This company somehow found my resume online and called me to schedule an interview. When I asked where she found my resume, she listed a source I was unfamiliar with and said it was discovered through a social networking site. I told her that I did not list my resume there and she quickly suggested that maybe her assistant was mistaken about the source. This was a red flag to me. I was very weary of phone calls from businesses that I had not directly applied to, but I accepted her explanation and gave her the benefit of the doubt. Another problem I had was the response I received when I began to question her about the company she was with and what the job entailed. She was very vague and did not give the name of her company. But again, I decided it was worth a look either way. I went to the interview, arriving 10 minutes early. When I went into the office, it looked very shady and generic. There was nothing to indicate what the company was, their mission, their goals, or anything other than a placard on the door with the business name. In the waiting area, there was a small bookshelf with half a dozen or so clipboards providing blank job applications and on top was a cup full of pens. This too looked very suspicious to me and my first instinct was to get the heck out f there, but I stayed mostly out of curiosity. There were two others in the waiting area with me and I assumed they were already somehow affiliated with the company. Later, I discovered they too were candidates. I still wasn't deterred. I was then called into a very bland office where I was asked some standard questions and told that they were extremely selective. She then said I would meet with the regional director and told me to leave and come back in 20 minutes. I was thinking, "You said nothing about the possibility of having to stay longer yesterday when we talked on the phone. What if I had another interview after this one or perhaps, heaven forbid... a life or a current job I had to get back to?"
She advised me the second half of the interview would only last an hour, so I came back as promised and was greeted by a room full of people waiting to view a presentation on the company and to meet the supposed regional director. Again, I was absolutely not told that there would be a group interview. This "hour long interview" turned into a 3 hour long lecture about the company, the job expectations, and finally, salary expectations. Nothing about it was an interview. He waited until the last 15 minutes of his long-winded speech to tell us that we would be completely commission-based and that we would have to pay up front around $400 to get certified to sell insurance. (My friend sold insurance briefly for Allstate and only had to pay $50 to get certified.) Afterward, I was pulled into the bland office again with a second lady (there were only three people in the whole office who actually worked there, the rest for job candidates) where she asked me a few followup questions. She then said that they would be calling candidates back between 5 and 7 that evening and that I should know whether or not I have the job then. They called me a 6:57 (just before their proposed deadline) to ask me if I wanted to come back in the morning for a final interview. I thought, "Wait a minute. You told me I would know whether or not I was being offered the job by 7PM tonight, not whether or not you wanted me to come in for yet another interview..." I was irritated by this, but still determined to be polite, I advised her that I, being an unemployed single woman in college, could not afford the upfront cost of certification. She then told me that if I could pay $80 up front, then the company would pay the rest and I could pay them back later. (This began to sound like a classic bait and switch scam.) I agreed to come in for the meeting and wished her a good night. The next morning, after I had a chance to sleep on it, I decided that this was just too fishy for my comfort level, so I called 2 hours in advance to let them know I had changed my mind and wouldn't be coming in. The woman who answered the phone was the same one who told me that day before that I would know whether or not I had the job by the end of the previous evening. I told her I appreciated their consideration, but I would have to decline to accept a final interview as I was single and putting myself through college and needed a steady paycheck. She was very rude to me and hung up while I was talking. I thought, "Well, that was extremely unprofessional. At least I called you 2 hours in advance to tell you I wouldn't coming. I could have just not shown up." Be very weary of this company. Everything about it screamed SCAM. And I hope that people are clever enough to pick up on the red flags and run for the hills before they swindle them out of their money.