I was contacted by phone by Jeff, a hiring manager, from the LaFond Agency in Woburn, MA. They had seen my resume on Monster.com. He introduced himself and said that there were two positions they were hiring for: a customer service-type position, and a entry-level management position. He asked me what I thought to be very few questions before he invited me for a first interview.
I went in a couple days later for the initial interview. As I waited, there were more and more applicants that came in. This had me a bit off guard, for they seemed to all be applying for the same position. Competition is expected, but who knows how many other days this has happened. The process continued similarly to how the phone conversation went. I met with a hiring manager for a few minutes, and was then invited to the conference room for a presentation. (Note here that they made it seem like this guy just so happens to be in the office that day and you should check it out, when in reality it was a standard company overview/recruiting presentaion.) This was the second red flag.
The details of the presentation were inticing:
- Prospect of making a lot of money and your own schedule
- Not stuck in an office all day
- Working with young professionals like yourself, building your own career
- Lead system suggests easier sales
But this was not without some flaws:
- Needed to pay about $350 for insurance license, school, and exams.
- ONLY get paid on commission from sales, and this could take time to obtain
- Staff at this office seemed disinterested and cold, save a few members
They called me the day after this first interview to come in for a second interview. They said to bring questions, as they "move pretty quickly." I accepted the interview, but later canceled after further consideration of the points above. I did not study insurance in college, so it was not a great fit.