Eye of the Tiger

Years ago, back in the days when I was still working in Human Resources, I went to a lot of job fairs. Hiring is a numbers game, so the more places I went, the more chances I had of filling my positions.

I was at a rather poorly attended fair when the man from the booth next to mine approached me. He said he was impressed at the way I handled the booth by myself, and if I wasn’t too attached to my current position, he would love to have me join a group interview in a few days.

I said to myself, “Why not?” and got the directions.

As soon as I walked through the door, “Eye of the Tiger” started playing.

“Multi-level marketing,” I thought to myself. It was amazing how I could that just from the music! I was about to leave when the recruiter spotted me, so I knew I was stuck. I also knew both that I wasn’t interested and that it wasn’t an interview. I sat down, got comfortable, and waited for the train-wreck form of entertainment to begin.

It was an inspire the troops/rope in new blood event. Awards were handed out, speeches were given about how silly people’s fears are of having no company-provided health insurance, and then the pitch. Basically they wanted their marks associates to pay out of pocket to get a progressive series of licenses so they could have unlimited earning potential. Surprisingly there was only a passing reference to bringing in more people.

When the recruiter called me the next day to see if I was excited about the opportunity as he was, I told him it wasn’t for me. Of course that was not sufficient. He pressed me.

I told him if I wanted to sell insurance or securities I’d simply go to work for a company that would pay for the training.

“But this way you aren’t beholden to any company. The sky is the limit!”

“Other insurance sales positions are commission based like this one. Why would they cap it?”

Silence. I guess his average rubes didn’t research these things.

“I guess this isn’t a good fit after all.”

Ever since then I think of that “interview” whenever I hear “Eye of the Tiger.”

Does anyone else have a song associated with something completely off the wall? or Am I the only one who has been sucked in to see one of these presentations?