Vector Marketing, Cutco scan, sketchy, not what it's cracked up to be London Ontario

wanting to make myself a bit of spending money, I found an ad for www.workforstudents.com in the paper and figured I'd submit an application. the website didn't really tell me much about Vector Marketing, other than I'd make a TON of cash and enjoy flexible working hours, get benefits, and it'd look great on my resume.

(by the way, it was 3 am when I submitted my application. immediately, I recieved an email asking for an interview. by this time, it was 3:30 am. it was an 'automated' email, and to reply to it would be useless as nobody was monitoring the account.)

the next day I get a call from a girl who sounds to be maybe sixteen, asking me to come in for an interview with somebody we'll call "X" at five thirty in the afternoon/early evening, which seems to be a strange time for a job interview. she told me to bring a resume.

I head downtown and find a dirty, small, hot office on the second floor of a rather dead shopping complex. the secretary's desk is actually being held up on one side by a crate. there were eight other people there.

I fill out another application. I go for a 'pre-screening', and out of nine kids applying, we ALL made it through. we were told only 'maybe twenty percent of people we pre-screen get hired'.

for the next hour, X praised Cutco products and claimed we'd made tons of money doing this work. finding clients was EASY, they told us. while it doesn't SOUND bad, I came to realize later I wasn't going to be reimbursed for the gas I need to DRIVE to my appointments, the phone calls, and, at the end of the presentation, I'll only end up with $19.05 if the client doesn't buy anything, which, of course, I'll have to spend on gas and my phone bills.

I didn't bring a resume. I got hired.
everybody in the group got hired.

I went in for training. during my first day of training, there were even MORE people getting hired. now, if this company was so great to work for, why are they constantly hiring day in and day out? I know one of the people in that day for hiring, and they too were hired.

my first day of training was, in the end, practically a six hour brainwashing session about how great vector marketing was, how great cutco was, and how great Alcas, its parent company, was. we only had one break for six hours of training, lasting a grand total of ten minutes. by the time the day was over, my head was pounding. I felt like crap.

my 'assignment' for the night was to come up with the names of a MINIMUM of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY people I knew. the next morning, X called me, asked me how many people I came up with, and when I replied with a number over 250, they barked me to find more.

I decided not to go in for a second day of training, espescially after reading this website. I called X, told them I wasn't coming in, and although X had been really nice the previous day, they turned on me within the space of ten seconds.

Vector rang alarm bells from day one, but I decided to try and stick it out. thank you for saving me from what seems to be a very sketchy company that scams countless students.

Anonymous
townsville, Ontario
Canada