Bummed out... | ryuuzaki's Blog

Hi guys.  Have I got a story for you...

I went to a job interview on Tuesday.  It was another one of Reed's "mystery interviews" but it turned out to be for a company that markets Talktalk broadband.  The interview went incredibly well and I was told to come back the following day (yesterday) for a Day of Observation to see if I was suitable for the job.  I was told to dress smartly, wear sensible shoes and be at the office for 12.30pm.  I would then be taken around by an administrator and would be able to go home at 8.30pm after a short interview.

It sounded great, and there were hints that I would get the job, so I turned up to discover that I would start out doing direct marketing.  I asked what this meant and was told that it meant communicating with customers directly, rather than via advertising.  This sounded just like what I wanted to do, but I was kind of surprised when I was taken away from the office, bundled into a car and told I was going to spend the day in Great Yarmouth - slightly confusing, as I'd been lead to believe that I would be based in Norwich.

It turned out that the direct marketing that I would have had to do for the first year of employ was door-to-door sales - something that I have a few moral qualms about doing as I dislike door-to-door salesmen vehemently.  But I decided to stick it for a while to see what they did, making quite clear that the Day of Observation was as much for me as it was for them so I would not guarantee anything.  The day that followed was awful and utterly put me off my job.

Employees at this level are only paid based on commission.  You may have a great week and sell lots of internet, but it's equally as likely that you will sell none and receive nothing.  I would be expected to travel all over Norfolk (and occasionally go on road-trips around the rest of the UK) and would not be reimbursed for my travel to do so.  Ergo, I could easily have to fork out £30 for a train ticket to then make no money that day to cover it.

Worst of all, in order to complete a sale, I would have to go into people's houses to finalize their details and check their phone line.  I'm a 22 year old girl.  I have more commonsense than to just go walking into stranger's houses.  I just would not feel safe having to do that, especially as the guy showing me the ropes said that they mainly focus on poorer areas (which are unsafe anyway).

So my experience of yesterday was seven hours (with no breaks) of walking around a strange town in the pouring rain wearing my best formal clothes (luckily, I had brought an umbrella but had no smart coat so was just in a linen shirt) to knock on 300 or so doors just to make 2 sales.  I was soaked to the skin within minutes, had lost all feeling in my extremities within the first hour and was threatened with bodily violence once due to a rude remark made by the supervisor that badly offended a prospective client.  I just felt like giving up immediately and going off to have a good cry.

I also hated the supervisor vehemently.  I rarely take an instant disliking to someone, but he was so rude to both his colleagues and the customers (he claimed he was being charming, though personally I couldn't see it).  I just don't think I could have stomached working with that prat, let alone being forced to repeat that job every day for a year on the off-chance that I'd get promoted at the end of it.

So, feeling a bit bummed out and suffering a slight fever, I've decided to do my job hunting for the day online and not venture out again until Friday...