Beware?
careers.minneapolis@gmail.com
mwexpansion@executivehrdepartment.com
Midwest Expansion Group (reply from careers@accentinc.info)
MK Acquisitions (careers@mkaquisitions.com)
3131 Fernbrook Lane North
STE 121
Plymouth, MN 55447
763-432-2377
Craigslist, at least you haven't gotten me killed. Yet. Pending a bit of investigation, things didn't seem to add up for tomorrow's job interview after a reply to one of many posts sent out by Midwest Expansion Group.
Full disclaimer = I'm only speculating on the suspicious nature of all of this from a vantage point of other internet users complaining to scam sites (but adding my personal investigative experience to the mix in dealing with this place). Instinctively I've been turned off from it. Typos in any sort of job posting immediately are a red flag. Capricious CAPLOCK and "!!!" are also unprofessional.
Read on.
Tomorrow I was scheduled for an interview with the Midwest Expansion Group as per the bike phone call last week.
I receive a followup email.
Within the email is the contact person JT Schultz. So, naturally, I want to find out more about the guy. If employers can look up employees, I see no harm in doing the reverse. Nothing relevant for JT Schultz (though I guess he's a romance writer?)
"schultz midwest expansion group" reveals an interesting bit.
Here it shows Midwest Expansion Group synonymous with Metropolitan Marketing Concepts.
The next hit shows some Chaska, MN city council minutes.
So I confirm that there is some sort of connection. Next, LinkedIn. Johnathan Schultz appears on search results under "president, metropolitan marketing concepts" so I'm three for three. I conclude that JT is quite likely Johnathan - listed as the operations manager or hiring manager for Midwest Expansion. Feel free to disagree. So then I continue my searching. Things continue to become more suspicious with each executed search. Metropolitan Marketing Concepts - MK Acquisitions Review | Rip-off Report comes up in the search. Peruse it a bit.
Back and forth to Craigslist posts, CareerBuilder.com, HotJobs.com to try and get some sense of the operation. The physical address on Google Street View ...
3131 Fernbrook Lane North
STE 121
Plymouth, MN 55447
... and phone number associated with their website: (763)-432-2377 (http://www.midwestexpansiongroup.com) brings up a few different searches. Blame it on the Internet or poor digital name management.
Google that number and this pops up in the top search results: http://www.girlmeetsgeek.com/2009/12/23/mk-acquisitions-pyramid-scheme-or-flat-out-lie/ pops up. Another red flag, doing a similar blog portrayal of the firm.
Yikes. More number verification. Lindsay's number in the email returns from a Phoenix (520) area code. Believable, but then again, not really as further searching reports it to be a cell phone.
I check my BlackBerry to see the number that called me while on the bike ride. (954) 978 1550. A search into that confirms that I could call Molly or Susan with LVM Group, Inc. (Disclosure: I'm not a phone systems expert, and I did what anyone does to look up that number. Search a bit more and the trail widens ... not completely conclusive as I could expect someone in a globalized market to call me from all over but it seems so ... suspicious. I almost wish I hadn't been riding down Glenwood so I would have caught the callers name and asked where she was calling from).
More digging on Midwest Expansion Group. Cathi Romaniello comes up across the board for these searches. I can't seem to trace her down completely however.
A monster.com job search returns a careers.minneapolis@gmail.com address ... a subsequent search of that email brings up another craigslist post.
Stable: http://bit.ly/dpgJ1x
And one more trackback to an email address they use : mwexpansion@executivehrdepartment.com
Gist of the bit of blogging is that I won't be showing up to the interview. Now, where's my Pulitzer?
Follow the ol' intuition if something isn't right (which means waking up at 5:00 am to drive to the job interview ... so instead scheme of another spot to crash the night before ... and finally with hours to go actually begin investigating the company.
Procrastination does seem beneficial.
31 comments:
Good tracking!
oh my gosh! thank you for this review. I've had an interview at that location before, but under a different company name. I applied to Midwest Expansion Group last night and got a call this morning....2 hours later i got another call from ProSource Services who found my resume online.....SAME address!!! what a scam and waste of time. I wont be showing up tomorrow or next week.
Thank you!
I got a call and an e-mail from Mid-West Expansion Group this morning. They said they are looking to hire and think that I would be the perfect canidate.... Um, I already have a job... when I applied to M.E.G. it was well over a year ago. You are right about them. Go to their website. They give no REAL details about the company. Besides, any company that has to pull a resume from over a year ago in THIS economy... think about it.
I checked out the girls meet geek link and I got the exact same email (wordd for word). I just deleted by interview offer email (which I got about 15 minutes after I applied through Monster)
This job is not necessarily a scam; however, very unproffesional. They are still conducting interviews, and i see that this was posted back in MAY! I spoke to a "representative" from the company who scheduled me in for an interview. I later learned that the person who scheduled me for an interview had no affiliation with MidWest and simply worked for a staffing agency. (similar to your call from Arizona)I believe the people who are scheduling interviews should not be blamed since MidWest is not taking the time to schedule their own interviews.
OK - I can clear up all the mystery. All of the rabbit hole stuff and dead ends tracks back to operatives of Coast to Coast Auto Glass. Here's a link that provides a pretty good background: http://www.myfloridainsurance.info/blog/2010/3/23/beware-coast-to-coast-autoglass-scam.html
The 954-978-1550 phone number tracks back to R. F. Lilly & Associates, LLC in Margate, Florida which is owned and operated by Richard and Liliana Toplak.
I worked for this company... Run for your life.
I also worked for this company for two days. Yes it is not entirely a scam however it is darn close. They want you to work ten hour days, with no lunch, for a small commission of what you sell and if you happen to make a sale that day they charge a service fee directly to you so your small commission becomes even smaller. Then on top of it all they expect you to put your earnings into one of their accounts which you are only allowed to access for necessary items: gas. Those who work for MEG will use any sales tactic possible to get you to buy their product. When in the training I overheard two employees describing their over the top (Somewhat Slutty) descriptions of how they promised customers/numbers if they would buy their product. In my opinion this place should shut down and the management arrested for despicable business practices. Whatever you do do not get sucked in to the empty promises of big money and management potential.
I went in earlier for a "interview" the office was extremely busy. I sat for about 10 min. listening to the secretaries fielding calls for the 3 different companies sharing the same office and constantly asking everyone the same questions and scheduling other people for the same interviews. Then i "interviewed" with a man named Joshua Balster, he was trying to sell to me the whole time, telling me about starting management training and his goals to open many more offices this year, i thought something was fishy. If i were at an actual interview i would be having to sell myself to the company, not the other way around.He showed me multiple coupon books for things like chanticlear pizza and milwaukee brewers tickets and i thought how i am supposed to sell milwaukee brewers tickets to people in plymouth minnesota. They were very eager to schedule me a full "observation" day which i scheduled but am not going to now. Thank you for the valuable information about this company. Also if anyone from M.E.G or Peak Marketing reads this you should remove the nintendo 64 and gamecube from the waiting area it looks very unprofessional and also clean the carpets, their were stains everywhere. I should have left before even meeting with the con artists.
I think I interviewed with the company a year or more ago.... it was a commission based insurance sales job..... I think.... but pretty sure ...
Oh My Gosh!!!!! I have an interview soon but I had a feeling there was something wrong too. I called the office after my interview was scheduled and the receptionist answered it "Suite 121." I was confused because NO businesses would answer it like that! Then I found out about Peak Advertising being there.
So, I kept researching and discovered the owner, Jonathan Schultz, is really young! He graduated college in 2005 (via LinkedIn.) That's not very much experience to start your "marketing agency." I found his facebook account and even saw a bunch of pictures. His info confirmed his employment at Midwest and Metro too.
I'm really glad I stalked like crazy because I do not want to waste time going there for no reason. THANK YOU!
Just interviewed with this company. It's a multi level marketing company for sure. Do your homework on these types of comapnies that need no college degree, just "energetic and motivated" people. Looks legit when you walk in but I was interviewed by a young looking guy that reeked of old booze. Nice touch.
Yea, this place is a giant scam. I worked their for 6 months and just quit in the last week. Worst 6 months of my life. It works the same way with every interview they bring in. The Boss JT is essentially a con-artist who lies about all the successes he mentors. JT makes it seem like every 3 months somebody he mentored opens their own branch and starts making six figures immediately. He constantly talks shit about former employees who have quit because they figured out it was a scam like everyone eventually does. The main thing is JT keeps stressing how many offices he opens up, but everyone who works their has been their for 2 years making 400 bucks a week at most, before taxes. Basically, you lie to unknowing clients at a retail store and press them to buy DIRECTV packages. Another JT misleads new employees about is that you work 5 10 hour days. Doesn't sound too terrible, but after your first week he lets you know that it is required for employees to come in 6 days a week and work 6 10 hour shifts. 60 hours a week for like 350 bucks. You would seriously make more money working at a McDonalds. Not only that, but you have to drive at least 40 miles a day. You have to drive to the office in Plymouth every morning, then drive to your store, some of these stores are 30 miles away, then you have to drive home. So you are basically making 350 a week, spending 100 on gas, and working 60 hours a week!!!!!!
I would say everyone go and interview with these people, flood their craigslist and careerbuilder ads and call their office all day just to waste their time for how they treat their employees, as well as the victims in retail stores that are berated with these employees to buy DIRECTV.
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alright time for a new business name or two, fresh new blog created to give the company a little credit and keep direct tv happy. Heavy Heavy psychology and depth. Its not like anyone with direct tv ever finds out anyways. Even if they do make it, credit checks will clear it up.
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