DOB, part II

so basically, "shadowing" this company essentially means following a bunch of solicitors around. because that's what i did. no joke.

as my person introduces herself to me and tells me about her professional experience with the company--which she's been with for a whole four weeks--a third girl drives us to our destination: the middle of a shopping center. the third girl hops out and takes the shopping center across the street while i follow my person around. i am instructed to stay within arm's length of her, as she tends to move fast. i'm also instructed to ask lots of questions.

i probe my brain to think of as many interesting questions as possible, in between jetting from store to store. at each store, my person fires off her sales pitch and then smoothly walks away with each rejection. she gets two sales and a possible recruit with the manager at pac sun.

in the middle of the sale, as my person explains her job, the client goes, "oh orion marketing. i nearly did that, but it's all commission so i decided not to." my person has a polite rebuttal argument to this, but she does confess to working from 7am until 7pm, six days a week.

is she kidding? i think. no, she is not. as we round more and more stores, i'm told about the unlimited opportunities for advancement in this company, how this girl was planning to own her own company by april 19th, how if she could do it, anyone could. i'm told about the trips that she takes every two weeks, the great hotels she stays in, the benefits. i'm reminded of the mary kay dream i bought into a few years ago, and the sales pitch i was given by countless mary kay ladies (the easiness of it! the free cars! the cash just pouring into your mailbox! promise!!!).

however, i realize through snatches of conversation between the two employees i'm shadowing, these out-of-state trips are used with the employees' personal cars, and men and women often share hotel rooms. huh.

i'm treated to lunch at quiznos. after sandwhiches, i'm given the low-down on how people advance in the company, and i'm asked to list character traits that a person would need at each level. i'm told that a great attitude is extremely, extremely important in this business. you're not going to go far if you don't have a great attitude.

well, it's apparent to me that my attitude is to get out of this job interview ASAP. after lunch, the girls begin to start another set of rounds. when the right words come to mind, i explain that i don't think that this is the job for me, and i thank them for their time. they understand completely and drop me off at my car.