Complaint Review: Lupine Group - S&E Associates

While looking on CareerBuilder.com I noticed several listings for SnE Associates, for "ENTRY LEVEL Corporate Trainer" and became very interested. I applied and a few days later received a phone call from the admin. assistant to schedule an interview.

The first interview is very quick, about 10 minutes, and Erin Clay is the manager. She tries to find out if you'd make good management material and them says she wants leaders and truly driven and honest people to work for her. "Real go-getters with a thick skin, ready to move into management."

It seems like the fast track to management...and when you hear corporate trainer you think it must be an awesome job. Well they interview 30 people the first day really quickly and just say they work with Fortune 500 campaigns. Then if you get called in for a second interview it's from 9:30 until 5:00 the very next day!!

They drag you around with someone else in their car and "show you the ropes" which ends up being selling office supplies for Quill. These Corporate Trainers (Sales People) can't have cards, can't give out their phone numbers, nothing. And the pitch is to say that you're the new account manager for Quill. Not true! You work for some company who is working for Quill. It's all very strange, and even some of the businesses you go to think it's a scam.

I couldn't believe it - they don't reimburse for gas, there's no base salary - it's all commission based, any company that interviews you when a meal is involved and doesn't buy you that meal can't be a real company in my opinion.

It was shady and unfortunate that they weren't up front with us in the first place. I even told them in my 10 minute interview that I would not do sales. And they said I wouldn't...LIARS! Field sales, no desk, being in my car for 8 hours a day...NO WAY!

That's not corporate training...

The "program" is you train for 2 weeks as a sales rep, then you become a corporate trainer meaning you do workshops in the morning meetings with the staff of 10 people and ring bells if yuo make sales. Then after 5-8 months you might become an assistant manager and then maybe you'll become a manager and "have your own office." Anyways there's no difference between being a corporate trainer or being a sales rep and it's absolutely a terrible way to make money. They were never honest about the sales aspect at all and that made me mad.

The reason this company is so hard to pinpoint is because they let their "managers" open up their own offices doing this wherever they want and they can operate under any name they want...I'm not sure who they are technically owned by but I hope they get caught for tricking recent graduates especially into a dead end job selling office supplies. Go get a job at Staples or Office Max it will pay more and cost less in gas.

Maddy
Charlotte, North Carolina
U.S.A.