My experience with an MLM cult

I had an interesting experience last night. Earlier in the day I'd received a voice mail from a guy who said he had met me a while back, we had talked about my job, and that he worked for a company that was hiring if I was interested. He was specific enough that I figured I had simply forgotten the conversation.

I was curious, because I am in fact looking for a new job. I called him back and he told me that he worked for a major corporation (which I won't mention by name) that sold financial services and that they were opening five new offices and were desperate for people. I don't have any experience in the field but he said that they would provide training. He also told me they were holding a meeting for potential recruits that night and invited me to attend.

I was suspicious but figured the interview practice was worthwhile and it was only about two miles from home. I decided to check it out.

I arrived early and was given a name tag and asked to sign an attendance sheet. About sixty folding chairs were arranged auditorium-style. At the front of the room was a laptop attached to a projector. After I signed in they ushered me to a chair in the front row and told me "Frank" (not his real name), the guy who had called me, would be with me in a couple of minutes.

There were motivational posters plastered all over the walls, along with promotional materials for the company. When I saw the name of the company a bell went off in my head but I couldn't quite make a connection.

Frank showed up and introduced himself. He sat down in the chair next to me and started engaging in what I initially took for small-talk. After a couple of minutes I realized he was kind of feeling me out, steering the conversation from one topic to the next although I wasn't really sure where we were headed. I kept my answers neutral. He was enthusiastic and friendly, funny even, but didn't come off as totally sincere.

Frank left me to talk to some other people so I took a look around the room. I noted that they had seated people dressed professionally in the front rows and tiered the level of dress so that the most slovenly-attired made up the back row.

Frank came back and chatted briefly and then the presentation began. Three equally enthusiastic speakers talked about the company's success, the quality of their products, and the extreme income potential we could enjoy if we were on board. They railed against "dead-end corporate" jobs. Each of them had a story regarding their own prior employment and how the company had essentially set them free. They continually ended their sentences by reading a name off of one of our name tags, an almost subliminal sounding punctuation.

They asked a lot of emotionally appealing questions and quickly provided answers. Towards the end Frank even showed us a slide of his two young daughters, and told us that thanks to the company their college education was already secured. I've just recalled that earlier, when discussing how the company provided all the necessary sales tools, Frank had mentioned that even the presentation we were watching had been downloaded from the corporate website.

The presentation ended, on the dot, exactly one hour after it had begun. Frank hustled me into an office and asked me if I was interested. I told him it sounded interesting but I'd need to give it a little thought. To be honest I was a little confused by the whole thing. Even if it was legitimate it really didn't sound like my bag. Frank wanted to set up a one-on-one interview later on in the week and even invited my spouse to attend. I told him I wasn't married but agreed to the interview, figuring that if I confirmed my suspicions I could cancel.

I went home and googled the company. Most of the results were corporate pages although there was a Wikipedia entry. I clicked on that. For the most part it came off as legit although there was a section saying that "some people" claim it's multi-level marketing. Although this was enough to seal the deal I was still curious. Unfortunately there was no elaboration, so I typed in the company name and "scam". Bingo! 51,400 results.

I started scanning URLs, looking for a reputable source. Nothing popped up so I settled for some guy's blog. It turns out he had attended a meeting and was looking for other opinions. There were over a hundred comments. I started reading through them, encountering a pitched battle between former employees, current employees and various others. Most of the current employees came off as kool-aid drinkers, and fairly early on copped to the fact that it was a pyramid scheme, although a "legal" one. During the presentation they had stressed that it definitely was NOT multi-level marketing. As I went down the list I noticed these people slowly conceding point after point until they eventually surrendered in silence.

To make a long story slightly less long: I called Frank the next day and politely cancelled the interview. The job hunt continues...