Complaint Review: Primerica - Brampton Ontario

I was contacted by a Primerica representative, who said he had found my resume on an internet job search engine. Although I have no experience in the financial world (my specialty is ancient history), he seemed to think that my education could be used at Primerica. Having been unemployed for close to a year, I was willing to take just about anything.

I looked up their web site, which I found to be quite uninformative, and went to the first interview. I was quite impressed by their offices and even more so by the name Citibank. The interviewer showed the Fortune 500 issue, ranking Citibank number one: higher than McDonald's, Microsoft or Walmart. The initial encounter was pleasant, but very little was said about the exact nature of the business. A vague description of a financial analyst-type position made me think that perhaps they were looking for some sort of researcher.

A few days later I attended the Opportunity Night. There I heard an hour and half talk about what a great company Primerica was, and what great things it did for regular Joes, who couldn't afford the big-name financial services, and what a great place it was for certain motivated people, who wanted to get ahead in life, without being tied to a job they hated. By now, I was feeling a bit suspicious about exactly what I would be doing. Why were these guys trying to sell the company to me?

Nevertheless, I went for another interview(I was unemployed, I had lots of free time). I had been told that this was when my questions would be answered. Here I finally learned the nature of the business: I would be hustling my friends and acquaintances to buy life insurance, financial planning services and mutual funds. To be fair to the man who attempted to recruit me, he was up-front about the costs involved in getting the licences required and about the $199 fee for background clearance. I could even see the necessity for the background check, but I didn't have an extra $199 lying around (remember, I'm unemployed) and I needed to be earning an income, not be paying out to take licencing exams.

Also, the talk about building up my own team so that I, too, could become a branch manager or regional vice-president made me uncomfortable. This, combined with the rah-rah corporate culture atmosphere I had noticed at the Opportunity Night, began to sound familiar. I have some family members, who are heavily involved in the best-known multi-level marketing organization out there, and I knew where I had heard all this talk before. I thanked the guy, told him I'd think it over for a day or two and left.

Personally, I do believe that some people could make a pretty good living with Primerica, and the fellow who interviewed me did not attempt to entice me with the possibility of a huge potential income, merely saying that it could be quite lucrative for someone willing put in the required work.

Fortunately, this experience didn't cost me anything more than a few hours of my time, but the memory has always unsettled me. I suspect that this could have cost me dearly in money, time and self-esteem, had I not recognized it for what it was. What disturbs me the most about their recruitment tactics is that they are not up-front at the first interview. Had I known that this was a sales job, I would not have proceeded any further.

I am concerned that other people have been taken in by these misleading recruitment tactics; there are plenty of born salespeople in the world ( I know that I am not one), why not be honest and look for people whose resumes express a desire or aptitude for sales?

Since reading some of the reports here, I know that I was lucky in my experience with Primerica. If this helps someone who is thinking about joining them, I am glad. If, on the other hand, anyone thinks Primerica is the place for them, good luck, but, perhaps, keep in mind that people don't like to be mislead, and if one satisfied customer tells one or two friends, a dissatisfied customer tells ten.

Francesca

Brampton, Ontario

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