Jenifer Sapel of Mass Mutual Jenifer Sapel of Mass Mutual advertises false job opportunities. Bellevue Washington

Jenifer Sapel of Mass Mutual in Bellevue WA advertises job opportunities at Mass Mutual with a salary of $65,000 per year. After numerous interviews, you will be informed that there is not an actual job with a salary; in fact, you must pay Jenifer approximately $5,000 to work at her Bellevue office.

Here is how it works. Jenifer creates a job posting on various job boards stating that her company is looking to hire new entry level Financial Advisors, Insurance Agents, etc. She lists the starting salary as $65,000 plus benefits. By the third interview Jenifer Sapel might disclose that there is no salary, the job is 100% commission. Jenifer did not disclose that you must pay her several hundred dollars per month to work at her office. These costs are for desk rent, lease for your computer and telephone, costs for training and licensing, and you must even pay for a portion of the office’s business errors and emissions insurance. My portion of the insurance alone was over $150 per month.

If you sell one of Mass Mutual’s whole life insurance policies on your very first day, which is unlikely, it will take approximately two to three months for you to get paid. If you leave the company, you can end up owing Jenifer money.

If you are actually considering working for Jenifer Sapel at Mass Mutual’s Bellevue WA location, I would suggest that you ask Jenifer the following questions:

• Is there a base salary?
• Will I need to pay for anything myself if I accept a job here?
• If I sell a Mass Mutual product on my first day, when will I receive compensation for the sale?
• Ask for a tour of the office, you will find that more than half of the desks are empty.
• If I do not sell a Mass Mutual product, will I be compensated the same or will I lose my benefits like healthcare and 401(k) matches.
• Ask how you are compensated. If you find that it is difficult to understand how and when you get paid, there is probably a reason for that.

I don’t have an issue with a job offering being commission only. I do have an issue with Jenifer Sapel’s misleading hiring practices. She should disclose upfront that there is no salary and that you must pay her for several expenses upfront. In the interest of full disclosure, Jenifer’s company found out about the false ads stating a salary of $65,000 per year, and forced Jenifer to remove them.