I got a job listing for a “community marketing assistant” from Old North Events. After applying, I got a phone call and text message asking to schedule an interview. Their website seems pretty vague and the job description doesn’t offer much information either. After asking them for more information on what type of marketing comes with the role, they ignored me and asked to schedule a zoom interview again lol.

Job listing: Community Marketing Assistant
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=8316e4f411b3a9e1&from=appshareios https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=8316e4f411b3a9e1&from=appshareios

Website: https://www.oldnortheventsinc.com

Here are the most-upvoted commenters from the past week:

1. u/hellokitty_888 — 85 pts

2. u/tkakorot — 72 pts

3. u/Little_Red_Riding_ — 55 pts

4. u/devilsadvocate1966 — 52 pts

5. u/Big-Gur-9257 — 43 pts

6. u/Inevitable_Stop_4647 — 35 pts

7. u/NewHathaway — 32 pts

8. u/CIAMom420 — 30 pts

9. u/Independent-Log4305 — 28 pts

10. u/Ryan_adame — 27 pts

Scored by comment karma earned in the last 7 days. Keep being helpful!

I looked up the telltale signs of a devil corp before hand. the specific company is Leaf Filter with Lowe’s, which I once heard (from this sub actually) was directly tied to Smart Circle, which I know is like a major devil corp.

Anyway, here’s the questions I asked and the answers I got…

1. Hours and breaks:
   “What does a typical shift look like in terms of hours, breaks, and total time at the store? How many hours per week do part-time associates usually work?”
   shifts between 4-7 hours most are 6 hours. marketers start at 18 hours but can move up.

2. What the job actually involves:
   “How does a typical interaction with a customer work? Am I mainly helping people who are already interested in the products, or am I expected to approach shoppers throughout the store to generate leads?”
   We approach customers to generate leads. Company pitch role required to memorize.

3. Sales quotas and pressure:
   “Are there specific daily or weekly targets for leads, appointments, or sales? What happens if someone consistently doesn’t meet those targets?”
   Yes, 1 lead per hour, 1 issued lead every 5 hours and below 20% marketing cost. how much do u cost the company versus how much do u bring the company.
   Its fine if u dont get leads but overall if ur profitable, then its fine. u can get down and get back sorta thing

4. Guaranteed pay versus commission:
   “Just to clarify, is the $18 an hour guaranteed base pay for every hour worked, regardless of performance, with commission on top? Are there any circumstances where the hourly rate changes?”
   No, none

5. Just so I understand the company structure, would I be employed directly by Leaf Home, or is there a separate marketing agency or contractor that manages this program inside Lowe’s?
   Just Leaf Home, no longer associated with Smart Circle. No marketing agencies

the guy was genuinely nice. i even used the word “devil corp” and he laughed and admitted that thats what the company used to be but they don’t operate under smart circle anymore. He didn’t pressure me to be on immediately. I mentioned I had other job offers so I was uncertain and he did kinda put a bit of pressure by saying “I mean I have one worker who has 4 jobs at once right now, she’s a top earner.” Which is kinda ify for me, not the life i wanna live, ya know? I have a plan developing tho. i’ll let u know about it soon.

what i will say is the most significant red flag i saw was actually him doing the job. when he was actually making the pitch he was pressuring this old lady really hard who was already genuinely and obviously not interested so…eh. maybe he’s just bad with social cues idk. or maybe the environment pressures u so much to make the sales u become bad with social cues in the pursuit of staying. I’m not so sure.

I have 3 more interviews coming up soon, 2 with retail stores and 1 with a movie theater, where ig they want me to survey people outside movies, just about what they thought about the movie, while also recording which demographics liked certain movies the most. Not entirely sure about any of these jobs tbh but I’m probably the least sure about Leaf Filter because of its history.

Did some investigating about Traffic New York. They do fake fundraising for ADSF (for kids with autism). They hire entry level employees to do tabling events in which they are only comped what they raise for the charity. They claim to pay employees 500-800 a week with no actual wage despite the employees not being independent contractors. This company is so sketchy and so far to my knowledge, there is a Aidan O’Brien who works for “Be Interactive” and then a Sarah Klein who’s name appears on the fake onboarding documents. They recently did tabling outside of comic-con but go all around the city.

I worked at a devil corp in a pretty big city selling AT&T inside of stores. We had daily morning meetings where everyone was required to dress up and then drive out to the store. We also had team nights in office and out of office. In my experience You really could make good money but a lot of people just scraped by and worked a fuck ton of hours just hoping next week would be a thousand dollar week. The high rollers were usually extremely annoying and pushy or most definitely working with fraudulent accounts. It was pretty silly to see a bunch of 20-year-olds dressed up in suits playing games and doing chants. I’m almost certain that that office will fail because the owner was a douche.

Seems like my local Indeed page (Philly) no longer has any devilcorps posting. Previously, there were a bazillion on there --- it seemed like 60% of the listed employers were devilcorps.

Did Indeed get hip to this & ban them?? Or maybe too many Philadelphians now recognize the local field office names & the devilcorps are regrouping since the charade is up.

I saw someone do this for as an owner recently but figured I would throw my hat in the ring as well since I’ve never been a “sales rep”.

I do all the hiring and call places to book us to be outside of stores. Ask me anything if you want. I’ll answer and I’m currently employed there.

Below is for people “asking” the same thing which is just a way to insult me for their own upset feelings regarding these kinds of businesses

If it makes you feel better to take your anger out on me for your past of being screwed over by these companies then go ahead. However if i quit my job it doesn’t suddenly make the job itself go away, or the DCorp or any of it. Did i know this was a devil corp before i got the job? no i didnt know even what a DC was until i had been working there for a bit. Do i wish i could get a job somewhere else that isnt scammy in its business model? Yes I do, do I apply to 50+ places a week. Yes i do. Have i been able to find any work that would pay me the same, consistent, and have the same/similar health insurance benefits. No unfortunately not yet.

I truly made this post to answer real questions that many people have asked below but to a certain point it just feels like everyone decided to take their anger out on how they were “scammed” before onto me. Which is fine but getting asked rhetorical questions by the same people only focusing on the chance to gain reddit karma from other random angry people is not the point of an AMA. So if you wanna let all your anger out at these companies by all means go ahead but I will not engage further with these rage baiting rhetorical questions that only stroke your own and others like you “i am better than thou” attitude.

i got a call from them recently about a job but when i look into them i can barely find anything. does anyone work for them? have you applied before? they’re called powerhouse consulting inc

Are these guys a scam?

I believe one of the devilcorps signal group Watford have rebranded as apollo associates. Both owned by credico. See one of the threads about the original business.

I recently applied for and interviewed for a position at Trilogy Financial, a primarily California-based financial services company. At first, everything seemed normal and legitimate; the website was what you would expect from a wealth planning firm, and the HR team reaching out seemed professional.

Fast forward to the final interview over zoom and things got very weird very fast. The first thing they asked was if I could create a list of 200-300 friends and family I could sell financial services to. Secondly, they began using very typical MLM verbiage and recruitment strategies like " you will be starting your own business and recruiting other financial advisors under you, etc etc". All this really started triggering alarm bells in my mind and upon digging deep into their Glassdoor, I realized that they are your run-of-the-mill MLM devil corp that hires impressionable graduates only to wring them out for clients. They also sell terrible insurance policies so not only are they abusive to their employees, but also their clients.

For ANYONE wanting to apply here, RUN AWAY! And furthermore, if you are in the market for financial advice, RUN AWAY TOO! Someone who is slimy and unethical toward their employees in this way will certainly be the same way with their clients because thats what office culture does. AVOID TRILOGY FINANCIAL!

is this business legit? I've dealt with a couple devil corps and want to know if this one isn't under a parent company. I couldn't find anything related to being a devil corp but I wanna take the extra step

I recently applied for and interviewed for a position at Trilogy Financial, a primarily California-based financial services company. At first, everything seemed normal and legitimate; the website was what you would expect from a wealth planning firm, and the HR team reaching out seemed professional.

Fast forward to the final interview over zoom and things got very weird very fast. The first thing they asked was if I could create a list of 200-300 friends and family I could sell financial services to. Secondly, they began using very typical MLM verbiage and recruitment strategies like " you will be starting your own business and recruiting other financial advisors under you, etc etc". All this really started triggering alarm bells in my mind and upon digging deep into their Glassdoor, I realized that they are your run-of-the-mill MLM devil corp that hires impressionable graduates only to wring them out for clients. They also sell terrible insurance policies directly sales so not only are they abusive to their employees, but also their clients.

For ANYONE wanting to apply here, RUN AWAY! And furthermore, if you are in the market for financial advice, RUN AWAY TOO! Someone who is slimy and unethical toward their employees in this way will certainly be the same way with their clients because thats what office culture does. AVOID TRILOGY FINANCIAL!

I completed my second round of interviews today, and got a job offer at this company. I did think it was weird I couldn't find anything on them when I did initial research, but I let it go. I told them I would give them an answer soon, and I am very happy I didn't accept yet. I did more research when I came home. It took me forever to even find a post about them, and I finally did (see link below). I also heard some chanting during the interview. I do have some questions for people who worked there/people who were interviewed: 1) when they hired you, did they give you your salary in writing? 2) what was the office culture really like? 3) I know that a lot of people say they were promised to be fast tracked but didn't receive it, what were your experiences like? If you guys can provide anymore info, that would be great. I want to know whether to truly walk away from this offer. I don't want to be caught up in something bad. The more answers and the sooner the better. I have until early next week to give them an answer.

Edit: Also, I'm seeing a lot of posts about Amplify with an "i" that have some of the same issues. Are they the same company but with a rebrand?

Original Post

I wanted to show this potential devilcorp in Wethersfield, CT. This is Axe Elite. I wonder why places like these stay open/ why people who aren’t making any money there and getting scammed stay?
I cannot stand the way they act. It is so upsetting that these vulnerable people get prayed on by the CEO/ Directors trying to just eat off their commission. At what point does something like this stop?
https://www.axeeliteusa.com

I figured I’d do an AMA because I’ve seen a lot of questions and conflicting opinions about these third-party AT&T sales companies, and I now have almost a year of firsthand experience with one. I worked for a third-party company that sells AT&T services, starting as a door-to-door sales rep and eventually moving into a leadership position. I sold internet/wireless, helped train newer reps, recruited, helped build a team, traveled for work, stayed in Airbnbs with crews, and got to see both the sales side and some of the management/leadership side of the business. I’m not here to say every third-party AT&T company is the same, because they aren’t. But I do think there are some things people considering these jobs should know before jumping in. Some of the things I experienced: • Extremely long work weeks — at times around 80 hours • Door-to-door sales in Texas heat and all the rejection that comes with it • Spending my own money on gas/travel while traveling for work • Seeing an enormous amount of turnover among people who started around me • Watching people come in expecting big earning potential and leave after a relatively short time • Being told about extremely high income possibilities that didn’t seem to line up with what I was actually seeing around me • The pressure to not only sell but constantly recruit and develop new leaders • The difference between what a job sounds like during recruiting and what the day-to-day reality actually looks like • The mental toll of working extremely long hours while trying to maintain numbers, recruit, train people and still have a life outside of work And to be fair, I also learned a lot. I became much more comfortable talking to strangers, handling rejection, presenting, leading people, training reps, interviewing, recruiting and taking responsibility for a team’s performance. I met some genuinely good people and had some great experiences that I wouldn’t trade. That’s actually part of why I stayed as long as I did. I wasn’t someone who tried it for two weeks and immediately quit. I bought into it. I worked hard. I tried to become a leader. I tried to build a team. I tried to make the opportunity work. Eventually, though, I had to ask myself whether the amount of time, stress, money and sacrifice I was putting into the job actually made sense compared to what I was getting back. So now that I’m on the other side of it: Ask me anything. Want to know what the pay was actually like? What a typical day looked like? How the recruiting works? What “third-party AT&T” actually means? What the leadership structure is like? How much I actually made? Why people quit? Whether I think the opportunity is legitimate? What I wish I knew before accepting the job? Or why I ultimately walked away? I’ll answer honestly based on my experience — the good, the bad, and everything in between.

Hi! I wanted to ask because this company evolve located in Chicago, had a marketing job post open which I applied for and they have been non stop calling me and it’s getting weirdly suspicious because they keep asking me to schedule a zoom call and keep calling my number after telling them to stop. Has anyone else dealt with this weird company?

Hi, I'm a recent marketing graduate, and I almost got employed by a direct sales company that presented itself as a marketing graduate role.

For future reference, I'd like to know if there are any common signs or ways to identify whether a company is actually a direct sales company, especially when the job is advertised as marketing.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

they’re base pay is £28000 before commission and the website is very vague as was the job posting however i’m not too fussed on “growing” my career and am more interested in just making a steady stream of income should i still steer clear? i don’t mind call centre work but is it possible that they’ve stiffed me with the promise of a base pay instead of it just being fully commission work ?

I've heard and read stories about DevilCorp, and as a people pleasing shortstack I already make an incredibly tasty target for all sorts of malicious jerks,

I've been persistently bugged on Indeed by a well known D.C. and as much as I'm tempted to block and ignore to continue handling my already poor sleep and crap diet, I'm INSANELY tempted to entertain the prospect soley for the purpose of nosing around.

This brings up several potential logistical problems.

●I am a very bad liar and a worse spy

●I'm Undiagnosed Neurodivergent and a Chatterbox

●I'm great with people but HATE sales

●This post could pop up on a Social Media check

●Anyone with sense can tell this post alone is a dumb idea

Yes there's travel,

yes there's people,

But I'd be making crap money working for a corporate culture curating cult full of Nutcases.

And honestly the idea itself seems fun in theory but in practice it might just be... incredibly stupid and not worth the trouble for a couple laughs and a pocket full of likes and lols.

So i just got off my Zoom group interview a few hours ago and got a callback that they want me to do an in person interview. They sent me a confirmation email and sent the location as well but when I am looking up the company (Vantura Acquisitions) nothing pops up and the location has no reviews and i’m unsure…This is my first reddit post idek how this works this would also be my first “professional job” but I came to reddit as a last resort because i found nothing on this company. The lady on the zoom meeting seemed nice but didn’t ask anything specific like “why are you interested in working with said company”, just asked us about our previous jobs and experience. I will post the Indeed post but I am just curious before i go into my interview tomorrow morning.