Other LanguagesHere’s a warning, via the Better Business Bureau, for students looking for summer work. A classified ad that reads, "travel the nation, high pay, all transportation and expenses paid," may seem too good to be true, and it probably is.
From the BBB news release:
Such ads usually solicit teenagers and young adults to become part of traveling sales crews that sell magazine subscriptions or cleaning fluid door-to-door across the country. In most cases, the employment ad does not give the name of the company or the nature of the work, but lists a local phone number and the name of a recruiter. The job interview usually takes place in a local hotel or motel and if the young person accepts the job, he or she is asked to leave within a few hours or a day and join a team of employees already in the field.
Once on the job, the new employee may find that the work involves extremely long hours, with early morning and late-night meetings where sales pitches are endlessly rehearsed. The living conditions are usually cramped and allow little personal freedom. Meals and personal items must be bought with a nightly dole.
In some crews, employees do not receive paychecks: their earnings remain "on the books." Their sales are credited to an account by the crew manager, who then may deduct hotel expenses, cancelled orders, fines for "misconduct" and the nightly allowance. Often employees end up in debt to the sales organization, so they are told, and therefore are unable to leave if they want to.
Anyone who is considering working for a traveling sales crew should obtain the following, in writing:
- the name and address of the company;
- details about travel, food and housing;
- commission rates and bonus programs;
- the salary amount, who keeps track of it, and how it is paid;
- how friends and family can contact the employees; and
- information about who arranges transportation home.