Pros
Met some great people. Realized that there are scams to look out for in the job market.
Cons
Where to start... I was with this company for almost a year. During that time I was one of the most seniored people in my office. I was told during the interview process, and was taught to lie to other potential candidates during their interview process, that within 6 months you would be in a management position making six figures plus a year. I was a national trainer, mentor, and considered one of the top "Account Managers" in the nation. Yet I did not make enough to cover rent, eat anything other than ramen noodles and hot dogs from Sam's Clubs, and worked 60+ hours per week while only getting "paid" for one third of these hours. I would then be pressured that I would not make it to management unless I put in more hours after my shifts (unpaid). They are able to get away with a lot of this due to the fact that the individual offices do not originally say they are a part of SmartCircle so reviews like this one are not readily available. Once an office gets too many bad reviews on things like Glassdoor they have their office assistants pad the bad reviews with false reviews. (I witnessed this first hand many times). After a new owner in my office got promoted out, I found out that my manager who openly claimed to make $400k+ actually, in her best year, barely cleared $50k. That doesn't include the thousands of dollars in debt she had from inventory, travel, and office expenses. When SmartCircle opens you up in an office you have to sign a waver that no matter how much in debt your office is, SmartCircle will hold you liable making many new owners get stuck in the company and drown themselves in debt. You don't see these reviews you ask? You also sign a waiver that you can be prosecuted if you were to release this information publically. I was on the band wagon just like many people in the offices that you visit are. Totally brain washed. They make you work 7 days a week... Most unpaid... So they have complete control of your thought process. The second they see you "negging out" you are bombarded with people to reconfirm that this is normal and then suck you back in. I was offered the assistant manager position, but after finding out the facts of the company I resigned immediately. I was told that people like my family and my significant other were bad influences and if they didn't believe in what I was doing (aka were worried about my well-being) I should cut them out of my life. I now refer to this company as "the cult". If you want to take this position as a type of terribly paid internship I would say go for it... You do learn sales 101, but for any other reason, please...RRRUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!
