la petite moi

Okay, so I finally got a job. However, it seems to be pretty crazy. Here's a link: http://www.vectormarketing.com

Have any of you know anyone that has done this, or have you done this before? I'd like to know if this is something that I will have the capability to do.

Training starts tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday. Five hours each day.

StormBerlin

What is the job about (Obviously too lazy to browse website)?

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"if anal sex could get a girl pregnant i'd be tits deep in child support" Arcane

maleficent

I've browsed the website, and I'm not sure what the job is....

The training objectives, and what they hope to teach you - sound good.
• Building Rapport
• Setting and Achieving Goals
• Understanding Consumer Psychology and Behavior
• Managing Time

Those will take you places for the rest of your life..

It sounds like a sales position, and I get the feeling it's not selling out of a brick and mortar outfit...

Do tell Miss Petit-- what will you be doing?

and Congratulations!

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saltfish

Sounds like tele-marketing?

-SF

maleficent

You have the capability to do anything, with the exception maybe of swimming across the Pacific Ocean, and you could probably even do that if you put your mind to it, and your muscles

Think positive. You can do anything.

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majik_6

Just to let you know:

The job you're looking at is selling Cutco knives. It's a pretty laid back job, and if you're motivated you can make really good money.

However, they do require that you purchase a (rather expensive) knife set up front. If you're okay with that, and you think you're the type of person to go out and schedule the appointments to sell these knives, then by all means go for it! It's a brand that's been around for a while, and a lot of people trust them.

I attended one of their recruitment meetings a few years ago. It's interesting to hear what they have to say, but don't get sucked in without thinking it over.

Anyways, congratulations and goodluck!

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it's all about self-indulgence

Harshaw

First, congrats on the new job.

I met with these people about a year ago, and I don't want to rain on your parade... but just, be careful.

I have no evidence that they aren't 100% legit, but I got a bad feeling about them. So enjoy it, but please, be warry at least at first.

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This too shall pass.

Jesus Pimp

OMG you actually signed up for this scam?

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Never date anyone who doesn't make your dick hard.

Cynthetiq

congrats!

Any investment that you have to make in order to have a job is going to require your commitment.

Otherwise you're just going to end up owning a set of knives, and still have no job.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

raeanna74

Good Luck. This will take work to get things going. Hubby has tried several types of sales jobs where he was pretty much on his own. If you can build a good customer base they will in a way help doing the selling for ya. It's the building the foundation that's the hard part. This will give you good sales experience though and open up more doors for other jobs. Good luck and I'm glad you found something. Way to go girl.

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My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

la petite moi

Well, I ended up turning down the job. I was wary to begin with, and I did more research on their site, and it just doesn't seem like something I could do.

I'm glad I did the interview though. It was a good experience.

Polyphobic

Do as many interviews as you possibly can. You get much better at them the more you do and more relaxed (at least that was how it worked for me).

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<--The great infidel-->

Cynthetiq

IMO you should have at least gone to the first 5 hours of training. It would have at least exposed you to more about the company and allowed you to ask questions to a human being.

Also, it would have helped you figure out what skills you do have and don't have which you seem to not really have any idea about right now.

But let me be the first to point out, you *turned down* a job. So long as you didn't have to lay out any money immediately for the knife set, you would at least get out of the house, exposed to a workplace, and numerous other things. Nothing lost but your time.

If you truly want to change your life, you'll have to take some risks. Risks involve potentially failing. There is nothing wrong with failing. If you fail, you pick yourself up and your try again.

I'll leave you with this thought... Beggars can't be choosers.

la petite moi

Well, that's the problem. It was a job that I couldn't do- I don't have many contacts/acquaintances/friends that are above 25 and have a job (In order to make money with Vector, you have to, by word-of-mouth, make appointments with people like that). I had already spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday in an interview- so I had talked to a human. Also, yes, you do have to put down money for the set of knives. There is no 'workplace' either, persay. You have to go into other peoples' houses once an appointment is made.

And I'm not a beggar. I'm 18, and I would like a job that would not potentially endanger my life and studies.

Cynthetiq

the training was on a street or it was in someone's home? I assume you'd have been where you were interviewed which is at a workplace. Even if the training was held in a hotel room you'd at least get a better idea as to what skills you need to develop, not just for that job, but outside your normal sphere of influence.

and yes, I agree that you don't have many friends over 25 etc, and unless you break outside that circle of people you know you'll only sell however many of your friends will buy from you. Which means you'll have to develop skills to sell.

I know you aren't a beggar in the empircal sense but in another thread you were saying "I need a job. I can't get a job. etc." Here you had one, mind you it wasn't the perfect one, but it was one. And that was my only point.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

skier

La petite moi- Hurray for turning down the job. I also applied and was immediately accepted for a job at Vector Marketing. When told I was to buy the knives first before selling them myself, I turned down the job. It is my opinion that the way they make most of their money is by selling knives to potential "employees" and hoping they do not have enough drive and confidence to sell enough to make a decent profit. There are much better jobs out there, just go to every store you can find and give them your resume- this has worked for me, right now i'm a supervisor in training for boosterjuice.

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la petite moi

I do need a job, but a job that I can do, cynthetiq. I'm sorry, I don't care to become super good friends with 25 year olds in order to push them into buying knives, which I have to buy myself.

The interview was held in a temp-like office. The appointments are made through them, but I would have to drive to the potential customer's home and try to convince them to buy. That is, if I can even get a customer to call in using my name as a reference.

maleficent

How do you think you did in the interview? Doesnt sound like Vector did a very good job selling the company to you.

But it was an interview, and any interview is good.

Interviewing is a skill that takes practice, get as many interviews, even if it's for a position you think you might hate, see how you do at selling yourself, which is what interviewing is all about. That and getting the company to sell themselves to you.

Did you take anything away from this experience? If it were in a different situation, like not hitting up friends, how would you feel about door-to-door type sales? Working on commission?

Find some positives in this experience.

What's next up for you?

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la petite moi

I may do some volunteer work in the summer if I don't get a job first. I think I gained some selfconfidence and learned some questions that an employer might ask. I've done three interviews before.

diddagirl

I say go apply at a fast food chain. You have to start somewhere right? My first ever job was at Wendy's for a year, then I worked at a drug store for 2 years (all while in high school) and now that I have graduated from high school I got a really great job at a very succesful airline. Its all about moving your way up!

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"Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived long in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done."
-Matthew Arnold

la petite moi

Airline? Cool. What do you work as?!

Cynthetiq

I understand that part. I think you're missing the end game I was trying to point out.

My point is to USE them. Use the company to gain some other skills. They would be using you if you went through with the job. Pushing and pushing you to sell more. But had you just gone to the training knowing that you don't want the job, you'd still have gotten some training. That training while some of it will apply to only selling knives, would also somewhat translate to another job.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

PsychoMan

Have you tried signing up with any temp agencies? My roommate was going through a dry spell two years ago -- she had dropped out of university and needed a job. After a few months of being on the waiting list for a temp agency, she got hired to sit in the basement of an insurance company building and pull staples out of paper... for six months.

The staple job was mind-numbingly boring, but the job experienced helped her get her foot in the door at another insurance company, and now she has a much better job dealing with group benefit claims.

It's still not a job that interests her, but it pays the bills, she has her own cubicle, and she is building up experience that she can hopefully use to land a better job.

(She is also continuing her education part time now that she has enough money for tuition.)

EDIT: Corrected a spelling mistake or two.

la petite moi

I have definitely thought of a temp job, just because my boyfriend has done it before.

Cynthetiq, another reason I didn't spend time for the training is because it was during school today and Friday. I just don't want to miss school- it's really hard to clear cuts, and I want to get a 4.0 this semester.

Cynthetiq

petite,

since you didn't mention that as part of your intial thing, I made the assumption that school wasn't any issue. Had you gone through with the training if this was "the right job" then you would be also giving up a portion that you said was important to you, your schooling.

and you shouldn't miss school. you paid for it you should use it. based on this last bit of information, maybe you should try to be a restaurant hostess. they get paid pretty decently, get a shift meal (free) and you can also learn how to wait tables.

those are very flexible jobs and since turn over is pretty high once you have one job, you'll be able to find them easily and readily.

temp companies will have a hard time placing you if you are very restrictive in your schedule. the more open your schedule is the more opportunities you have. Since you are commited for the summer, you should think about your strategy for next semester.

maleficent

If you are serious about finding a job, treat the search like a job itself. Volunteer work is fantastic, getting paid is even better, there's nothing like getting your own money. For experience sake, there's no reason why you can't volunteer, work, and go to school. It will get you out of the house,around other people, and you migh just enjoy it.

Make a schedule for yourself that every day, barring classes or homework, you will look at the paper for 1 hour and make at least 3 - 5 phone calls. This one is going to sound silly, but when you make the phone calls, sit up straight, smile, and be dressed appropriately, it makes a difference in your voice.

Princeton Review has an interesting quiz that helps decide where your career interests might be.
http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/q...reer_quiz1.asp
Then based on your interests (you have to sign up, I think to get the offical results) it will give you a list of potential career choices. (It thinks I am in the right career, but some of the alternatives I have considered, so I'd guess it's pretty accurate)

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Cynthetiq

I just found this on one of the local NYC news sites.. sorry it's in all caps...

How I Got A Job In The Worst Job Market
IT WORKED FOR ME / TIPS TO GETTING A JOB IN A TOUGH MARKET

1. KEEP YOUR SKILLS UP TO DATE
BRENDA CARTER KEPT UP ON HER INDUSTRY - PURCHASING AND LEARNING NEW COMPUTER SKILLS - DURING HER TWO YEAR SEARCH FOR PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT. HER TRICK, "I KEPT IN TOUCH WITH MY GROWING NETWORK OF CONTACTS AND RECRUITERS, AND MADE SURE THEY KNEW HOW MUCH I WAS LEARNING ON MY OWN."

2. SHOWCASE YOURSELF ANY WAY YOU CAN
CONNIE GUGLIELMO, AN UNEMPLOYED JOURNALIST BANDED TOGETHER WITH 7 OF HER PALS TO CREATE GOODPEOPLE.COM - A CREATIVE JOB HUNTING AND JOURNALISM SITE. THEY KEPT THEIR FEET IN THE JOURNALISM GAME, KEPT THEIR SKILLS ALIVE, AND THE SITE GOT THEM WORK.

3. DEVELOP NEW SKILLS AND CONTACTS BY VOLUNTEERING.
REBECCA O'MARA - AFTER SENDING OUT 400 LETTERS AND NO RESPONSES, REBECCA STOPPED LOOKING FOR WORK OFFICIALLY, AND STARTED REACHING OUT TO HER COMMUNITY. DOING LEADERSHIP TRAINING TO AT AN HISPANIC CENTER IN HER COMMUNITY AS A VOLUNTEER GOT HER NOTICED BY AN EXECUTIVE WHO HIRED HER.

4. GO IN THROUGH THE BACK DOOR
GILBERT WILSON - RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE GILBERT DID EVERYTHING RIGHT TO FIND HIS DREAM JOB, AS A POLICY ANALYST IN WASHINGTON DC, BUT THERE WERE SIMPLY NO JOBS AVAILABLE. INSTEAD, HE RE-TOOLED HIS RESUME TO REFLECT HIS WEB AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS, AND APPLIED FOR A DIFFERENT JOB INSTEAD. NOW THAT HE'S IN, THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, HE'S FINDING WAYS TO DO THE POLICY WORK HE DREAMED OF.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

diddagirl

I work in the Customer Care Department answering customer enquiries, booking flights ect...
The point is you have to start somewhere. Perhaps it will have to be the bottom like some shitty fast food joint. But you need experience to get anywhere.

__________________
"Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived long in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done."
-Matthew Arnold

la petite moi

Yeah, I totally know that. I have no problem working at a fast food place. I just don't want to work for a 'scam.'

nash

Off the topic, but, I heard that the Cutco knives are damn good and the knives themselves are no scam. I used to work at a place where we used the "As seen on TV" type of knives and I'll have to admit that they were pretty good and worth the money. So if you know how to showcase the knives, they will pretty much sell themselves.

la petite moi

Yeah, I've seen them in action- they showed us at the interview.

The whole process of getting appointments and pay though is screwy.

Cynthetiq

aah. you said US.. does that mean you had a group interview?

SecretMethod70

I've worked with Vector for almost 4 years now and have been an assistant manager for the past year or so. Not only did I and do I work as a sales representative (what we interview for) I now also run some of these interviews and assist in training. As such, there are some statements I think should be addressed here:

No.

Yes.

It's a security deposit actually, and most people put it on their credit card so that if they don't like the job within the first month they can return the sample kit and it's like they never paid for it. Either way, the option to return the kit is available at any time down the road, be it 10 days or 10 years into the job. You can't do demonstrations of a product without the product, and a company would be stupid as Hell to just "give away" $400+ worth of their product to every potential representative that started with them.

Yup, been around for 55 years. It does involve a lot of scheduling - the time management skills to gain are second to none for a "college job" - but, ther's no "going out" - all demonstrations are done with customer recommendations - people whom a previous cutomer has already recommended and contacted about the demonstration and who has previously agreed to have a representative call them to set up a demonstration.

As with anything, forethought should be given. The job's simple, it's just a matter of having the motivation and discipline to be successful, as with any sales job.

I suppose it's a matter of perspective, but the goal during interviews is not to "sell the company" on potential workers, it's to convey information about the position and select the personable people who hseem to have the potential for success. With 40,000 students working with Vector per year, it's no skin off their back if someone decides it's not for them.

There are three flaws to this line of thought. One, you can see above, is that it's illogical and a bad business practice to NOT require a security deposit for the product. ALL sales companies that work through demonstrations - tupperware, etc - require the representative to possess the product and none of them that I'm aware of give it away for free. The second is that many representatives who decide to leave return their sample kit for a full refund. The option is always available. Lastly, managers in the company are paid based off the success of their offices. If the representatives aren't sucessful, the managers aren't sucessful, and neither makes any money. They don't earn commissions based on security deposits for sample kits - in fact the manager of the office pays for the sample kit first before he even recruits anyone. The security deposit is for the manager's safety just as much as the rest of the company's and the representatives.



The training is designed so that when it's followed properly no one feels "pushed" into anything. Demonstrations are "matter-of-fact" presentations of the product and information concerning purchase options. If the presentations were pushy then I would have a Hell of a lot more people using the 800 number I leave them afterwards which they can call to cancel their order if they so choose. So far, in the past 4 years I've done this job, I've had one person do that.

Representatives are also trained to focus on people who are 30+, Married, and have a home. I know people who have sold over $25,000 in an area they're not from - they start with their teachers and such. It's just a matter of motivation. They're not pushy, they just do a lot of demonstrations. Nation-wide our average order is $180 (a fair amount for cutlery with a similar guarantee and reputation to Craftsman tools) and closing ratio is 60%. That's if someone does nothing more than literally read out of a manual. People generally like to help other people out, and there's a guaranteed pay for every demonstration so they don't feel bad if they don't get anything, AND like I said, representatives are trained NOT to pressure anyone.

Quote:

The interview was held in a temp-like office. The appointments are made through them, but I would have to drive to the potential customer's home and try to convince them to buy. That is, if I can even get a customer to call in using my name as a reference.

Sorry, but you should have asked questions at the interview if things weren't clear. Appointments are not made through the office (although, you can call from the office to set up appointments if you'd like). Customers (whether they've bought or not) on average provide 2 recommendations per appointment. The customer speaks with those recommendations who in turn give permission for the representative to call and set up an appointment with them. So, on average, whether there is a sale or not, one appointment typically results in 2 future appointments. This is a nation-wide statistic based on thousands of representatives' input.

Yes, it's a group interview which lasts about an hour or so designed to be totally clear and upfront about all the details of the position. Makes no sense to bring someone into training for a sales position when they're not clear on exactly what their responsibilities would be.

That's funny. First, if it were a scam, or some other such illegal practice, I don't think 1) Cutco would share an award from the AFL-CIO with Lucasarts, 2) they would have been in business for over 50 years, 3) both Hillary Clinton and Gov. Pataki would have visited the main offices/construction plant in Olean, NY in one year, and 4) the business and marketing schools in multiple universities would not only study the company, but in some cases integrate our training and overall program into their class.

Purdue University and Illinois State University to name a couple - both schools with reputable marketing programs - both have classes in which students not only study Cutco/Vector, but also are required to go through our training and do a set number of appointments. Part of their grade is based on their success and manager assessments in this program.

There is an <a href="http://www.vectoroncampus.com/academic-advisory-board.htm">Academic Advisory Board</a> which has professors from Boston College, Illinois State, University of Texas, and Purdue University to name some.

Yeah. Sounds like a scam to me.

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Le temps détruit tout

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Redlemon

Fascinating, sm70. Before you posted, and without having any prior knowledge of this company, I was thinking "scam". But, with everything I've seen about you on these boards, I trust your opinion. Still, perhaps not the right job for la petite moi, but certainly the right job for some people.

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I can't read your signature. Sorry.

la petite moi

Yeah, it's not the right job for me only because I'm 18. It would be my first job and all.

I never said it wouldn't be right for others though.

Destrox

Intresting info there secretmethod, i've been getting stuff in the mail from them generally 1-2 times for the last 3 years or so, almost signed up but didnt due to the way they show them selves almost as "Telemarketing / Scam" in most peoples eyes.

I've allready got a nice stable, and well paying job for a college student so no loss on my part by never signing up.

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You bore me.... next.

Phaenx

Secret Method is a assistant manager of one of those joints. I was going to do it once as well, they wanted me but I pulled out.

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