So I'm torn.
I've got a job interview tomorrow. The posting I applied for said it was an entry-level marketing position with a focus on Sports Marketing. I thought "Hey, that's totally what I (and probably half the college population) wants to do"
Get a call this morning from the HR rep from the company asking me if I'm alright with coming in tomorrow to meet with the managers, etc. I agreed, mostly because I had woken up just minutes before and wasn't all there.
I got an email from her just minutes later, giving me the company website, the BBB rating, and some PR videos on YouTube. She also gave me this long, convoluted directions to the office. Nothing detailing the job position I applied for, not very much about the company.
Now I'm doing research on the company, and every gut instinct I've got is telling me this is a scam. There's plenty of testimony out there online saying exactly that, in fact. I got in contact with the HR rep again to address these concerns, and she did a pretty good job of addressing them, though the fact that she seemed ready for the line of questioning doesn't help that "IT'S A SCAM" feeling.
I really don't want to waste time doing this interview if it's just a scam company trying to take advantage of college students. But I don't want to skip the interview either, on the off-chance that it's legitimate.
So without saying the company name (since you'd likely do what I did and Google it, to find the same testimony I did), what's the HF advice here?
I ran into almost this exact same situation a few years ago in a different field.
I had good experience in finance and management, and I responded to a job posting that matched my resume, skills and experience perfectly. I did everything I could to make it known that I wanted this job. Hey, it sounded great!
About 20 minutes after I submitted all of my info, my phone rang. That was a red flag for me. I had hired people before, and I can't even print and read a resume in 20 minutes and make the decision to call someone back.
I had some young guy on the phone who sounded as if he'd rather be doing anything other than talking to me. Second flag. What, they can't even put someone on the horn who can speak professionally?
He told me to come on (let's just say) a Wednesday at 9 a.m. I called back a couple of days later to confirm and they had me down for a Thursday at 9 a.m. I called the guy back and he got snippy and told me that of COURSE he said Thursday at 9. Never mind the fact that he was talking to someone with about a decade of experience, much of it managing an independent office and perfectly capable of writing down what time he told me to show up. He was just a major league *******. Third and final flag.
I debated in the days leading up to this whether or not to go, because the whole thing just screamed that it would be something entirely different than what was advertised. But I went, and it turned out to be a cattle call. I sat in a room with a couple dozen people ranging in age from what appeared to be 18 all the way up to post-retirement. We were given a one page application and "questionnaire" to fill out, and the guy who handed it out gave us 15 minutes (timed with a stopwatch) to complete it.
Afterwards he gave a quick presentation on a screen and didn't even bother to turn around and look at his audience. The job(s) he described weren't even remotely close to the posting we had all answered.
We put the apps in a pile, he said he'd call back, and that was it. Luckily I wrote down a bunch of phony info for that bozo and simply refused to answer their calls.
I guess my short answer to your question is this: If anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And not to slag on "marketing" firms out there, since good ones do exist, it has been my experience that these guys run largely churn and burn outfits that they have to keep as fully staffed as possible to keep up with turnover.
Go with your gut. You've probably been around long enough to know when someone's scamming you. The best part about deciding to go is that you don't have to take it any farther than that if you don't want to.
