Quick Recap: The Interview
I’m going to the gym for my rescheduled meeting with my personal trainer so I’ll be brief. The interview lasted 3 hours, as I was told what the company was about and what I would expect. Then after that I had one on one time with the managers to ask any questions I wanted.
So here it all is in a nutshell:
The Good: It’s a branch of a fortune 500 company that offers a potentially high salary and a lot of room for advancement to management positions. They have branches all over North America with others opening overseas in Australia and Europe, so travelling is a must and we’ll see lots of places. From this view, the job is a wonderful opportunity.
The Bad: It’s 100% Commission. No Salary. You have a chance to make $100,000 annually, but you have to earn it. But there is no solicitation, just appointments. There is another division that sets things up, they just don’t have enough people to meet the quota. But we get back to the main point: there’s no set salary, which was our worst case scenario.
The Ugly: Leah and my Mom after hearing the bad part. Leah went as far as to threaten divorce… yeah, a real beacon of support there. Gives me the impression of what kind of confidence they have in my abilities. Thanks, hun!
But I’m actually getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even been called back for a third interview. I haven’t been offered anything… so I don’t have anything to turn down just yet. When I can, that’s when it will all hit the fan, and yes.. there will be blood.
I’m not questioning the company. They seem on the up and up, and it’s more a question of self-esteem. Do I think I have what it takes to do this kind of job and rake in the big bucks? Do I have the fortitude to handle the rough times that will come with the good times? I’ve got a lot of soul searching to do… and it’s not going to be an easy decision.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I’m going to hit the gym and do my thinking on the tredmill. Until then, take care and have a good day.
Peter
I’m sorry but I’m really on Leahs side here. You have two children to look after. I’m sure you can find a better job but maybe it still needs a bit of time. Love, Sophie
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It would take a lot of support from your wife to pursue that kind of job. You will have to weigh whether or not it is worth the marital strife to have the POTENTIAL of a large salary.
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We travelled a lot with 3 small children. It isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
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I’d keep options open, see what else is available. To threaten divorce, off the bat, is obscene. Cooler heads will prevail if you give it some more time to see what else is open.
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This reminds me of a job offer a friend of mine received. He was promised a huge salary and no cold calling on a 100% commission job. He talked to the guy, and no one actually earned the huge salary advertised- not at their branch, anyway. That was one guy in some far off location. But the POTENTIAL was there to earn it. Furthermore, due to “staff shortages” everyone was expected to do
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cold calling to generate leads. They also were doing door-to-door solicitations as well (it was a home security company…the one you see advertising all the time on TV). In other words, the crappiest kind of sales work available. Caveat Emptor, Peter.
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My husband took on a ‘commissions only’ kind of job a whle back. I would be wary. Sure the potential for high earnings is there, but mostly, he ended up barely making enough to justify the cost of gas. (He did a lot of driving around for the job.) My husband is no slacker. The promised volume just wasn’t there. It was very frustrating.
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I can sort of see Leah’s point of view. It’s an awful lot of rest on only commission. Do you have any idea what people generally come out with at the end of the month, compared with what their recruitment people say is possible?
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Threatening divorce may be a little over the top, but I would consider carefully taking a job with no guaranteed income when you have two kids. Not that you won’t do well, but doing well may call for spending very little time at home.
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