I was recently called (as described by the article) for a job interview the other day. So today I went on down, looking fine and was surprised to find myself being interviewed for a financial consulting position by a person about my age whom I knew from high school. Now I am 21… does anything here sound a little off?
The article was written with a bias however, most likely the author was someone who was ‘scammed’ so to speak. It’s an interesting design, I’m a little frightened CitiBank is the largest bank in the world and it is the overarching pinnacle of this hierachy. If this is going on in other countries we could see a world government in less time than I had thought. Nevertheless, the main componant in this ‘scam’ is that the company keeps the leads/trails of all the accounts the rep aquires while working there. If it works like this article reads, then most people sign over some of their family and friends before quitting - but the company keeps the accounts. You can see how this would be very very lucrative for CitiBank (eventually). Their earnings have been number 1 in the world the past 5 years if I read correctly.
Now, the real question here, what the article doesn’t mention is: Just what are these bank deals? If the company’s overhead is so ridiculously low, then they can probably afford decent rates/deals whatever. This system is scary in that it aims for complete and total monopoly through initial low rates/costs. Why pay a college graduate full salary with benefits when you can operate like Primemerica (the company I went to), on contract salary, ACCUMULATING ACCOUNTS FROM THIS REVOLVING DOOR OF PEOPLE.
Now, provided I do not fail, I, effectively was not scammed in the sense that this article is talking about. The numbers the article was talking about sounded a bit extreme when it comes to the cost of training. If the interviewer can do it, I don’t have much doubt that I could make the type of money I would be happy enough with for now.
In terms of ethics, this job is no more unethical (under a Kantian system) than working at the Gap and profiting off the exploited labor of sweat shops. It’s harder to ask why Old Navy’s prices are so low than why the deal at primerica seems to be so good for a lot of people, including the author of that article who probably sat there writing it in his khakis.
Anyways… I’m going to formulate some questions to ask to Mr. Williams for when he calls. If he can’t answer them to my liking over the phone I don’t imagine I’ll go back.
I am the son of the Prince of Nigeria. I have ten million US dollars in an off-shore banking account and I need access to it. Please, my country has been torn by civil war and this money could be used to help me aid my countryman. In exchange for your services, I am prepared to offer you half of the money. All I need is to temporarily transfer some of the funds from the account to-and-from your banking account. Please give me your Social Secrurity Number, Credit Card Number and Expiration Date, as well as your Bank Account Number and Pin.
God Bless,
Urutuk Namamboo, Crown Prince of Nigeria.
Anything a bank can put someone on a low ‘introductory’ rate and then wap up the rate 1-2 years later (converse for pensions). Things people don’t compare or check very often and don’t really understand anyway (although a lot of people say they do when they don’t).
Or anything they can ‘daisy-chain’ sales onto, e.g. you get your mortgage at a low rate and then are offered what you are told is a ‘good’ deal for insurance when it’s twice as much as elsewhere or even completely unnecessary (payment protection springs to mind here, often it kicks in too late to be of use to any normal person). So profit from the mortgage is low, but profit from the insurance is sky high.
In the end it’s not just you who’s screwed over, it’s your friends and family too, you’re full of zeal and belief straight out of the ‘classroom’ (brainwash centre), believing that these are great deals when in reality you know absolutely nothing about the competition in this market and in fact they are crap deals.
Friends and family might be more willing to take your advice, even help you out a bit (you wouldn’t screw them over, after all!) and get caught with high Early Repayment Charges or sudden intrest rate hikes or being completely mis-sold a financial product.
And the article sounds like mortgages or insurance to me, as commission for these takes about 3-4 months to even start coming through and generally speaking you get renewal commission after a year on insurance and pensions (and some mortgages too). In England there are very stringent rules about how you acquire leads too, hence the leads drying up, so plumping friends and family is an excellent advertising technique that doesn’t break these rules.
All in all Gobbo, be careful. I know two people who were excellent salespeople and did well, but it’s very hard work and you have to be a true salesperson to really do well at it. If you’re working for a big boy your cut is probably a lot less too.
