Well, that sucked…
Posted: February 5, 2009 at 6:57
I may have mentioned that I’m looking for a job. I might not have, seeing as it’s pretty much the only thing I end up talking about in the real world. Gotta keep the two separated and all that.
But for those of you who have not dived into the miasmic world of job searching during a recession, or who are already comfortable in jobs, let me tell you that it is awful. More than that, it’s depressing and absolutely robs you of any will to do anything. I spend hours looking through every job listing site I can find, sending out resumes and cover letters that are met with…nothing. And nothing is not, as it turns out, a real cool hand. I’d rather have the HR manager call me up and laugh at me than hear nothing back. A simple no would at least let me know that someone is out there, and is actually looking at my stuff.
So imagine my absolute delight when I got an email back yesterday from Dynasty Marketing asking me if I could come out for an interview today for a Marketing Sales Representative position with their company, which works with Sports and Entertainment venues. Of course, I called and told them, that would be great. 2 P.M. you say? I’ll see you then, and thank you so much for considering me!
You’ve probably already assumed from the post title and my general tone that this is going to be a story about a bad job interview experience. I’ll tell you right now that red flags started popping up almost immediately after I scheduled this interview, but I figured that at the very worst it would give me some experience with the interview process.
Yeah, not so much…
Here’s how desperate I am to get a job right now. Given a day’s notice about an interview in Burlington, Mass, I had my suit pressed at Men’s Wearhouse, booked a Zipcar for the afternoon and prepped a list of references for the interview. I spoke to both my parents to tell them that I had an interview, and even discussed the possibility of bringing my car up to Boston if I did get the job. I woke up early so that I could trim up my beard, eat some breakfast and make sure that I looked presentable. I had directions printed out and CDs ready for the drive (I picked Maylene and the Sons of Disaster for some good vibes heading out there).
Then my Mom calls. She’s did some google searching, and read something about how it was all a rip off. She had a website up for a different Dynasty Marketing, so I figured it was just a coincidence. Funny how those things work out.
Things went askance pretty quickly. I got all dressed and walked around the block to pick up my car, which wound up being a bright red Toyota Matrix. I knew the make and model, but I wasn’t expected it to look so much like an oversized Playskool pedal car. Turns out this car also has some of the worst blind spots I’ve ever (not) seen. I almost took out a Chrysler getting onto the Turnpike.
After some minor trouble finding the place–whoever designed the highway system in Massachusetts should be forced to wander it for all eternity–I arrive at their office. It’s in a rundown industrial park in that great American no man’s land known as “near the mall.” The front room has a widescreen TV with CNN blaring (I’d later–as in just now–realize that it’s to provide background noise when people call), some very cheap looking furniture and a lot of unmarked doors. When I asked to use the bathroom, I was led through a maze of gutted offices to the bathroom, which had a shower in it.
So I fill out a quick little application, sit down and wait with two girls that they scheduled for the same time. The warning sirens are absolutely deafening at this point. I spent half an hour watching bullshit “news” coverage (some woman in S. Korea has failed her driving test 771 times, apparently) which was punctuated by a daily press briefing from the white house. Finally, I get called into the interview.
And then I left the interview. I spent at most five minutes talking to this woman, who explained that they buy up free vouchers for sports and entertainment venues, then sell them at conferences, school, stores, etc. I am given almost no information about what the job will entail, asked only the most basic questions (do you prefer an office or being out in the field?) and sent packing with a promise that I’ll hear whether or not I move on to the next interview sometime soon.
So when I get home, I look into it, and it’s all basically a huge scam. Well, scam probably isn’t the right word. They’re not trying to get money from me, they’re just trying to get me to go out selling coupons for commission, which will give them money while giving me next to nothing.
Apparently this company, or another independent branch of it, pops up in every town and starts spamming job boards with promises of “Marketing Experience” and “Rapid Advancement. ” It’s all entry level, so they can grab kids in college or just out of it and put them to work for a little while. If you stick with it and advance through their “Management Training Program,” you eventually get to move to another backwater hellhole and try to rip off other kids fresh out of college.
So I won’t be going back for that next interview. Back to the job boards for me.
God this sucks.
Hi, just wanted to say thanks for writing this in your blog. I am also looking for a job in the same area and I got an email back from them just hours after I submitted my resume and that seemed a little fishy to me. So I decided to look them up online on the bbb and they weren’t listed so I went on their website and there really wasn’t much information and so I googled it and all that came up was job postings. I couldn’t find any articles or reviews or histories or anything… then I found your blog! So it sucks that the job search sucks but at least you saved one person the time and trouble of goung there and finding out it’s not going to be something anyone would actually want to do. Sooooo thanks!
Thank you so much. We are all out looking for jobs. My resume has been out for months and I have not had 1 call back yet. I was suspicious when I got an email saying they were impressed with my resume and wanted to schedule an interview with me. I didn’t return their call because after visiting their website, there was “looping music” and if I was a customer looking at them, I would have no idea what they were selling, so why would I buy from them.? Well today I talked to the phone screener and I asked her, Maria, specificaly 2 questions. Is this a job where I work in the office, or I’m on the road. 2nd question, Is this a salary or straight commission job. The answer to both questions was “I’m not authorized to answer these questions, I need to book an appointment for you to speak with my district manager. He can answer all of your questions.” Now I don’t want to miss out on a job in this market, but I also can’t afford to spend 30.00 on gas for a fake job that ultimately will end up in disaster. I have years of sales and management experience with excellent results. Yet, no one calls me for an interview. But,this company calls me and says my experience is pefect for their position. When I went back and looked at the ad, they don’t even require a high school education. Well, it is back to the job board, but it was nice, at the least, to feel I was needed/wanted for my skills again. Good luck to all of you.
Well, the same exact situation happened to me and because of this blog, I was able to cancel the interview and not waste my time. I emailed Maria, saying that after reading quite a few negative blogs about this company and not able to find any information on it, I will have to decline your offer of an interview. Maria, then emailed me back stating that she has her Masters Degree from Columbia. I’m sorry, but if I had a Masters Degree and went to Columbia, then I definitely would not be working as a secretary at a No-name company. Good luck to everyone on finding a job, it is getting depressing out there.
Thanks for putting this up there. Something seemed fishy about the whole scam so I surfed the web and found this an hour before leaving for my interview. I must thank you as I was going to be driving up from Providence and you saved me a trip.
I know a friend in the hospitality business. They get their own vouchers and don’t need Sonia and Maria’s help.
Thanks again,
Joe
Thanks, I just went through the same experience with them today. Because of this blog i’m not going to waste my time and I’m cancelling my interview. Thanks again.
Yes, I also thank you for this post! It confirms my fears about Dynasty Marketing. As a recent college grad I’m certainly on this downward spiraling roller coaster ride. Their post looks great! But when I did my obligatory website check searching ‘Dynasty MA”… nothing. “Dynasty Marketing MA”… nothing?? “Dynasty Marketing Burlington MA” and all I get were the posts I’ve seen on job hunting websites I assumed something was up. Thank you for writing about this!
Laura
Thanks for this blog. I got an email back from them so I appreciate you saving me time and energy on this fake company. I figured this was too good to be true and no articles come up whatsoever.
this blog is not only well written but logical, forward thinking and sooooo helpful! i was going to drive from jersey to boston is hopes of finding something out there in terms of job opportunities. thank you for your input! i am so grateful. my gut intuition was telling me not to call and make an interview and this blog validated my fears.
Is Dynasty really a scam?
I have looked into it and I have formulated an answer. This is a must read if you are thinking about Dynasty.
First let me give you a bit of background information about me. I have 20 plus years of extremely successful sales, marketing and management. I have helped several Fortune companies hire, train and set loose on sales campaigns. My resume and my energy is unmatched in the field. That being said, I would like to make a comment on the practices of companies such as Dynasty.
It is a sweat shop or may as well be one. It is a place where hungry dogs with alpha characteristics will prey on the underlings. If you keep reading this post you will find what makes a true hunter and you will either agree or be angry that you wasted time reading mindless banter from a self proclaimed sales guru.
If you are a recent college grad or a GED carrying warrior like myself, the first thing you have to come to grips with is that the world is a dog eat dog frenzy. I started my first business while I was a sophomore in high school. I had an idea. I wanted to sell t-shirts with a monopoly board design on the back. I obtained copyright approval and started selling the spaces on the board to local bars and restaurants. The shirts were printed and I was in business. Things really heated up when a national manufacture caught wind of the idea and approached me. They wanted my copyright and wanted to go national instead of just in my hometown. I dropped out of high school and sold the rights for $1.5 million.
20 years later I am still looking for new and creative ideas to foster. This brings me to Dynasty Marketing in Burlington, MA. The question stands: Is this a scam? Their mission is to sell, let’s call it “stuff”. Now we all know that to make money we have to do “something”, unless you buy a lottery ticket when your stars are aligned during the new moon of the second quarter and you are facing west… You get the point.
What is that SOMETHING? To become legendary you have to do legendary things. Sell more stuff, shake more hands, smile at more peolpe and don’t forget to start at the bottom. Without the knowledge and experience of being the runt of the litter you will never become the alpha dog. What dosen’t kill you will always make you stronger.
If you are still reading then you will unquestionably get something from this. I am sure you are asking what the heck does this have to do with Dynasty being a scam? Their approach at obtaining employees is without question a sham. I would not directly call it a scam because they will offer someone something. That something is an opportunity to see if you are truly an alpha dog, a person who can operate way outside your comfort zone. Can you think of something you have done in the past which has made you feel ashamed but you still did it? Maybe drank too much and got sick, or had a romantic encounter with someone you regret? Maybe not but if you have I am sure you learned something from it. Perhaps you learned what your limit of drinks should be, or that the experience with the troll your friends caught you with was still fun.
Dynasty is simply a place where you will be able to do some soul searching. They will give you nothing in return if you give them nothing. They prey on the needy. Their mission is the same mission as yours: MAKE MONEY! I find their hiring techniques to be vague at best and their website http://www.d-sty.com plain old comedy. They say they represent professional sporting teams but don’t tell you which ones or in what capacity. Misleading your prospective employees with hype is a SCAM.
I would be perfectly fine with the company if their search for sales talent read something like this: DYNASTY IS LOOKING TO BUILD YOUR CHARACTER BY THROWING YOU TO THE WOLVES. ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE. THIS IS VERY HARD WORK FOR VERY LITTLE MONEY BUT YOU WILL LEARN!!!!!!!
Dynasty is a scam if you are looking for an easy job with good pay. Dynasty is a scam if you were thinking you would be working with professional sports teams. Dynasty is a scam in that they will lure you in with grandiose figures. Dynasty is a scam just like all other sales opportunities. You have to be able to distinguish the differences between a scam and potential. I am quite sure that if you sell more “stuff” than anyone in history for Dynasty, you will have accomplished 2 things: 1. Made someone a lot of cash and 2. Learned the basic strategy of the sales cycle. Dynasty, SCAM? Absolutly! Dynasty, potential?Only you can determine that answer.
Thanks for reading!
TK
Thanks a lot for the post. “Andrea” the secretary scheduled me to interview with Paul tomorrow at 1:45pm. I cancelled so I didn’t waste my time or money.
At first when I read the site it seemed ligit, until i searched for company history and all I could find were complaints about the company with “SCAMS”. At least I can use the time to search for a real job now.
After reading up, I have decided I will cancel my interview. Not going to waste my time on a scam. Ripoff Report has several horror stories, and this just confirms it.
Thank you so much for this posting! I am graduating in December and home for thanksgiving break and was supposed to have an interview with Dynasty in 2 hours. As I was talking to my mom this morning, I realized A. I was never given the exact title of the position I would be interviewing for and B. I was never given the name of the person I would be interviewing with. I contemplated calling back to get the interviewees name, but before I did, my mom asked to see the website. As I began to type in “Dynasty Marketing Burl…” google showed me popular search results and right below “Dynasty marking burlington ma” was that same title with scam attached at the end. I had been a bit weary beforehand due to how quickly they responded to my resume post (I emailed at about midnight on a sunday night and got a response before 9am monday morning) and the fact that their whole website was vague no matter what the topic was — no actual clients were listed.
Needless to say, I called about 20 minutes ago claiming that after some research, I’ve decided that the position isn’t something I’m interested in. This is true, but I probably should have been honest as to why I wasn’t interested, might have been entertaining to hear their attempt at saving company face.
Thanks for the heads up- I was actually excited about their job offers and thought this was a done deal when they called me. In my situation I was going to transition from a job I am in with a fair salary just for the promise of experience in the marketing field…..thank God for all of your comments guys and the story provided by seitz….it sucked that they are making jobless people pay for suits, gas and rental cars in this economy for scam jobs.
Wow, I just lost all the wind in my sails reading this blog…I too just got a call from Dynasty to come in for an interview and everything you all have described is what I was sensing when Maria called me. The website is pathetic and that was my first red flag. Maria was brief with me on the phone and just wanted to setup an interview. I even found a blog from WISCONSIN about the same marketing firm being a scam. But now with all this info you have given me, I won’t even waste my time and go to the interview. Thank you. People suck.
I feel [this] tall after my interview with them. Even pulling into the parking lot, it seemed way too sketchy. The receptionist (Maria) had no computer or telephone that I could see on her desk, and as Justin said, it just gives you a really eery feeing walking in there.
They invited me back for a 2nd interview tomorrow, and needless to say, I am not going. When I started typing “Dynasty Burl…” the FIRST thing that pulled up was “Dynasty Burlington scam”… ouch.
BEWARE AND STAY AWAY. Best of luck on your job hunts!
Oh and in case he decides to open offices elsewhere (which he said he planned on doing) his name was Ian Ezyk (he actually comes up as a recommended search on google which should tell you something about him) and his partner’s name was Thomas Briscoe
He apparently has had several companies under many different names…and apparently has been arrested more recently than I worked there for another sketchy transaction.
I apologize for the long link- the shorter one doesn’t seem to work.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:SPrx_ZNCHckJ:www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/incident-reports/2009/activity_report_02-27-09.pdf+ian+ezyk&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShnOIK1hI6YCw2VoioqmymiDH3bBziNBUTIFgYZ-_fxTaEC2ol5PfjJDPnZH-a26ezkEIqIGDGMciMsy4gxQSbcQmoXIFb_czY54-1C7q0B8GCAMr7wvslTfI6_tvUbn_7CFbgG&sig=AHIEtbRhjyXpEqwYtw9YcDyqMbi0QuwLCw
You are much more observant than I am. I went through the same thing but I moved from Boston to Washington DC for it and didn’t realize until the 2nd week when I had made no money and had spent several days in 100 degree weather knocking on doors selling coupon books that the whole thing was a huge scam (my mom also had looked it up online and warned me but I was too excited that someone finally wanted to hire me to listen). They were called All Star/ Champion Marketing. The fact they couldn’t even decide on a name should have tipped me off. They also had a super sketchy office with no name on the door or anything and almost impossible to find. I found them on career builder and on craigslist. BE CAREFUL EVERYONE! Don’t get ripped off or waste your time on these “marketing opportunities” with a “management training program.” The manager at the one I went to really missed his calling as a motivational speaker. He was really hard not to believe!
I too have been in this place at 217 Middlesex turnpike in Burlington Ma. sketchy is kinda light in what some say here. more like deceptive in any realm, measure or scope. Sonia Madison was the hr mgr, so to speak. she seemed flighty, unprofessional in some ways, but seemed more or on a script when asking questions. not personable like it should be. after looking up on the web, this seems fishy that they post ad’s, call you in after sending in resume/ application,
My professionalism in the industry far exceeds their minimum wage entry level. I asked Sonia for consideration to management position, as I am well versed in that area and not of entry level, My kid might be, but not me. regardless of what they present themselves as, you can see thorough it that it is scam. the office looked like that on Don Lepree, remember those commercials where he worked out of his one bedroom apartment. anyway–I will be emailing sonia madison this blog page to show her how the public see’s dynasty’s scam
This is so funny this place is such a joke. i should have known. I have run into a bunch of these places. You could work there if you dropped out of high school, the people that work there are white trash the office is gross and everything about it is terrible. You work six days a week, get there at 7:30 am and leave at 6:30 at night, come on. I should have known and never went back for a second interview. Such bullshit