consider admin work on her computer. Lol!

I filled out a short application form there and then and was then asked to come in for a short interview-they asked a few questions on sales and there were two young lads bearly out of nappies telling me I was perfect for the role and they would like me to join them at 10am the next day for a day of fun packed excitement, where I could experience the role in full and if they liked me, then the job was mine.

Alarm bells started ringing pretty quick. I asked about the salary and they said more would be explained if I came to the next stage. I then remember asking about their clients and they harped on about all the big names they have represented. I thought to myself (why does your office look so !!!! then)lol!

Needless to say-I shook the blokes hand and agreed to turn up the next day, smiled politely to the girls on reception and walked out, rang my mate and !!!!ed myself laughing at the whole thing. I arranged to go the pub with him and then explained the lot. Total bullsh1t! I saw it from a mile off. As soon as I noticed their wideboy sales techniques, from the flattery to the preppy suits, I knew something smelt funny.

I never did turn up the next day-I spent it in bed nursing a bloody good hangover after a great night in the pub-tucked up all toasty and warm.

Just think-I could of been enjoying a fun packed day, trawling the streets of Liverpool for no pay, looking like a cheap salesperson. I knew as soon as he said I would be trying the job for a day that I wasn't giving out any free labour! I am a very intelligent woman and I can see why people fall for these scams!

I am glad I trusted my intuition-which I knew was right and now you have all enforced that. I agree these companies/individuals should be prosecuted for deception and wasting people's time. And the sad thing is, there are many desperate people in the recession who will fall for this bollox because they are desperate to get a job to support their families and keep a roof over their head!

I wonder though how these people who run these scams make their money and how people earn a living from it! I can't even be bothered figuring out the logistics of it!

Moral of the story-don't be fooled, use the jobcentre website in future lol!