Christ alive. Where do I begin?....
All jobs that are advertised by this company are for the same position, regardless of title. I was tricked by the 'marketing and events assistant' role but they fall under numerous other ridiculous covers like 'retail sales assistant, events manager, business development assistant etc). They are misleading people and hoping that by the law of averages, they will find someone who actually wants to disregard their dignity, get screwed over financially and is willing to genuinely believe they will be a success (this simply is not going to happen to 99.99% of people)
The process took 2 days, probably the biggest waste of time (and ink) I've ever experienced.
Stage 1: you apply for the role that is often described to be very attractive, no experience required, immediate start, £16,000-£24,000 OTE etc
You will quickly get a call from the company who are 'impressed' with your CV and would like you to come in for a first stage interview. My interview was in an empty office that they had supposedly 'just moved into' and it was a 5 minute chat with the director who brags about how great the company is, the progression is realistic and fast and that they want motivated people to grow the company to hit their £100m turnover by 2020 goal.
This stage is a piece of cake (not a delicious one though, one that is not as advertised and fun-free)
I had supposedly been narrowed down from 50 applicants that day and made the final 3. (i came to realise after the whole process that this was a blatant lie, they just took whoever dressed smartest and could hold a conversation)
Stage 2: you are invited for a day with the team so they can show you how the job works and show you one of their amazing 'events' they put on for bluechip companies like Scottish Power, BT etc.
I went to a location around 20 minutes bus ride from the office with a young guy who had been with the company for a couple of years. Very nice guy, clearly loved what he did and actually felt really motivated by him and at this point wanted the job without even realising what it was. He seemed so happy to work (good for him I guess!)
I was dropped in a coffee shop to fill in a booklet that was insanely long and given 2 hours or so to complete it. It had a lot of questions that basically made you outline what you wanted in life (ultimate dream etc, nice house nice car, the usual rubbish) and a few questions about the company to make sure you had been paying attention. Took forever but at this point, was worth it.
Upon completion, I was collected and was taken to one of these exciting events they put on for other companies. A marketing event as it was described, which is when I realised what a load of rubbish the company is.
When the company refers to 'events', they actually mean, dressing up as seedy street salesmen, roaming the streets and stopping people to collect their information to pass on for the bluechip companies to contact to get them to change their energy provider or whatever they do. 'who does you gas and electric mate?' followed by a pushy, 'can't say no to you cos they don't give you a chance to leave' pitch that gives the poor pedestrian no option but to provide contact details.
It gets worse.
After seeing two of the guys in action on the street (I stood there awkwardly pretending not to be associated) they took me back to the coffee shop to outline the structure of the company and why its such a great place to work.
Everyone starts from the lowest level, and the more peoples information you get, you get a mini promotion to the next level, hiring others who replace you and work for your little 'company'. They class you as self employed, pay you £40 a day and the rest is earn on commission (not from the amount of details you get, but from the people who actually switch their bills to the chosen company. You get about £2 commission per lead which means you will probably make little or no money ever.
They make you work 10 hours a day 8am-6pm 5 days a week with saturdays being 'optional' - this means its not optional at all and they don't look favourably on people who actually have a life and aren't willing to work ridiculous hours for no money, 6 days a week. There are no benefits, no sick pay, no holiday pay, no nothing.
They kept saying to me 'how much do you want this job out of 10? because we only want 10's' - again, too polite so I just nervously said 10 (wish i had said -1,000,000 and they all need to get a life and stop wasting my time)
I was invited back for a final stage interview and they asked me a couple of classic interview questions 'whats your biggest weakness etc' to which I answered the usual 'cant let work go, get annoyed when others aren't as passionate as me etc'
I accepted the offer out of awkwardness but declined the next day and gave them a roasting via email. Please don't waste your time unless all of this sounds good to you.
