These are all over places like Monster and CareerBuilder. Supposedly 'marketing concepts' stuff for entry level people. It says no telemarketing, etc. Anyone know what they really are? Are they just barely a step up from the automated stuff you get when you sign up for monster. Or are they actually legit? Specifically, some place called Marketing Concepts in North Houston.
ummm, sales. My friends graduated with marketing degrees and they can't find a marketing job. All marketing jobs start with sales and then you progress.
This is from their website: "Our core services includes: Direct Sales Outsourcing Strategic Sales Staffing Lead Generation" These terms seem like they could mean anything. I was finance major, so I don't know what these terms mean. But I will tell you, right out of school, you could do worse than a sales job, simply because, as a business undergrad, you really need to know if this is something you're good at. Undergraduate business programs, in preparing their kids for the real world, really should try to focus more heavily on three/four skills: Sales, Accounting, and IT. I think most undergrad business major jobs will be some variation of these, so you need to know which of these skills you can bring to the table. If your grades are high enough (3.0, 3.5 or above) you would already be getting Corporate entry-level and internship opportunities, and those positions have no ambiguity, they're beneficial from a skill, job security and/or networking standpoint. My GPA wasn't so I had to filter through opportunities like this one. I think, worst case scenario, you could be handing out or posting fliers, or hawking Slim Jim display cases. I strongly urge you to go to a Vault.com type website, go to the Marketing section and get some names of good companies, and good opportunities.
Got dragged into one of these one time. It seems like a scam, although if you stick to it, it might be legit. They make it seem like a marketing job or a management in training job, but when you show up the the 2nd interview, you realize you are basically going door to door selling coupons (at least for the one I applied for). They do a lot of glitz and glam to dance around this fact until the last moment, hoping that the excitement of finding a job will hook you enough to keep you there. For me, I realized halfway between starting and lunch that I wanted no part of it. The two guys they sent me around door to door with were jerks, who didn't pay for my lunch (even though I was told that would be taken care of), and since I didn't know what I was in for, I was NOT wearing good shoes for walking, and me feet hurt something fierce. They wouldn't take me back to the main office because it was a 30 minute drive and would impact their sales, so I had to call a friend to take me back to my car. I was MEGA PISSED.
I went on one of these "interviews" a few years ago. It consisted of me walking from door to door in Conroe with a sales rep trying to get businesses to buy a group pass to a paintball park. All freakin day long in a long-sleeved dress shirt and nice shoes walking up and down highway 249 in the sweltering summer heat. I destroyed some pretty good shoes that day. Just be cautious with some of these places. These dudes only made commission (no salary at all). Good thing I decided to continue my education because that was some bull****.
pretty similar experience as raven and jelanit... met this dude at the gym and he was talking it up big time. something for a sports/energy drink. i dont even remember which one it is now, but went to an "interview" and he asked me to go to a follow up interview the next day, which i declined and walked away. at the initial interview he was showing me these brochures and pamphlets that were full of charts and graphs. basically i was supposed to find customers and sell them the drinks. i could either go door to door, sell online, or any other way i could think of. when i got home did a little research and found it was an MLM (mid level marketing) business. these things are a slight step up from the pyramid schemes you hear about. i'm not sure if thats what those are that are listed on monster.com, but just be careful before you leap.
same crap happened to me. i just graduated, got excited at a call back for a 2nd interview with a company i saw on monster. got out there and found out we were goin door to door in terrell tx selling at&t/sbc services to business. i was mad as ****. only good thing was the guy i was with paid for my lunch since the fast food joint didnt accept ccards. beware the marketing b.s.
i've been on one of these also. they had me walking door to door, in a freakin' long sleeve shirt and tie, selling coupons for Bubble's car wash. eventually, we came to a house where the owner was pissed about the soliciting so we ditched teh neighborhood. no way i was going back. i will say that i admire the people who do it daily. it takes alot backbone and tenacity to do that all day with all the rejections.
These pop up alot in Austin. Looking for "sports minded, driven," It's usually crap. Pyramid scheme. They change names though and they're everywhere. Granton marketing, creative marketing concepts. Always point out that they have fortune 500 companies as clients, which they do, but you're usually trying to sell something for them. Thus, instead of getting a call from AT and T, you get a guy at your door to do it instead.
Just make sure you never purchase anything for this job. If they try to sell you a "samples kit," run away, FAST! If you think sales might interest you, maybe being a telemarketer will be a better way to go. You don't have to work for sleezy companies, necessarily. Lots of legitimate places need telemarketers, like alumni associations (for donations), newspapers, magazines, pollsters, etc.
Yep, I did that crap when I was unemployed for awhile and bored out of my mind. Met some cool coworkers and hung out drunk beer with them (one chick was cute and was trying out for the Texans cheerleader squad) but felt sorry for them for needing this type of job as they had aspirations to climb up the pyramid. Yeah, walking around in a shirt and tie in sweltering heat was no joke. Just stopped showing up one day.
Wow I can't believe so many people had the same experience I did with one of these "entry level sports marketing" want ads! Mine was back in 96 before Monster. I should have known something was up because the ad was in the freakin' Greensheet, but I was fresh out of college and I thought "sports marketing" sounded like the dream job. I went to the interview all dressed up. They interveiwed me but (of course) didn't tell me anything about the job. They told me I'm hired and to show up at 7am the next morning. And bring some walking shoes.... The next day, we all piled in this dudes car and went to McDonalds for breakfast. They paid, but while were were there, I started to get an idea what was going on. We would be selling trinkets door to door. I told them I left my jacket in my car and asked if we could stop by the office so I could get it. When we got back, I jumped out of the car, got in my car and drove off and never looked back. "Sports Marketing" In my experience, any job that says "entry level" is a scam. Be careful. Most legit jobs on Monster will have a VERY SPECIFIC job decription. If the job description if vauge, look out.
