Beware the Pyramid Scheme
I'm updating with a few words of caution for my friends who have recently graduated or are just looking for a job. Watch out for the pyramid scheme. I recently scored an interview. I was having a quiet breakfast and a number I wasn't familiar with called my cell phone. I've put my resume on Monster and since then have programmed myself to always answer my phone in case it's my editing dream job calling. Sure enough, it was a woman named Jackie from... so and so who wanted to know if I had a past in customer service. I got so excited that I forgot that I'm looking to get out of retail. She said they were a benefits company.
Together Jackie and I went through a little phone interview. She asked me if I'd be interested in a face to face interview with her boss. How could I decline? She proceeded to give me the address and told me I'd need my resume and FIVE letters of recommendation. She quickly hung with me. When I went to tell my boyfriend, he suggested I look up the company online. Most companies are impressed when you know something about them during an interview. That was when I realized I didn't have the company's name in my notes! How could I have let this happen? I'm usually awesome with notes. I shrugged it off and told myself I'd google the address when I got home from working at the airport - I had bigger things to worry about - namely getting those FIVE letters of recommendation within 48 hours!
The general manager and associate manager at the airport were both reluctant to write me a letter without knowing the company name, but I did manage to get my supervisor to write me a letter (which was BEAUTIFUL and I plan to use in the future). I still only had ONE out of FIVE letters. I was beginning to stress a little. I had less than a day to get FOUR more letters. I needed the company's name, pronto.
I had a sit down visit with my good friend Google when I got home. After hours of looking through yellow pages, I found the address. Apparently a company called CFW Creative Sports INC. resides there. This didn't sound right. I was looking for a benefits company, not one who wrote programs for sports teams. Something was very fishy, so I decided to google the phone number that had called me. That was when my palm hit my forehead. The company's name was American Income Life. They happen to be a part of a large pyramid scam that I'm very familiar with. Years ago they tried to schedule an interview with me and I canceled after Google outed them as a scam. It was then I realized that Jackie had never given me the company name, because I definitely would have recognized it.
As for the FIVE letters of recommendation - I also googled how many most employers want and it turns out most are happy with two. My boyfriend suggested that they wanted so many so they could have more names and numbers to call to try and recruit to their scam. This made LOTS of sense. As it turns out, they didn't even get my name and number from Monster (thank God), they got it from a job fair I signed up for and decided not to go to when I saw that American Income Life was going to be there (IRONY).
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this. First of all, I am no longer answering my phone when I see a number I don't know. I'm going to let it go straight to voice mail. If it's a legit employer they'll leave a voicemail with their company name and information. If they feel too slimy to even leave a company name, they will not be receiving a call back from me. This little rule will also allow me a small time slot to research whatever company is calling me and decided whether or not I think we'd be a good fit.
Yeah, I'm a little sad that this wasn't the job opportunity I'd been waiting for, but at least I've learned a few valuable lessons and gained an amazing letter of recommendation. I hope this little story helps other people from getting involved with scamers.
Together Jackie and I went through a little phone interview. She asked me if I'd be interested in a face to face interview with her boss. How could I decline? She proceeded to give me the address and told me I'd need my resume and FIVE letters of recommendation. She quickly hung with me. When I went to tell my boyfriend, he suggested I look up the company online. Most companies are impressed when you know something about them during an interview. That was when I realized I didn't have the company's name in my notes! How could I have let this happen? I'm usually awesome with notes. I shrugged it off and told myself I'd google the address when I got home from working at the airport - I had bigger things to worry about - namely getting those FIVE letters of recommendation within 48 hours!
The general manager and associate manager at the airport were both reluctant to write me a letter without knowing the company name, but I did manage to get my supervisor to write me a letter (which was BEAUTIFUL and I plan to use in the future). I still only had ONE out of FIVE letters. I was beginning to stress a little. I had less than a day to get FOUR more letters. I needed the company's name, pronto.
I had a sit down visit with my good friend Google when I got home. After hours of looking through yellow pages, I found the address. Apparently a company called CFW Creative Sports INC. resides there. This didn't sound right. I was looking for a benefits company, not one who wrote programs for sports teams. Something was very fishy, so I decided to google the phone number that had called me. That was when my palm hit my forehead. The company's name was American Income Life. They happen to be a part of a large pyramid scam that I'm very familiar with. Years ago they tried to schedule an interview with me and I canceled after Google outed them as a scam. It was then I realized that Jackie had never given me the company name, because I definitely would have recognized it.
As for the FIVE letters of recommendation - I also googled how many most employers want and it turns out most are happy with two. My boyfriend suggested that they wanted so many so they could have more names and numbers to call to try and recruit to their scam. This made LOTS of sense. As it turns out, they didn't even get my name and number from Monster (thank God), they got it from a job fair I signed up for and decided not to go to when I saw that American Income Life was going to be there (IRONY).
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this. First of all, I am no longer answering my phone when I see a number I don't know. I'm going to let it go straight to voice mail. If it's a legit employer they'll leave a voicemail with their company name and information. If they feel too slimy to even leave a company name, they will not be receiving a call back from me. This little rule will also allow me a small time slot to research whatever company is calling me and decided whether or not I think we'd be a good fit.
Yeah, I'm a little sad that this wasn't the job opportunity I'd been waiting for, but at least I've learned a few valuable lessons and gained an amazing letter of recommendation. I hope this little story helps other people from getting involved with scamers.