Complaint Review: Harvard Risk Management -

I originally applied for this job because I wanted a steady work from home position. They stated that its just a part time job, which I was fine with. I thought this could help me gain some income while I was trying to find a full time position, and could continue with even if working. 

I corresponded with Melissa Sarna quite quickly after applying. She scheduled me for a conference call the following day to get more information about the position. When I called in, I could tell right away that it was a pre-recorded message that sounded very much like a sales pitch. 

The idea of the position was great. Post a few ads online and help recruit sales agents. And in return, you earned a $100 per sign up commission. After 90 days it goes up to $200 per sign up. Plus you could earn a commission on what the sales agent you recruited earned. Sounds great, right? Only an hour a day and you could make a few hundred extra bucks a month. 

During the call they started talking about the products that the sales agents would be selling. They originally stated that it was for employee benefits (which makes you think of Health Insurance, Life insurance, etc). But then he started talking about an Identity Theft program through Legal Shield that is supposed to be better than Lifelock, and also includes 65 hours of free legal help. Ok, so I understood the products and wouldn't have had any issues researching to understand them better. Learning about them could help me with recruiting sales agents easier. 

Then came the catch. "As a virtual recruiter, you are given the opportunity to purchase the Legal Shield product for the same price an employee would pay. If you sign up now, your commission will automatically jump up to $200 per sign up. You are not obligated to purchase it (and here is where the guilt trip/sales pitch came in) but in order to properly get agents you should have this product so that you could use real life events to help promote sales agents. Please respond to your original recruiter and in the email please state the following: I attended the conference call, I understand this is a 1099 position, I want to work for Harvard Risk Management, and I do (or do not) want to purchase the Legal Shield product."

Well I responded with all of that, but stated that I did not want to participate in the Identity Theft product, and to my surprise (actually I really wasn't cause I knew this was nothing more than an MLM Pyramid scheme) I get a response from Melissa stating "Thanks for your interest in our company.  We have received an overwhelming response following our conference calls and will be making decisions today and tomorrow.  Due to the volume of applicants we will be following up only with candidates that we intend to move forward with.  Please understand that at this time we are only able to bring on a fraction of interested parties due to daily training and support limitations.  We will base our decisions on a variety of factors including background, email correspondence, location and perceived interest.   If you don't hear back from us within the next day or two I want to thank you again for looking at us and wish you the best of luck in your search."

I never heard from them again. 

Beware of this company. If you aren't willing to purchase their product, they are not willing to hire you.