First and foremost - all the positions advertised are EXACTLY THE SAME and they are DOOR TO DOOR SALES for COMMISSION ONLY PAY. I usually hate caps lock but I need to make this clear!! They try to make it sound like the positions are different but they're not!
From the beginning, then:
1. Applied online in September 2015. I have been keeping track of the company since then and they relist all their positions every few weeks or so, so they are literally always advertising (which I imagine is because they struggle to attract and retain staff). Got a phone call the next day asking me to come in for an interview. Fab!
2. Interviewed in the city centre office a few days later. I can see why they've rented office space here, it all seems very swanky. After a short wait I was met by the receptionist who had phoned me and interviewed by one of the managers. It was very short and easy, to be honest. Some basic questions and he explained that "they only promote from within", so there was a great chance for progression. Bigged up the company and how great it is. He was very vague about the job itself and told me there would be a chance for questions if I made it to the next interview stage. It was all very positive and he was full of compliments, which I now know was because he was basically trying to sell the job to me before I knew what it was.
3. I was asked to turn up 2 days later at about 10am to shadow someone for the day, who would be interviewing me in the process. I was told it would last all day. Got to the office and sat around a table with 4 others. We were there a little while and had just started talking about how none of us knew what we would actually be doing when the guy who had interviewed me previously came and started taking us out and assigning us to the people we would be shadowing. I spent the next hour not really believing the chain of events unfolding before me. I was told we would be going outside. Stood outside with the person interviewing me and she told me we'd be getting the bus. OK. Walked to the bus station and got on, I had no idea where we were going. She showed the bus driver a map of where we had to go and then I had to pay £5 for a ticket... really would've appreciated some kind of heads up for this!! Ended up on the outskirts of Rotherham. Followed her into a housing estate, she told me to wait at the end of driveways while she knocked on doors. The realisation hit as she approached the first house.
Now, if I had this kind of interview now I would've left before I got on the bus because if we're leaving the office (which I'd like to reiterate I had no idea we'd be doing) I'd know to ask if it's door to door sales - thanks to this experience, I guess. But I'd just finished university and this was the 3rd job I'd applied for and my first interview so I couldn't bring myself to walk away. So I followed her for six hours (I did not wear the shoes for that!) until after it had gotten dark, and took the bus back to the city centre at the end of her working day.
She explained that 9AM to 6-7PM were the normal hours they were expected to work, and at entry level you could expect to earn £200 a week - commission only, of course, and based on 3-4 sales a day. 45+ hours a week for £200, if you're lucky. The person I was with only made one sale that day. Let that sink in.
The managing director met us and drove us from the bus stop back to the offices, where I would take a test to conclude my interview. A bus was one thing but getting into a stranger's car was uncomfortable, but even after the day I'd had I couldn't take myself out of the running for a job before I'd even talked about it with my partner. I didn't actually take the test at the office, I got the joy of having a conversation with the managing director instead. He was a caricature of a typical pushy salesman. Talked like he was my best friend. He bragged about all his successes and how much money he'd made and noted that I'd stayed to the end of the day (which suggests it's uncommon!). Told me that I, at 24, was older than most of the people they employed. He asked if I could make a decision on whether I would accept a position if I was offered it there and then. I said no, the hours were long and I needed to talk to my partner about it, and I would let him know if I wanted to be considered the next day.
I was waiting for my tram home at gone half past seven in the evening. The bus I normally get from the tram had stopped running, so my partner had to come and pick me up.
I withdrew my application the next morning.
On a final note, despite the company repeatedly insisting that it's successful, they only have two clients (as of Sept 2015). You'll either be asking for donations for a local charity for the blind or getting people who can't get to an opticians to book a free home visit eye test. I can't believe it's a charity and the NHS who are using this horribly exploitative company.
