Some on-campus job postings on Carleton bulletin boards are not authorized by the university despite posting on-campus to attract students, according to Darren Mundt, operations manager of Co-op and Career Services at Carleton.
Some organizations put up posters around Carleton without permission, Mundt said.
“We have no governance over what goes on there and so a passerby could, as you can imagine, just put something up,” he said. “Whether or not people have permission to put it up they still put stuff up, even though they’re not supposed to. Vector Marketing is a good example of that.”
Ryan Long, Vector Marketing’s public relations manager, said their company participates in a variety of on-campus advertising.
“Depending on the school and depending on what their rules are, we will often put up posters on bulletin boards. Sometimes we can write advertisements on the corner of a chalkboard or a whiteboard, sometimes we can hand out flyers to student as they’re walking by in high-traffic areas,” Long said.
However, it is unclear if the company knows they are not allowed to advertise on campus.
Mundt said the campus is private property and businesses are not allowed to advertise without permission from the university.
Vector Marketing requires students to put a $99 deposit down on a sample CUTCO kit, the knives student representatives sell. The deposit is refundable if you decide to stop working with them.
Mikhail Peabody, a second-year industrial design student at Carleton, said he started working for Vector Marketing a couple of weeks ago.
“My experience with Vector Marketing is pretty much exactly what I imagined it would be when I first looked it up. It is a commission-based job [marketed] towards students,” Peabody said.
He added the job is not for everyone.
“After some initial hard work, I am pretty easily able to make as much money or more than other student jobs in a fraction of the hours,” he said. “You must be self-motivated to actually succeed and make money. There is no one making your schedule and no one forcing you to show up.”
“If you’re able to push yourself to work hard, this can be the perfect job for you,” he added.
Peabody said he heard about the job from a Vector Marketing poster on campus.
Some students on the Carleton Reddit page said the company is a scam.
“Hey first years! Avoid this and educate yourself on multi-level marketing (aka pyramid schemes). You are their target demographic. Don’t let yourself get scammed,” said Reddit user BaconSheikh.
Mundt said Co-op and Career Services does not support Vector Marketing because it’s against their policy guidelines.
“There are employment standards and certain levels that we require employers to adhere to if they’re going to use our job boards or they’re going to use our services,” Mundt said. “One of the primary ones is that we require an employer not make or ask or require any potential applicant or employee to make a financial investment as a ground for employment, so that’s against our rules.”
Mundt added students should also be aware of companies passing around clipboards in classrooms.
“Do not share your information, do not share your email, anything, phone number with any organization unless you are absolutely certain who you’re dealing with,” he said.
Long said Vector Marketing operates under a legitimate business model.
“The position’s not right for everyone,” he said. “Often when someone makes a comment like that it’s because they have some sort of misconception either about us or about direct sales in general.”
