I got to "PU Gymports" 15 minutes early as all good little job-seekers should. The small reception area was full of other smartly dressed, intelligent, fresh graduate job-seekers. The women were dressed very well, many with high heels above 2". I (thank goodness) had chosen to wear flats per the "walking around" advisory. Many of the men were in formal suits; essentially, everyone was dressed to impress. We heard rowdy chanting from inside the interior office, apparently a little team encouragement to make us think that working there would be fun. Over 40 minutes after the second interview should have begun, the regional president came out and spoke to the fifteenish people in the reception area. He said that there were only three spots open, and that they could afford to be very selective in choosing the right candidate. He then explained that we would be paired up with someone who was currently in the job position we would be attempting to land, and spend the day with them.

I was paired up with a young woman, another recent college graduate. She'll remain nameless. I went out with her to her car, as she said we needed to go on some calls to clients. Her car was dirty and filled with cardboard boxes full of stuff, and, another person! A young black woman, who will also remain nameless. I sat in the front passenger seat and my "interviewer" started up the car. We drove away from "PU Gymports" and my interviewer started giving me the talk about how their advertising reached a larger audience than tv, radio, and newspaper combined. Long story short, it turns out I was being recruited to manage solicitors. Door to door salespeople. The lowest of the low.

The young black woman who was being managed by my interviewer quit after an hour of going door to door to business locations in Polish town trying to sell "promotions" for well-known home renovation companies and children's entertainment companies. I didn't blame her. What shocked me was that instead of driving her back to "PU Gymports," my interviewer gave her a choice. Either call someone to pick her up, or she would drop her at a bus station. So the young black woman was left on the side of the road, not really sure where she was.

My interviewer said we had to continue and that she had a quota to meet. She explained to me that she was still going through a 16 week training program, which included doing the soliciting herself. They never called it soliciting, just promotions. I told her I wasn't interested in the job. She said fine, but she had to continue until the work day ended at 6pm. Or, I could call someone or she could drop me at a bus station. I said that clearly wasn't going to work, I had left my car back at the office and my roommate was at work. At 1:30, I asked when we could stop for lunch. The woman who had called me about the second interview said that meals would be covered, including dinner with the executives at the end of the day. That was a lie. We stopped at a sandwich place and I had to pay for my own food. My feet were getting blisters over the toes and the top of the foot from all of the walking up and down paved and unpaved sidewalks and streets. I began to literally hobble, and I couldn't just stay in the car while my "interviewer" went into car shops, factory plants, electronics stores, even cafes where she solicited customers and waitstaff. She said that "NO SOLICITING" signs were a welcome mat and that the current manager probably would like us.It was embarrassing, and on top of it all, she was TERRIBLE at it. I think she sold maybe two things that whole day.

When we got back to the car again at 2:30 after another terrible jaunt up and down (BTW she had on black running shoes and a pantsuit, clearly dressed comfortably for the amount of walking she had to do; I still shudder to think of the other girls in that reception room with their stiletto heels) I spoke with her. I offered her $20 and a full tank of gas if she would simply return me to my car immediately. I told her that I didn't want this job, that I was in pain (I showed her the blisters) and that I thought it would be out right MEAN to force me to accompany her for another 3 1/2 hours, when I had no other choice. After calling back to the office and speaking in some sort of numbered code to tell them that I didn't work out, she said fine. She said she couldn't take my money, but when we were almost back to the office, she said she would take the free gas if I still wanted to offer it. I said fine. I was furious, and I wanted to slap her silly, but of course I didn't.

When I got home, I could barely walk up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. I spent the next day calling Spictory Spomotions to tell them I had re-evaluated the industry and was no longer interested in employment with them, and watching tv on the couch, my red hurting feet up on a pillow.

Please don't let this happen to you. A reputable company will answer your questions completely, honestly, and candidly. If someone is on the phone with you, dancing around your questions, or if you get to an interview and realize at the end that you STILL don't know what the job description entails, get out! If what happened to me happens to you, call the Better Business Bureau.