A Cautionary Tale in Sports Marketing!
ARE YOU SPORTS MINDED AND COMPETITIVE??????
After Five Marketing Group, Inc.

Building Successful Business People From “Scratch”


Now that you have graduated from college, are you're ready for a Professional Career that truly offers the growth and rewards you’ve always dreamed? After Five Marketing Group, Inc. Is now offering positions at the entry level for sales and marketing. We are a fast growing marketing firm that has already expanded into White Plains, New York and Woburn, Massachusetts.

We are in search of ambitious, energetic individuals with a powerful will to succeed. Our East Providence office is expanding rapidly and the beauty is: YOU DON’T NEED PRIOR SALES OR MARKETING EXPERIENCE. Our openings are absolutely ideal for recent graduates looking to get their foot in the door and gain valuable experience, or for those wanting to change careers. We provide Full Training and encourage any candidate with great people skills to apply!

Entry-Level responsibilities include working with our Fortune 500 clients, relationship building and problem solving for existing customers, and new customer acquisitions. Pay based upon performance. Advancement opportunities include traveling, relocation, and management training for the right candidate. A four-year degree is preferred but not necessary.

If you are serious about success, come join the best of the best at After Five Marketing Group, Inc

Requirements
We are looking for career minded individuals that have extraordinary people skills and are competitive in nature. No previous sales and marketing experience is necessary. This is a fully trained position.


All right this seems legitimate right. I thought so too. Let me tell you a little cautionary tale about great marketing opportunities for sports minded individuals.

I was interviewing earlier this week for an entry-level sales position with a candidate who had recently graduated from college & was obviously early on in his career search. After a few minutes of chatting & building rapport I asked how his career search was going. He shared with a tale that unfortunately is all too familiar. He had responded to a posting similar to the one listed above. Being a former athlete & looking to crack into outside sales this looked like a great opportunity. He arrived for the interview 15 minutes early freshly pressed, shoes shined, 3 copies of his resume ready to nail it. After a half-hour of talking, discussing his past & future goals, the interviewer made a suggestion. "Why don't ride with one of our top reps today?" Being eager to get a job he complied even though he had an interview lined up with another company that afternoon. There was still one unanswered question here though-"What did After Five Marketing do?" He asked this question point blank to the interviewer (after an hour of searching online for the company he a had come up empty handed). He was simply told "Oh it's great you'll see." Once again hoping to make a good impression he didn't question the answer. He ended up in a sub-compact car with a disgruntled chain-smoking slob headed to a territory two hours away. He asked the same question to the supposed "Top rep"- "What do you do?" a simple question for most to articulate with words- however he was on again met with "You'll just have to see it to believe it". They arrive at the territory- a residential neighborhood. He's handed an identification badge & told to work the left side of the street knocking on doors to sell coupons. (I mean seriously is it that difficult to describe what they do-"we sell coupons" would probably suffice.) Anyway at this point he's been through an hour interview two-hour drive & here he is selling coupons door-to-door. He's a little nervous & not trying to show it as he approaches the first door- he knocks. A man answers the door waving a pistol & letting him know that he & the "Top Rep" had better leave the neighborhood (at this point he's super excited about his career search). He's finally had enough & tells the "Top Rep" you are taking me back now. "Top Rep" agrees & they make the two-hour drive back. Now I could end the story here & it would probably be bad enough, but it gets worse. They get a flat tire on the ride back- he gets out of the car to help change the tire (there's a few inches of snow on the ground & more falling) & is sprayed by a salt truck (he was wearing the only suit to his name & it was now covered in slush/salt). He finally makes it back to his car with 15 minutes to make it to the next interview- (the interview with me). I shared with him a similar tale of my experience- 7 years ago were I loaded into a minivan dropped off & ended up wondering through a neighborhood selling DSL Internet.

I've encountered an alarmingly high number of these stories lately. If you have had a similar experience email me & tell me about it cpinktson@thecorporateplaybook.com. If you are interested in great career opportunities that won't leave you wondering around neighborhoods getting guns pulled on you visit www.thecorporateplaybook.com the #1 resource for connecting athletes to growing organizations.

Best wishes,

Chad Pinkston
Chief Sales Officer
The Corporate Playbook