To be wary about this job interview?

[AreYouSeriousMolly]

I've been invited for a job interview for next week. From the job advert and the company website it appears to be a marketing job.

At first I was pleased but now alarm bells are ringing and I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid or not. Last year I applied for a different job in marketing with a different company and got called in for an interview which went well and I was called back for a second interview which was meant to be me getting a feel of the job and how the company works. However it was only when I got to the second interview that I realised it was a door to door sales job and I had to spend the day going door to door (and I had to pay for my travel to get there ). When I asked if that was all the job consisted of I was told "yes". I should stress I was never told this in the job description or my first interview - it was made out to be an interesting role that was office based.

I thought I was just unlucky with that one but I've been doing some googling and apparently it's not unusual for jobs to be advertised as being marketing but in actual fact be door to doors sales. It's also normal for them not to mention that it's door to doors sales in the job description or first interview, it's only in the second interview that you're made aware when you have to 'shadow' someone doing this for the day.

With that in mind, AIBU to be suspicious about this job interview? The company website say that they specialize in increasing market share and raising brand awareness on behalf of their client portfolio through B2B and B2C promotional Marketing & Sales campaigns (the last part is pretty much the same wording as my interview with the other company - the 'campaigns' were door to door sales). Apparently they also specialise in tailor made marketing strategy.

Maybe I am being paranoid but alarm bells are ringing. When you google the company you don't get much information - it's just the website and the Facebook and twitter page.

I was thinking about going and finding out for myself what it is and if it's door to door sales then leg it out of there quickly.

I should add that if it's not real I'll be pissed as I've just spent the day trailing around town buying a smart outfit for this interview and getting my haircut for it. I've spent a fortune.

Sounds like a plan- I got conned into something similar with a cold calling company last year, advertised it as sales/marketing but when they rang back for a phone interview after much wriggling they admitted it was such & I declined the offer of a trial.

Lucky escape I feel.

If you have the address why not go & do a dry run, & if they have a receptionist get chatting & get the inside info! (you can be almost honest & say you are hoping to get an interview & are researching the job first! )

Can you post the ad text or job description?

Can you post a link so we can check it out ?

If you think it's dodgy then it is. When roles don't describe exactly what you're expected to DO then they're dodgy. My friend fell for one of these and as he sat on the tube with this saddo man who kept telling him that he could in theory earn a million selling little dancing figures on the streets of London...he just thought "Why am I still sitting here?" and got up without a word and walked off!

the figures were of Mickey and Donald!

Also, how hard was it to get an interview?
Usually commission only jobs ( or mainly comission with a very tiny salary)
are quite easy to get

It was advertised as a Trainee Sales Advisor but I can't find the original job advert as it applications closed today. I'll try and find it though.

It was advertised on a well known reputable job website (but then again so was the other misleading job advert - same website)

I had exactly the same thing with a job interview I went for, advertised as a marketing job, and no mention of door to door until 2nd interview where I had to shadow (and get verbally abused) all day. I was livid, I had spent money getti g there for two days, and got a new outfit etc. It also transpired at the 2nd 'interview' that you don't get paid ANY money unless you sign people up to whatever you happen to be selling that month. Disgusting.

Anyway, I think that job interview sounds a bit auspicious in all honesty. I really hope it's not though! Maybe you could call and ask what the job entails day to day?

*suspicious...not auspicious!

It sounds to me like it could be a door to door sales job again, sorry.

I would still go to the interview though you never know. And at least now you have got a stand-by smart outfit for last-minute interviews!

The reputable job sites have trouble turning down shit jobs purely on the grounds they are shit. Hope you are okay OP.

After doing some more digging it looks like that is exactly what it is

How disappointing. At least you have an amazing interview outfit all ready to go for the next one.

It was actually hard to find information about it - like I said when you google the company name all that comes up is the website, facebook and twitter but managed to find some more information about it but apparently it's traded under different names previously.

That sounds like a warning in itself