Door-to-door sales companies recruit university students with promises of big money; while huge paychecks are possible, there are things students should know before signing up.
Companies selling home security alarms or pest control contracts focus recruitment on college campuses.
Job advertisements state “Thousands of dollars in only three months” and “$500 just for signing up!!!” Information meetings often offer free pizza and movie tickets.
Mark Poff, a recent U alumnus who worked one summer as an alarm-system salesman, said the companies especially target returned missionaries.
“We’re used to knocking on doors,” he explained.
Poff estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the salesmen he met were returned missionaries from Utah schools.
Even though religion is used to recruit, the companies employ strict business practices that students should ask about before signing up, Poff said.
For example, many companies promise a $500 signing bonus. But salesmen are paid only half of the money they earn in a pay period. The other half goes into what is called a “hold fund,” from which the company can deduct money, should any clients cancel their contracts.
“The remaining funds are then given to the salesmen, usually in February, and it is almost always less than what you think you’re going to get,” said Patrick Kilbourn, a former Salt Lake Community College student and alarm salesman.
What recruiters don’t always tell potential salespeople is that this half-and-half payment system often includes the “signing bonus.” In reality, that money is often eaten up by contract cancellations well after the summer job is over.
Kilbourn and Poff both added that another promise made is free rent for the entire summer.
But many of the companies only provide the rent for free if they sell one contract per day. If they fail to do so, the rent is automatically deducted from their paychecks, they said.
Another company selling satellite dishes only discloses after students have signed up that free rent is contingent on “100-percent attendance.”
“The rent was a joke because if you missed any work, they wouldn’t pay for it,” Kilbourn said.
If they do miss a day, the money is deducted, often from the hold fund so the students don’t know until after the summer is over.
Other companies set a “reasonable housing fee,” they explained.
Poff said that he and his three roommates paid $400 a month per person for a four-bedroom apartment.
“But then we asked our neighbors (who weren’t part of the program) what they paid, and it was only $900 a month (total) for the same apartment,” he said.
When the company was confronted about the inflated prices, Poff was told that the extra money goes toward rent in other areas where the prices are higher-as it does for missionaries.
“It’s like they were trying to recreate our missions in a creepy kind of way,” he said. “That really made me mad because they were just using religion to get us to sell their contracts.”
In spite of the loopholes, most salespeople asked said that they made a large amount of money. The commission is about $500 per contract.
Eric Brady, a pre-medicine junior, worked for Stone Security last summer and made $10,000.
“It was my first time out there, and I was just OK at it. There were guys who made $20,000, $30,000 and $50,000,” Brady said. “It’s really hard work and really discouraging sometimes, but if you’re willing to work hard, you can make a ton of money.”
If you only sell two contracts a week, that is $1,000 per week, as compared with $250 a week working at a bagel store. If you sell one contract a day for three months, you could make $32,000 to $35,000 dollars, he said.
Andy Smoot, a junior in sales and tech services at Weber State University, said he made around $20,000 last summer.
“What you should know about selling is that it is mentally challenging,” he said. “(It’s) like a mind game because sometimes you’ll sell two (contracts) in one day, and then none the next week.”
But if you can break through that barrier, he explained, you can pretty much make as much as you want.