o2 NIN setlist:

Now I'm Nothing
Terrible Lie
1,000,000
Heresy
March of the Pigs
Reptile
The Becoming
I'm Afraid Of Americans (David Bowie cover)
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Non-Entity
The Big Come Down
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Survivalism
Down In It
Metal (Gary Numan cover, with Gary Numan)
Cars (Gary Numan cover, with Gary Numan)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

Encore:
Hurt

:D

London Marketing Services (another job scam)

It seems I've had an interview invite for another scam. I applied for them via totaljobs.com on the 2nd July. I don't think these are related to the original one I posted about before, but it is very similar.

London Marketing Services
Lower Ground Floor
Shand House
14 - 20 Shand Street
London SE1 2ES
Tel: 020 7234 3560
Fax: 020 7234 3569
http://www.londonmarketingservices.com

Edit: Their Nottingham 'branch': (Thanks Nicholas!)
Suite 17, Third Floor
Minerva House
Spaniel Row
Nottingham, NG1 6EP

Cardiff office: (Thanks Nels!)
Sophia House
28 Cathedral Road
Cardiff, CF11 9LJ

They operate in a very similar way - you go in for a first interview, they act too busy to really talk to you about the role, then quickly invite you for a second interview - which is essentially being asked to go out and work for them unofficially for the day. The role will typically involve lots of door to door or street sales with no basic pay (commission only - not itself a scam), no official contract of employment (they ask you to sign a contract that states you are self-employed), and will struggle to get any of the commission owed. They don't make any of this clear to you when you are interviewed (and I'm not sure they even make the self-employment clear either).

In addition, from this link, it seems that they are not registered at this address (there is only Cameron Taylor Brady, Clarke Bond Group, and Komex Clarke Bond - who may or may not also be running a similar scam, as it's common for these companies to use many different names to avoid detection). "London Marketing Services" are also not registered with Companies House, which is the national registry of all registered companies in the UK.

They lure you in with promises of fast track management schemes and benefits, but the reality is that you are unlikely to get anywhere with this company. The only one who benefits is the owner of London Marketing Services.

(Found me through Google? Check out my previous two blogs on this subject - Job scam doing the rounds and More on the job scam.)

More on the job scam

It seems that job scam is a lot more common than I first thought. I don't know whether they are the same company or different ones.

Just a few of their other names and addresses I've found!:

Fusion Marketing Solutions, TML Promotions, Arkville Sales & Marketing, Power Play Marketing Ltd
West Orchard House, 28 Corporation Street, Coventry, CV1 1GF

VI Marketing, Power House Direct Ltd, R&S Solutions, Red Square Direct Ltd, R.S. Marketing Ltd
30 Western Road, Brighton, BN3 1AF

Marketing Solutions
Belgrave House, 47 Bank Street, Sheffield S1 2DR
0114 276 7329
http://www.rsmsonline.co.uk

AMM Direct Ltd, Marchant Marketing, T.H. Worldwide
4th Floor, Premier House, Darlington Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4ND
01902 716233 OR 01902 427353

SRM Marketing Limited (company no 06736679), Supreme Corporation UK Ltd, Orick Marketing Solutions Ltd, Forsters Marketing Solutions Ltd
Added 11th August: Pure Solutions Direct Limited (company no 06868527), CSK Marketing - thanks Neil!
Griffin House, Aurillac Way, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7SS
http://www.supremecorp.co.uk
http://www.orrickmarketing.com/

RS Advertising Yorkshire Bank Chambers
Market Square, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 6DQ.

Supreme Corp Kent.
86a Bank Street, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1SD
01622 670478

Awka Limited
94 North Street, Leeds LS2 7PN
0113 2445330
http://www.akwa-limited.co.uk/

Other business names:
P & D Marketing
The Cobra Group
R3 Marketing
Clover Advertising
Endeva Advertising
Magnum Marketing Ltd
Mosco Marketing

Jess has also said they have a big prescence in Norwich. I guess student towns are easiest.

Blimey.

Moral of this story: ALWAYS DO YOUR PRE-INTERVIEW RESEARCH.

(Found me through Google? Check out my other two blogs on this subject - Job scam doing the rounds and London Marketing Services (another job scam).)

Job scam doing the rounds.

I got all excited about having an interview for tomorrow. The job description on totaljobs.com was a bit vague about what I'd actually be doing and the website from the job listing (http://aspireldn.co.uk) is empty, so I thought I'd Google for more info on the company and to prepare. I found this rather professional looking website instead - and also found a lot of websites saying that it's a bit of a scam. Reading a bit more into the company, it certainly doesn't sound like what I want to do. They ask you to come in for a preliminary interview, talk to you about the role and how easily you can progress up the ranks, and then ask you to come for a secondary interview the next day, where you will go out doing door to door sales with one of their 'top salesmen' so they can evaluate your skills, essentially working 9hrs for free. You then work on a commission only basis for a few months, before they promote you to team leader, again working on a commission only basis (something they don't tell you in interview), doing door to door sales, or possibly just harrassing people in the street to buy things. This could mean that if you don't sell much, you could end up working for free or for well below minimum wage - for someone like me who has bills to pay, and who needs a basic wage, that's not ideal. Only when you reach level 3 do you get a proper wage and are no longer involved in door to door selling.

The company that called me were Aspire Acquisitions Ltd, but they also apparently operate (from the same address and telephone number) as JCC Solutions, GM Global Marketing Solutions, Red Square Direct, Mosco Marketing, Fosters Marketing Solutions, and Supreme Corporation UK - among others! They are based at 1 Bath Street, London EC1V 9LB, phone number 020 725 19028, but also seem to have offices around the country (I saw stuff on Google for Manchester and Coventry as well).

I should have been suspicious that they don't seem to have 1 vacancy, or even a handful - they'll just recruit as many people as are interested (knowing that most will probably quit or cancel early on I suppose). Someone in one of the above links says that they worked for 3 weeks, and didn't receive any pay afterwards (or did with a struggle), so there doesn't seem to be a guarantee that you'll even get the commission you've earnt! They also don't give you a contract, just a disclaimer that you are "self-employed".

I just thought this info might be useful for other people here who get calls from them. They seem to be taking advantage of the recession and how many desperate unemployed people there are. Obviously if you want to do sales, and are happy with their conditions, that's fine, but they don't seem to make it very clear or obvious at all that that is what you'll be doing or how you'll be working, and I personally have cancelled my interview with them tomorrow.

(Found me through Google? Check out my next two blogs on this subject - More on the job scam and London Marketing Services (another job scam).)