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| HMI Empire Group Waste of My Time Manchester, New Jersey |
| 16th of Oct, 2011 by User798454 |
| I applied today for a customer service position listed in the local Careerbuilders.com. The company listed was Empire Group Medical Devices, in Manchester, NJ. It was listed as paying $10-$14 an hour. I called this past Saturday and left a message. Recieved a call back within a half hour. Set up the appointment for today (Monday) for 11AM. Interesting. Before all interviews, I check the website to get information to check out the company. There was none. First Red Flag. I checked the local Chamber of Commerce, no listing. Perhaps the company wasn't registered yet. I figured I'd go on the interview and ask. The office was in a nice strip mall. Upon entering, I noticed there was nothing on the walls. No certification for business. Bare walls. There were two desks. One had a computer. The man that interviewed me didn't have as much as a stapler on his desk. Second Red Flag. I filled out the application, (in pencil?). There were others applying. I was called in right away. Very charming gentleman. A little chit chat about the product, an at-home air filteration product. Made in the USA. Manufactured in Cleveland, OH. He mentioned HMI Corporation. I wrote everything down. Without asking about my qualifications, or even glancing at my resume or application, he hired me within about a minute. Third Red Flag. Began telling me they were opening up offices on the East Coast, several counties in NJ. Told me he would need an Office Manager, Customer Service person and a dispatcher. I asked if the position was salaried or commission. His response was that I'd need to come back tomorrow and he'd answer all my questions. Any questions I came up with he told me I'd have to come in for a 22 hour, 4 day "orientation. Non-paid. I asked about the market for this product in today's economy. Again, come to the orientation. I walked out of there with a very uneasy feeling in my gut. I went home and Googled HMI. Their website was nothing but text. No pictures of the product itself. Another Red Flag. I looked up complaints filed agains HMI, Cleveland. I found this site. Thank Goodness. My gut was right. This company is a scam. It's a shame they prey upon those of us out of work. The economy in Ocean County is pitiful at best. If you are over 50, you are lucky to get called for an interview. This guy was taking full advantage of the applicants desperation for work. Shame on these people. I'm so glad I persisted in researching this company. The old saying stays true. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. |
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Response from Empire
Jane's comments are inaccurate and misleading. For clarification:
1) We are an independent company, not related to HMI. We do sell some of their products.
2) We opened our doors in October and began the interviewing process immediately. Jane was one of the first applicants during our move-in. Had we known “pictures on the wall and multiple staplers” were requirements for starting interviews, we would have pulled them out of the cartons first.
3) Responding to phone inquires within a half hour is called “being efficient”, and is good business. It would only be considered a red flag to someone who is not familiar with good business practice or has poor work ethics.
4) Most applicants come to their interviews prepared..If you arrive and there are several others filling out applications, you might have to use a pencil if the pens are in use. In Jane's case, a pencil allowed her to use the eraser.
5) Being called into your interview “right away” is a good thing. You arrived on time. We conduct interviews as scheduled. Again, its called “being efficient” and we acknowledge that all applicants time, as well as ours, is important.
6) We do not discriminate as Jane implied. We have several people on board, ranging in age from 22-62, of various ethnic backgrounds.
7) In closing, we now have pictures on the wall, 4 desks, and two staplers.
8) It appeared to us that Jane was not interested in finding a job, but more interested in finding excuses for not getting one. |
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