Two weeks ago, while I was contemplating hard on pursuing the permanent position in this certain company, I felt like a got an answer from heavens when a friend texted me that she recommended me to a company in Alabang. Originally, the company was interested in her, but she already have a job. I was thrilled as they are looking for people who want to work in the fields of communication, events organizing, and training.
The very same day, a guy called me and asked if I were available for a meet-up. Unfortunately, I was still busy transcribing some interviews that I said it was a bad time to call. The guy called me again the next day. This guy talked fast that I couldn't really understand his name. I inquired about the job post, but he said that it's better if we could just meet in their office so we can fully discuss the positions available. I agreed. We set an appointment the next week.
I arrived in their office only to be surprised that there were already ten people inside, each having a conversation with one office staff. I remember the guy telling me "There is low competition, so you don't worry about that." Or something like that. This didn't look anything like low competition. A woman asked me who my contact was, and I said, sorry I can't really remember his name. She gave some names, and I shook my head because I really can't remember.
I was asked to sit in one chair until someone approached me, who was apparently the guy who called me for the meet-up. This comment is unnecessary, but he looks cute. I feel like I had to say that because that's probably the only nice thing I'll say about him in this whole entry. Probably.
So we chitchatted a bit, together with another lady who is also looking for another job opportunity. We were looking for the same thing. But I guess the present given to us was wrapped in our expectations only to see a completely unexpected content.
We were led to a showroom while videos are being presented. They were impressive, I must say. A woman then entered, who was presumably the host of the afternoon's presentation. She's nervous and unsure of what she's talking about. She apologized a lot for stuttering in English and for videos that weren't playing. I don't know if it's her first time, but I guess she could've done better. Well, anyways, the presentation showed some interesting facts. According to them, the baby boomers in US dictate the economy. They have a 50% share on cash spendings so most companies devote the focus of products and services to their preference. If baby boomers don't ring a bell, they are the babies responsible for population growth after the World War II. I didn't know that, too. Ha ha. So now that these baby boomers are middle-aged, companies should ride the trend of what these group of people want. And do you know what that is? Anti-aging products. Yes, these babies want to stay young forever.
In the back of my head, I was thinking that this is too superficial. Of course, we all want to stay young forever. But I can't see how we could be millionnaires just by selling creams, body washes, pills, etc. Well, unless, they are overpriced. Oh wait, they are.
To make the story short, the job offered to me was to sell products while recruiting people to join the business. It's like a pyramid scheme where people are asked to recruit and recruit people until the person on tops gets rich. It fascinates me how some people still fall prey to this kind of business. May it be legal or not, I think it's a shame they would lure people like me who are desperate in finding jobs.
This is just my point of view, but sales isn't for me. I wouldn't want to be part of a team who boasts of "not needing skills and intellect to make money." If they would think of it, yes, they make huge amounts of money just by recruiting people and selling stuff, but don't they think their skills and potential would go to the trash bin just because they'd choose this path?
The beginning of this story, I was asked by that guy the reason why I made time to go to their office. Was it for experience or for the money? He was surprised I said it's for the experience. He asked me if I don't need money anymore. I said, yes, I need money but my goal now is to have an experience rather than make huge amounts of money. I'm not rich, I'm actually broke, but I won't trade money for the opportunity of using my skills and knowledge in contributing to the society's work force. Sure, working in the office is tiring and draining. Sure, I won't have all the luxurious things they already have with the basic salary I'll get. But one thing is for sure, the things I worked hard for while I was studying didn't go down the drainage.
Here are my tips if you encounter people like this. Be wary if:
1. They don't want to explain the nature of work right away.
2. They just go by some initials as the name of the company.
3. They would boast of being American-based.
4. They would ask you to go in a sports smart casual attire. (Lol, I didn't.)
5. They would ask you to name the person who recruited you.
6. They would say you need to invest a small amount of money, which is not really that small.
7. They wouldn't even look at your resume! (That's the scariest!)
8. They would bug you to have a follow-up meeting.
9. They would lend you a booklet (which is cheaply produced and termed as a document) that you need to return if you refused the follow-up meeting.
There! This is just my side of the story. So if anyone from that company reads this, I just saw this from my lenses. It might not be entirely correct in your view, but this is how I see it. Thank you.
