Since I have a degree in marketing, imagine my confusion when I met with Brian Johnson. As I realize I was having what was supposed to be the first round of interviews, I let him do the talking initially. He informed me that all he really does is manage the people that sell cell phones at Sam’s club. This was perplexing. I stopped him and immediately asked him if he knew what marketing is. He legitimately thought it was just sales. Granted sales is a small aspect of marketing, but that’s not the big picture here. I then took him down the rabbit hole and turned a 30 minute initial interview into just over an hour lecture on what marketing is. I seriously gave an “intro to marketing” course outline. TL;DR if you’re looking for an actual marketing job, this isn’t it. If you want a sales job, have at it.

I applied through a third-party website (Indeed.) My initial inquiry was returned with an email response from a firm bearing a different name (New Bridge Consultants). After attempting some research on the company, I was directed to yet another consulting firm based out of state (9Ten Consultants). They were finally able to direct me to the appropriate contact for Johnson Acquisitions. I went ahead and set a date/time for an initial interview via email. The first meeting was a brief introduction with Mr.Johnson and another associate. The meeting was explained to be a moment to acquaint ourselves and to put a face with the resume; it was just that. We met in a rented, shared-office space on Meeting Street. There were no hard-hitting questions and not much opportunity to discover more about the role or company. Questions asked were directed more towards assessing my character and brief understanding of my background. There were only a few hints as to what kind of services Johnson Acquisitions provided for it's clients, and what a potential role might entail. It was mentioned a number of times that they represented Fortune 500's amongst others. Mr.Johnson directed the interview while the other associate took notes. It was explained that this would be the first meeting in a 3-part interview. All a bit odd, but I went with it. I received a return call later that afternoon inviting me to a second round interview the next day. The second interview was one-on-one with Mr.Johnson and allowed for a more direct line of questioning. It was during this second round that the role was clarified to be a sales position hawking cell phones and telecom services at kiosks located in Sams Club and Costco; a far cry from my understanding of a marketing associate role. The Fortune 500's referenced were companies like Verizon, AT&T, DirecTV, and Sprint - you would "represent and market" their services in-store to shopping club members. It was explained to me that through one-on-one coaching, one would have the ability to quickly rise through their management "timeline" to qualify for a more "involved" marketing role. It all seemed to be a bit dodgy from the get-go and the interview process only solidified my suspicions. The job description presented was NOT the job I interviewed for. I only wish I did done additional research before moving forward with an interview here. As one glassdoor review points out, they prey on the new college graduate looking for a marketing job; they are looking for the hungry go-getter. If you are looking for a marketing job - THIS IS NOT IT.