Dollieh Sanctuary

So, day three of new job, and last day of training... And I'm really wondering if I bit off more than I could chew. I'm starting to feel like I'm waaaay out of my element.

I've worked in sales fields before, where your demeanor has to be friendly, and happy, even when you're not. But this is above and beyond sales. Everyone keeps saying this isn't a job, it's a lifestyle. You need a good student mentality. You're going to feel like you're always on the phone with us. They're expecting me to be in conference calls almost every day, which I have no idea if I'd get paid for or not. Call them after my shift every day. Show up for meetings at 8:45 every morning, (an hour commute away) even if my shift doesn't actually begin til 2, and again, not sure if I'm getting paid or not. Their team leaders claim that "they don't have bad days" which I know is total bull, because everyone has a bad day once in a while. I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of cheerleaders. I keep telling myself that once I'm on the sales field, I'll feel better, but I'm not so sure.... I'm glad to have a job, really I am... but what good does it do me, if I get myself fired in less than a month? And buzzwords. Everything is a damn buzzword.

So.... has anyone here been in marketing before? Is this the norm? Is everyone a morning person? Psyched for their job so much? Is every morning a friggin mini pep-rally? I want this to be a temporary thing, really. I want to go back to college, once I've paid off my student loans from the year I did at Elmira College. I don't want to be a "business partner"... it's kind of discouraging to feel this lost, so soon into things.

Yes, more years than I can count and yeah, it's like that with some companies. With some jobs it's like they want to own you 24/7 and since the advent of cell phones and it's just gotten insane how much contact they want to have with you over the course of a day. Honestly I don't work for companies like that one anymore. I want my job to be my job, and I want to go home and know I am not going to be called for any reason while I am off the clock. I'm not a morning person or a cheerleader type either though I had to be for a long time. You learn to fake it if you want to survive in a job like that.

My advice. Find something else and get out of there before it drives you crazy. It's hard enough to work a job like that when you're the type who likes it. When you're not? It can really be awful. It's not worth the paycheck, seriously. Up to you, but if you think already it's not going to work then likely it won't.

Are you paid hourly? Or are you on salary plus commission? And ask if you are paid for the meetings - you do have a right to know. And yes, Marketing people tend to think the world runs in the morning. Been there, done that, got out. It is all Buzzwords and artificial. Basically to succeed you need to be marketing yourself, which is why they will be that way. Document EVERYTHING they tell you to do. Get them to write orders down! Keep track of all the extra hours they expect you to be working. If you are being paid salary plus commission, then no, they probably won't be paying you anything extra. I suggest looking for a different job too, but don't tell them until you find one.

That's what I was afraid of. And another thing that's troubling me.... I went to do some research on the company itself.... because supposedly, it's been in business for over 30 years. But my search...turned up f*ckall. I found one website, and it lists my managers, but says the office is in a different location than where I work. Then I found something interesting. A website called "rippedoffonline.com" and it was about 130+ comments about the autoglass division of the company, and how shady their business practices are. I don't work for that department, but if they practice shady stuff in one division, isn't it likely to bleed into other areas?

I'm extremely sensitive to criticism about my job, and tend to take things said in group meetings rather personally, so the stuff that goes on in the morning meetings ends up bringing me down, rather than encouraging me. I get paid "hourly wage vs commission" If I make my sales goals for the day (which are supposedly set rather low) then I get commission, with average take home pay supposedly around $150 a day, paid every Friday. If I don't make my sales goals, I'm "doing something wrong" but I get minimum wage per hour I worked for the day.

If anyone cares to look, and see if they turn up something different, the company is called "AFA Management Group"

-sigh- and I was so excited to find another job. Maybe I'll hold it down for six months and see what happens, and at least get some stuff caught up.

It sounds truly awful. Absolutely Freakin' Awful Management Group. A shark pool.
If they are rip-off artists, that probably includes their employees as well. Minimum wage? Are they kidding?
Try temping. It pays pretty well, and companies tend to hire those they know, sometimes the temp they have. In any case they don't consider it a "lifestyle" (translation: I own you, kid).
I know how happy you were to get a job, and having your hopes dashed when you find out what it's really like is a major disappointment. Don't be discouraged. You got this job; you can get another. You're bright, pleasant, and I'm sure you present well. I think it speaks well of you that you're NOT comfortable with this group. As you say, you can get some stuff paid off.

I'm getting all the wrong vibe here OK . . . there are people out there willing to create huge fronts in order to not only rip off customers but employees also. One was shut down here last year in the area I live. Most of the employees didn't have a clue that what they were being told to do was illegal. I'm not saying this company is like that, but they sound like they are, at the least, making you work more than 40 hours for a nebulous amount of money. Do they consider you an employee or a contractor? That is an important distinction.

Keep all your paper work, hours, check stubbs etc, just incase the company doesn't do it's end when it comes to tax time.

That sounds ridiculous.

The labor laws that cover you will vary depending on your "arrangement" with this company. What tax forms did they have you fill out when you started?
If it was a W4, you are an employee of the company.
http://www.elinfonet.com/workipedia

If it was a W9, you are an independent contractor.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-form-w-9.htm

Oh it was definitely a W4. I'm not a contractor; I've done contract work before, it's how I've been affording mah dolliehs. Plus, I was milking my old boss for all he was worth with my unemployment, because he screwed me over hardcore. As in, I was doing commissions at $200 a pop, then he put me on salary while business was good, so I was making about $160 a week, and doing six ads. But it was a bi-weekly salary as opposed to an hourly wage, so "if business is slow, you're still getting paid the same amount" Then when business did get slow, he wanted to put me back on commission, except only paying $40 an ad. When I tried to file unemployment, he claimed I wasn't showing up for work, and tried to get my benefits denied. Appealed it twice, before Unemployment told him to stop wasting their time.

And I did find out that I am NOT paid for morning meetings OR conference calls, and they were trying to spin it like "if you make your sales goals, you're essentially making $20 an hour for your 8 hour shift." Then the hour you're in a meeting only bumps that down to $17 an hour, which is "still really good money to be standing around selling these products" They get away with not paying you for them, by saying they're not actually mandatory. However, they essentially write you off or "filter you out" for not showing up, because you "just don't have the right attitude for this field"

Also found out that AFA is a division of Smart Circle Marketing. The folks that market things like Sham-Wow and Snuggies. No idea what that is either, but I'm about to go look it up.

I've always been told and believed that if something is too good to be true, it usually is. Both of my trainers are...unapproachable at best, talk to the trainees and leaders like they're stupid, and one vanished off the floor for the better part of an hour. They talk down on people who have college degrees, saying how their program is designed to make people succeed, and they keep stressing things that make it sound like it's not a scam, in a way that makes me think 'the lady doth protest too much'. In today's meeting, they were talking about "not listening to outside influences", and that some people are going to be downers and not to listen to them, because "they just don't get what it is we do here." The people that question these concepts are "filtered out" and "there's nothing wrong with them going to get conventional jobs" said in that awful tone that one uses when you're really laughing behind your hand at someone. It all sounded like brainwashing. We don't get our schedule til the day before we're supposed to start the work week, which insures that you come for that day's meeting. We have to bring notebooks to the meetings and it's imperative to have "a good student mentality", giving us pamphlets and packets every day, and "actually you should really have a binder, to keep this organized, just like in school, except remember, *you don't have to pay for these sessions*" In order to move up to the next level, you have to complete your "development chart" and be able to teach back everything you learned. I'm really kinda neg'ed out (and omg that's one of their phrases... day 4 and it's already permeating my vocabulary) about the whole thing. It sure *sounds* like a great opportunity. But again... too good to be true. Supposedly the only catch is the amount of work and time you have to put in to make it to "ownership" which is where they send you out to your own office, build your own team, etc. You're "an investment of the company" and if you're not worth the money being spent on your training, you're "filtered out".