Be very careful about not getting caught up in a Ponzi scheme.
Fresh out of college, I was looking for advertising/marketing jobs, and I ended up interviewing for two different jobs in the Chicago area. Both jobs made it sound like you were working as a "middle man" for area businesses, advertising for them, and giving coupon books out to area residents. I got called back for a second interview on one of these. Here's where it gets absolutely scummy - these guys were going around door-to-door in well-to-do neighborhoods selling coupon sheets as D.A.R.E representatives - had "official" name badges and everything. Now, this wouldn't necessarily have been so bad if all the money raised was going to D.A.R.E., but it wasn't - only 25% of the money went to D.A.R.E. The remaining 75% trickled its way down the pyramid, the "boss" taking most of the money, the supervisor getting a cut, and you getting a small portion (it was written in the fine print on the coupon booklet that only 25% of the price would go to D.A.R.E., but if you're playing yourself off as legitimate D.A.R.E. representatives, the vast majority of it, if not all of it, should be going to D.A.R.E.). They also made sure that I got a good glimpse of the boss' Lexus roadster whenever possible (as if that would have been a motivating factor for me, although it was an extremely cool car).
So, we get to the end of the day. I had worn my Dr. Martens, not knowing exactly what I had in store for me that day, so on top of it being late, I was also exhausted and my feet hurt like hell. That's when they put the pressure on - the guy that took me around for the day said "You can get back in your car and drive back to Iowa (in the tone of voice as if being from Iowa is something to be ashamed of), or you can come upstairs and sign some paperwork and get started. Let's just say I didn't even have to think twice - I unashamedly jumped into my car and drove back to Iowa. Even if I was comfortable about the job I'd be doing (which I wasn't), even if I had been in more comfortable surroundings for the work, such as indoors, or even in comfortable clothes (which I wasn't), even if I wanted the job (which, by the end of the day, I wanted nothing to do with), there was no way I was signing official contracts that evening, especially since at that time I wasn't thinking straight and undoubtedly would have signed myself up for something I would have eventually regretted.
Just to be sure I made the right decision, I e-mailed three people at ISU's Greenlee School that I absolutely trusted and had great academic relationships with - Barbra Mack (JLMC Law/Ethics), Erin Wilgenbusch (PR/Advertising), and an academic adviser whose name I can no longer remember, but her specialty was in Advertising. I told them all my experience from the previous day, and not only did all three of them confirm I made the absolute right decision (one of them said she would have run away screaming and arms flailing - I didn't quite go that far), but Mack said she was going to look into the legality of what they were doing.
There are plenty of legitimate and good marketing jobs out there - just be very careful when looking for them because I'd hate to see someone else get caught up in what I nearly got involved with.
