Ok I think I might be suffering from Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPH), not insomnia. Have been sleeping at about 3am daily, and waking up at about 12noon, unless I have school.
From Wiki:
"Delayed sleep-phase disorder (DSPD), also known as delayed sleep-phase syndrome (DSPS) or delayed sleep-phase type (DSPT), is acircadian rhythm sleep disorder affecting the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily rhythms, compared to the general population and relative to societal requirements. People with DSPD generally fall asleep some hours after midnight and have difficulty waking up in the morning. ... DSPD is a lifelong condition"
I am screwed. I think I will die young. There goes my dream of visiting Bermuda Triangles when I am at a ripe old age of 80. *poof* :/
Monday, February 25, 2013
Week of Ups and Downs
My mood has been going through a hell ride of roller-coaster lately and my menstrual cycle has been rather irregular, probably due to stress/my screwed-up sleep cycle/skipping meals etc.
(*note to self to go for a check-up soon*).
But I do have to admit that I have been losing my temper more often than usual to a particular person. Well, I had my reasons, but still, I have to sincerely apologize for my temperamental behavior. m(-.-)m
(start of rant...)
I lost my cool on Monday, when the deadline to submit an assignment pressed on me and you were still like, no idea what was going on. And you gave the wrong answer! :( The reason I got so worked up was because I felt that you could have easily understood and solved these questions because it wasn't out of your capability! You just didn't bother to pay attention in class (or at least that was what I thought then)!
As for today (Sunday), well, I got up on the wrong side of the bed to begin with. I was really unprepared for the meeting and my brain was just not functioning. (My sleep cycle is screwed. I am suspecting insomnia as the cause. I am seriously contemplating sleeping pills. But, I digress.) Anyway, so you settling down in Starbucks despite me already being in somewhere else in utown kinda ticked me off. And I guess, given your intelligence, you know what I meant when I said the meeting was unnecessary. I felt like we wasted each other's time. And your time is always oh-so-precious (I am not being sarcastic, this is what I truly felt). Given the way we had worked with each other in the past, an online meeting would really suffice, IMHO.
Perhaps, I did bear a little grudge towards you for not doing the assignment due on Monday when I really really needed your help to confirm whether my answers were correct. Guess you had more confidence in me than I had in myself. And my behavior today was kinda like, "revenge"? I don't know...
Whatever the case, I am truly sorry for being a bitch and I will try to curb my temper (and go for a check-up :p).
(ok rant over)
I do notice my change of attitude towards the same particular person. And it's for the bad. I realize that I have the tendency to really display the foul side of myself once I feel that I am totally comfortable with someone. And then, they get pushed away by my bad behavior. Or at least this is what happened with my ex. But I really do not wish to lose such an important friend. I have to constantly remind myself that we will be friends for life. I have to constantly remind myself as well that I must not be overly reliant on others (which means, I should do everything myself. Any external help would just be a bonus, which I SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTING!)
My logic: Over reliance => exposing my weakness => vulnerability => I get hurt eventually.
Hence, this is why I repeatedly emphasize to myself that I don't want to depend on anyone. Nothing good happens whenever I start to have expectations for others. I can't even trust my own judgement (as illustrated by my last relationship). At the end of the day, 家是唯一的避风港。
OK DONE WITH THE DOWNS! NOW FOR THE HAPPY THINGS THAT HAPPENED OVER THE WEEK! WHEEEEE~
1. Went to Gladys' place for CNY house visiting last Sat. Pity didn't get to take a photo with the host. But here's a photo of me and Mia at her place when we were watching Running Man. Haha.
2. Dance!
Standard class started on Mon! Missed seeing Why Pong and Michelle! :)) And the layout of their WM DanceWorld studio changed, resulting in a larger dancing area. No more worrying about getting in the way of the pillar. Haha
And I'm loving Samba! Second time taking the elementary Samba at Dance Dynamix and I can catch on much better! :3
3. Shopping with Gladys.
Went (window-)shopping with Gladys on Wednesday before Latin class. Joys of being a girl! <3 br="" nbsp="">
4. Dinner with Yee Teng & Fenny on Thur!
Haven't met the girls for quite some time and setting a dinner with the working "adults" is soooooo difficult. The dinner was supposed to happen before CNY but OTs and CNY delayed it. And both of them were emphasizing how I should enjoy my long break before work starts! :O
5. My new dress arrived! :))
In view of the expenses required for the coming grad trips, I told myself to stop blog-shopping. But, oh wells, things happen! ;) Got this faux leather piece from Dressabelle and loving it loads! So gonna enjoy seeing the expression of all my friends if I'm wearing this out to meet them. Hohohoho.
6. Going to Europe!! :)
Booked a tour package to Europe with parents. Flying in late May. Can't wait for it!
7. Cactus 2013: Emotions
Watched the performance to support Mia (oh she's SO HOT!!!).
And saw Paula as well. She's like sooooooo pretty! She should totally abandon her specs and just wear contact lens!
This post is way longer than expected! :3
Tada~~
(*note to self to go for a check-up soon*).
But I do have to admit that I have been losing my temper more often than usual to a particular person. Well, I had my reasons, but still, I have to sincerely apologize for my temperamental behavior. m(-.-)m
(start of rant...)
I lost my cool on Monday, when the deadline to submit an assignment pressed on me and you were still like, no idea what was going on. And you gave the wrong answer! :( The reason I got so worked up was because I felt that you could have easily understood and solved these questions because it wasn't out of your capability! You just didn't bother to pay attention in class (or at least that was what I thought then)!
As for today (Sunday), well, I got up on the wrong side of the bed to begin with. I was really unprepared for the meeting and my brain was just not functioning. (My sleep cycle is screwed. I am suspecting insomnia as the cause. I am seriously contemplating sleeping pills. But, I digress.) Anyway, so you settling down in Starbucks despite me already being in somewhere else in utown kinda ticked me off. And I guess, given your intelligence, you know what I meant when I said the meeting was unnecessary. I felt like we wasted each other's time. And your time is always oh-so-precious (I am not being sarcastic, this is what I truly felt). Given the way we had worked with each other in the past, an online meeting would really suffice, IMHO.
Perhaps, I did bear a little grudge towards you for not doing the assignment due on Monday when I really really needed your help to confirm whether my answers were correct. Guess you had more confidence in me than I had in myself. And my behavior today was kinda like, "revenge"? I don't know...
Whatever the case, I am truly sorry for being a bitch and I will try to curb my temper (and go for a check-up :p).
(ok rant over)
I do notice my change of attitude towards the same particular person. And it's for the bad. I realize that I have the tendency to really display the foul side of myself once I feel that I am totally comfortable with someone. And then, they get pushed away by my bad behavior. Or at least this is what happened with my ex. But I really do not wish to lose such an important friend. I have to constantly remind myself that we will be friends for life. I have to constantly remind myself as well that I must not be overly reliant on others (which means, I should do everything myself. Any external help would just be a bonus, which I SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTING!)
My logic: Over reliance => exposing my weakness => vulnerability => I get hurt eventually.
Hence, this is why I repeatedly emphasize to myself that I don't want to depend on anyone. Nothing good happens whenever I start to have expectations for others. I can't even trust my own judgement (as illustrated by my last relationship). At the end of the day, 家是唯一的避风港。
OK DONE WITH THE DOWNS! NOW FOR THE HAPPY THINGS THAT HAPPENED OVER THE WEEK! WHEEEEE~
1. Went to Gladys' place for CNY house visiting last Sat. Pity didn't get to take a photo with the host. But here's a photo of me and Mia at her place when we were watching Running Man. Haha.
2. Dance!
Standard class started on Mon! Missed seeing Why Pong and Michelle! :)) And the layout of their WM DanceWorld studio changed, resulting in a larger dancing area. No more worrying about getting in the way of the pillar. Haha
And I'm loving Samba! Second time taking the elementary Samba at Dance Dynamix and I can catch on much better! :3
3. Shopping with Gladys.
Went (window-)shopping with Gladys on Wednesday before Latin class. Joys of being a girl! <3 br="" nbsp="">
4. Dinner with Yee Teng & Fenny on Thur!
Haven't met the girls for quite some time and setting a dinner with the working "adults" is soooooo difficult. The dinner was supposed to happen before CNY but OTs and CNY delayed it. And both of them were emphasizing how I should enjoy my long break before work starts! :O
5. My new dress arrived! :))
In view of the expenses required for the coming grad trips, I told myself to stop blog-shopping. But, oh wells, things happen! ;) Got this faux leather piece from Dressabelle and loving it loads! So gonna enjoy seeing the expression of all my friends if I'm wearing this out to meet them. Hohohoho.
(I sucked in my tummy while taking this photo. Shhhhh... :p)
6. Going to Europe!! :)
Booked a tour package to Europe with parents. Flying in late May. Can't wait for it!
7. Cactus 2013: Emotions
Watched the performance to support Mia (oh she's SO HOT!!!).
This post is way longer than expected! :3
Tada~~
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Soulmate
Love this song by Natasha Bedingfield!
Does everyone really have a soulmate? What if mine is half a world apart from me?
But then again, I'm happy and contented with my life the way it is now. :)
Saturday, February 16, 2013
My first homemade manicure!!
NICE RIGHT??? :3
Did this in the spirit of CNY and Valentine's day, and I got the inspiration from Gladys' blog! :)
As you can see, I was being a little too ambitious and tried many new techniques! And I'm pretty satisfied with the result! Could be better of course, but given that this is my first time, I would rate it a 7! For the colourful-ness and cheerful vibe that this creates. Hehehe.
Here's the stuff I used just to do this manicure:
All of my nail-related stuff are from either Etude House or Face Shop. And yes, you'll need a band-aid, you'll see why. And because this is my first time doing such a manicure and with all those new techniques, I spent about 3hrs on it! But I guess it's worth the effort! :))
Anyways, here's what I tried (a youtube search would easily teach you how to do them effortlessly too!):
1) Hearts hearts~
2) Gradient!
3) And lastly french! This is the basic so won't show photos. Hehe.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
My search for a part-time job (Part I)
NOTE: this is like a reaaaaaaaaally looooooooooong post! you have been warned! hehehe
Before I start my account of my (unsuccessful *sobs*) foray into the part-time job market, I would first like to conclude that looking for a part time job seems more difficult than looking for a full-time job (at least in my case). After all, I have restrictions that are unfavorable to any kind of job seekers: 1) flexible hours (since I'm still studying), 2) only able to commit for at most 3 months (since I may be going for my grad trips after graduation)
And so, here are the jobs that I considered/applied:
1) Tuition Teacher
Of course, I do know that being a tuition teacher requires long commitment terms and so I searched for part-time positions in tuition centers (at least they can find a replacement if I quit). Then I realized that despite my *ahem* rather good qualifications (well, I believe I can teach Chinese language, Mathematics and all Science subjects up to Secondary 4 level. buay paiseh, haha!), my lack of experience is much in my disfavor. :(
Then, opportunity came knocking at my door! Gladys has a senior who has recently opened a tuition center in Tampines (yay east!) and was looking for tutors. When I visited the tuition center on the day of its opening, it happens that there's already Chinese classes lined up so technically I can start teaching once the students are ready. YAY right? Well, no! Turns out the there's a 1 year commitment expected of me (which is totally reasonable) but because of my travel plans later in the year, I have to reject this position. And I felt so guilty and 不好意思, as I have already agreed to take on the Chinese class, then I had to email Gladys' senior to reject the position (and hopefully she finds a more eligible Chinese tutor >.<)
2) Recruitment Officer / Sales Coordinator
Well, this is a post that I found in many job search websites such as freelancezone.com and singapore.gumtree.sg. The pages are flooded with similarly worded advertisements with the following details:
"Job scope: Post ads online, arrange candidates for interviews, coordinate between company and client;
Work from home; Flexible working hours; No cold calls; No meeting clients; No experience required
Basic pay + Commission;
Earn 2K - 5K / mth!"
It's everything that I wish for! Minimum effort with good pay, sounds good right? Well, I learnt the hard way that all that sounds too good to be true are definitely not what it seems to be. :[
So, this is what happened (it's gonna be a long story so be prepared):
As there were numerous posts advertising similar jobs but by different 'recruiters', I applied for a number of them (about 4-5). The first one replied to my email. The recruiter, by the name of Abby Chew, whatsapp-ed me and she proceeded to arrange an interview slot with me. I asked what was the organisation and she replied that it's a property company. She did not reveal the name of the company then and on hindsight, this is definitely something fishy (but I guess I was too desperate for a PT job so I didn't think much of this). So anyway, an interview slot was then confirmed and I got the address of the company. Now, with the address, I could easily do a search on the Internet and realized that it is a real estate company by the name of ECG Property, which is a subsidiary of ECG Holdings. I did a rough research on the internet and all seems well. A pretty established firm with proper websites, contact channels yada yada. And so, I happily went for the "interview" at the stipulated date and time, thinking that this is probably gonna be a job in the HR department.
When I reached the office, I was led to a room that looked kinda like a training room (with white boards and screens in front, a projector hanging from the ceiling and rows of chairs). There were already about 8-9 other people sitting in the room. It was only then did I came to the full realization that I was probably conned into attending some kind of talk under the disguise of an interview. (Yeah I know, I'm slow. :( Oh wells, I guess I was just too shielded in my uni life and didn't get to experience these kind of marketing gimmicks. I digress.) I thought to myself, since I was there, might as well sit down and listen to what was on offer.
So this is the deal: there are several positions available,
1) Recruitment Officer/Recruiter (who posts those online recruiting adv that conned me into attending the "interview");
2) OJT (which I have no idea what it stands for as the speaker didn't elaborate but I shall just call it a 'Coordinator' role, who matches clients with the company's property agents according to client's requirement for a house; and
3) UREAP program (this is some certified training program giving you basic knowledge about the real estate industry, it's mainly for those who wish to be a property agent in the long-run, but note that there's another course and exam that you must take in order to be a property agent)
Those who attended the "interview" (it was actually a job briefing) were given a choice of (a) taking up all 3 positions; (b) taking only the double role of (1) & (2) or; (c) only a single role of (1) or (2). The speaker then proceeded to teach us how to calculate our earnings by simply being a recruitment officer-cum-OJT. I shall not bore you with the details but it's those kind where you draw commission based on how much you work (note: NO basic pay at all, contrary to what was posted in the online ad!!) And the motive was apparent: to show how easy it was to earn that stated "2K-5K/mth" and there's also a possibility of earning more than that! She also taught us tricks and gimmicks to get more viewership for the online advertisements and lure candidates to go for the "interview". This was when I really felt that the whole recruitment process is really deceitful.
What the speaker, Joey Tay, who is also some senior HR manager in the company) taught us (just a few of the things I could rmb):
1) Post online advertisements in popular categories such as part-time jobs / general / admin / Marketing / IT
(for those serious job seekers looking for a proper full-time job in say Marketing or IT, coming to this "interview" would be a total waste of their time!! And for those looking for a PT job in the first place, who would be seriously thinking about being a property agent? But apparently Joey Tay couldn't care less about that. All she wanted was more exposure of her online advertisements and hopefully con people into her system of recruiters and coordinators.)
2) Post in 6 categories in each of 16 job searching websites
(And imagine tens and hundreds of recruiters, each posting the same 6 advertisements in the same 16 websites!! So basically the whole website is flooded with the same advertisements for the same company for the same job. This explains why I find so many similar advertisements when I was doing a job search despite different "recruiters" for each advertisement.)
3) Certain words are not allowed to be used in the advertisements: property, licence, the company name etc
(I couldn't rmb the list of words dis-allowed as the speaker just ramble them off not giving us a chance to note them down, when she had previously stressed to us we must absolutely note down how the commissions will be calculated. and then i realized why Abby did not reply me when I asked for the company name before I confirmed the interview with her. And of course, all these are done so that people will be conned into at least attending the "interview" and some of them might be persuaded to join them after hearing the briefing.)
4) Telling people that they are going for an "interview" and not a "job briefing"
(reason being that again, Joey want more people to listen to the "wonderful" prospects of earning big bucks and hence get conned into the system
Ok, so I've mentioned many times that this is a conning system. And readers might think, there's nothing to lose by joining as let's say, simply recruiters. We just invest in a few minutes posting ads online everyday, people respond to the ads and viola! You can now draw commission when those people referred by you joins the system. And the commission is quite substantial:
- $125/pax (if candidate joins UREAP + OJT + Recruiter)
- $100/pax (if candidate joins OJT + Recruiter)
- $75/pax (if candidate joins OJT/Recruiter)
There's also a bonus of $800 if you manage to recruit 18-29 people per mth; $2,000 if you manage to recruit >29 people per mth.
BUT, here's the catch: there is a freaking JOINING FEE!!!
Never expected that huh?
Here's the joining fee rate if you are interested to join as:
1) UREAP + OJT + Recruiter: $700 ($499)
2) OJT + Recruiter: $600 ($400)
3) Recruiter/OFT: ($299)
The number in bracket is the discounted joining fee if we agree to join the company before 12am on the day of the briefing (and the briefing was from 7pm till 9pm plus, so we technically only have about 2.5hr to decide.) And that's NOT the only cost involved, everyone who joins must take a set of professional photos (with blazer and wearing the ECG tie). This costs another $29. The reason given by Joey was that she needed a face to match with our names or she wouldn't know who she's dealing with when she's paying us our commission. I snorted at this. This is such an apparent scheme to con us of our money!
At the end of the day, I have to admit the whole scheme was presented in a very appealing manner and Joey was a very convincing presenter (then again, she has been doing this for who knows how long), making the job seem like one that requires minimal effort with high pay. I ALMOST got tricked, almost! The 3rd option of joining as simply a recruiter seemed to promise a definite positive payout! I invest an initial amount of $328, and the minimum I should recruit would be just 5 recruiters/OJT. Easy huh?
Looking at the turnout of the briefing for the day I went, there were about 15 people in total. It seems that more than half of them were students looking for casual part-time jobs with no consideration of venturing into the real estate business (come on, who would look at the advertisements posted and imagine that that's the kick-start of their career as a property agent right?!), so these people are probably wouldn't wanna fork out money before they see their payout (and I noticed that most of them sprinted out of the room the moment Joey ended the session. Haha). There's also a minority of serious job seekers who unfortunately wasted 2hrs of their time listening to bullshit. The potential is down to about 1/4 of the attendees. I don't know how many would actually join the company. And from the name list where I had to fill in my details and recruiter at the start of the briefing, I noticed that each recruiter managed to get about 2-3 people down to the briefing for the session I attended. Now, looking at how aggressively Joey is expanding her network of recruiters, I daresay the likelihood of getting enough people to join the company in order to cover our initial investment would be pretty low.
And the reason I would label this as a scam is because, Joey Tay, being the one right at the top would get all the benefits from the increased exposure of her ads (due to many many many recruiters). All new entrants to the company is considered to be recruited by her and she gets a large bonus/commission from ECG. Whereas for the many many many recruiters under her, it's practically a perfect competition where we are all posting the same ads and hoping that lady lucky would be on our side. Yeah sure, Joey promised the bonus and stuff, precisely because it's a bonus, this means that it's a difficult target to meet! So, not only does Joey gets the commission/bonus from ECG, she'll also be earning the Joining Fee from us. Yet, she made it sound like she provided a lot of opportunities for us to earn big bucks. Pooh! Yeah I'm pretty sure there'll be a couple who manged to earn a lot, but definitely not the majority!
3) Marketing Assistant (or some other irrelevant title that I can't recall now)
This is a story that guarantees another loooooong post by itself so I shall save it for another day.
Tada~
Before I start my account of my (unsuccessful *sobs*) foray into the part-time job market, I would first like to conclude that looking for a part time job seems more difficult than looking for a full-time job (at least in my case). After all, I have restrictions that are unfavorable to any kind of job seekers: 1) flexible hours (since I'm still studying), 2) only able to commit for at most 3 months (since I may be going for my grad trips after graduation)
And so, here are the jobs that I considered/applied:
1) Tuition Teacher
Of course, I do know that being a tuition teacher requires long commitment terms and so I searched for part-time positions in tuition centers (at least they can find a replacement if I quit). Then I realized that despite my *ahem* rather good qualifications (well, I believe I can teach Chinese language, Mathematics and all Science subjects up to Secondary 4 level. buay paiseh, haha!), my lack of experience is much in my disfavor. :(
Then, opportunity came knocking at my door! Gladys has a senior who has recently opened a tuition center in Tampines (yay east!) and was looking for tutors. When I visited the tuition center on the day of its opening, it happens that there's already Chinese classes lined up so technically I can start teaching once the students are ready. YAY right? Well, no! Turns out the there's a 1 year commitment expected of me (which is totally reasonable) but because of my travel plans later in the year, I have to reject this position. And I felt so guilty and 不好意思, as I have already agreed to take on the Chinese class, then I had to email Gladys' senior to reject the position (and hopefully she finds a more eligible Chinese tutor >.<)
2) Recruitment Officer / Sales Coordinator
Well, this is a post that I found in many job search websites such as freelancezone.com and singapore.gumtree.sg. The pages are flooded with similarly worded advertisements with the following details:
"Job scope: Post ads online, arrange candidates for interviews, coordinate between company and client;
Work from home; Flexible working hours; No cold calls; No meeting clients; No experience required
Basic pay + Commission;
Earn 2K - 5K / mth!"
It's everything that I wish for! Minimum effort with good pay, sounds good right? Well, I learnt the hard way that all that sounds too good to be true are definitely not what it seems to be. :[
So, this is what happened (it's gonna be a long story so be prepared):
As there were numerous posts advertising similar jobs but by different 'recruiters', I applied for a number of them (about 4-5). The first one replied to my email. The recruiter, by the name of Abby Chew, whatsapp-ed me and she proceeded to arrange an interview slot with me. I asked what was the organisation and she replied that it's a property company. She did not reveal the name of the company then and on hindsight, this is definitely something fishy (but I guess I was too desperate for a PT job so I didn't think much of this). So anyway, an interview slot was then confirmed and I got the address of the company. Now, with the address, I could easily do a search on the Internet and realized that it is a real estate company by the name of ECG Property, which is a subsidiary of ECG Holdings. I did a rough research on the internet and all seems well. A pretty established firm with proper websites, contact channels yada yada. And so, I happily went for the "interview" at the stipulated date and time, thinking that this is probably gonna be a job in the HR department.
When I reached the office, I was led to a room that looked kinda like a training room (with white boards and screens in front, a projector hanging from the ceiling and rows of chairs). There were already about 8-9 other people sitting in the room. It was only then did I came to the full realization that I was probably conned into attending some kind of talk under the disguise of an interview. (Yeah I know, I'm slow. :( Oh wells, I guess I was just too shielded in my uni life and didn't get to experience these kind of marketing gimmicks. I digress.) I thought to myself, since I was there, might as well sit down and listen to what was on offer.
So this is the deal: there are several positions available,
1) Recruitment Officer/Recruiter (who posts those online recruiting adv that conned me into attending the "interview");
2) OJT (which I have no idea what it stands for as the speaker didn't elaborate but I shall just call it a 'Coordinator' role, who matches clients with the company's property agents according to client's requirement for a house; and
3) UREAP program (this is some certified training program giving you basic knowledge about the real estate industry, it's mainly for those who wish to be a property agent in the long-run, but note that there's another course and exam that you must take in order to be a property agent)
Those who attended the "interview" (it was actually a job briefing) were given a choice of (a) taking up all 3 positions; (b) taking only the double role of (1) & (2) or; (c) only a single role of (1) or (2). The speaker then proceeded to teach us how to calculate our earnings by simply being a recruitment officer-cum-OJT. I shall not bore you with the details but it's those kind where you draw commission based on how much you work (note: NO basic pay at all, contrary to what was posted in the online ad!!) And the motive was apparent: to show how easy it was to earn that stated "2K-5K/mth" and there's also a possibility of earning more than that! She also taught us tricks and gimmicks to get more viewership for the online advertisements and lure candidates to go for the "interview". This was when I really felt that the whole recruitment process is really deceitful.
What the speaker, Joey Tay, who is also some senior HR manager in the company) taught us (just a few of the things I could rmb):
1) Post online advertisements in popular categories such as part-time jobs / general / admin / Marketing / IT
(for those serious job seekers looking for a proper full-time job in say Marketing or IT, coming to this "interview" would be a total waste of their time!! And for those looking for a PT job in the first place, who would be seriously thinking about being a property agent? But apparently Joey Tay couldn't care less about that. All she wanted was more exposure of her online advertisements and hopefully con people into her system of recruiters and coordinators.)
2) Post in 6 categories in each of 16 job searching websites
(And imagine tens and hundreds of recruiters, each posting the same 6 advertisements in the same 16 websites!! So basically the whole website is flooded with the same advertisements for the same company for the same job. This explains why I find so many similar advertisements when I was doing a job search despite different "recruiters" for each advertisement.)
3) Certain words are not allowed to be used in the advertisements: property, licence, the company name etc
(I couldn't rmb the list of words dis-allowed as the speaker just ramble them off not giving us a chance to note them down, when she had previously stressed to us we must absolutely note down how the commissions will be calculated. and then i realized why Abby did not reply me when I asked for the company name before I confirmed the interview with her. And of course, all these are done so that people will be conned into at least attending the "interview" and some of them might be persuaded to join them after hearing the briefing.)
4) Telling people that they are going for an "interview" and not a "job briefing"
(reason being that again, Joey want more people to listen to the "wonderful" prospects of earning big bucks and hence get conned into the system
Ok, so I've mentioned many times that this is a conning system. And readers might think, there's nothing to lose by joining as let's say, simply recruiters. We just invest in a few minutes posting ads online everyday, people respond to the ads and viola! You can now draw commission when those people referred by you joins the system. And the commission is quite substantial:
- $125/pax (if candidate joins UREAP + OJT + Recruiter)
- $100/pax (if candidate joins OJT + Recruiter)
- $75/pax (if candidate joins OJT/Recruiter)
There's also a bonus of $800 if you manage to recruit 18-29 people per mth; $2,000 if you manage to recruit >29 people per mth.
BUT, here's the catch: there is a freaking JOINING FEE!!!
Never expected that huh?
Here's the joining fee rate if you are interested to join as:
1) UREAP + OJT + Recruiter: $700 ($499)
2) OJT + Recruiter: $600 ($400)
3) Recruiter/OFT: ($299)
The number in bracket is the discounted joining fee if we agree to join the company before 12am on the day of the briefing (and the briefing was from 7pm till 9pm plus, so we technically only have about 2.5hr to decide.) And that's NOT the only cost involved, everyone who joins must take a set of professional photos (with blazer and wearing the ECG tie). This costs another $29. The reason given by Joey was that she needed a face to match with our names or she wouldn't know who she's dealing with when she's paying us our commission. I snorted at this. This is such an apparent scheme to con us of our money!
At the end of the day, I have to admit the whole scheme was presented in a very appealing manner and Joey was a very convincing presenter (then again, she has been doing this for who knows how long), making the job seem like one that requires minimal effort with high pay. I ALMOST got tricked, almost! The 3rd option of joining as simply a recruiter seemed to promise a definite positive payout! I invest an initial amount of $328, and the minimum I should recruit would be just 5 recruiters/OJT. Easy huh?
Looking at the turnout of the briefing for the day I went, there were about 15 people in total. It seems that more than half of them were students looking for casual part-time jobs with no consideration of venturing into the real estate business (come on, who would look at the advertisements posted and imagine that that's the kick-start of their career as a property agent right?!), so these people are probably wouldn't wanna fork out money before they see their payout (and I noticed that most of them sprinted out of the room the moment Joey ended the session. Haha). There's also a minority of serious job seekers who unfortunately wasted 2hrs of their time listening to bullshit. The potential is down to about 1/4 of the attendees. I don't know how many would actually join the company. And from the name list where I had to fill in my details and recruiter at the start of the briefing, I noticed that each recruiter managed to get about 2-3 people down to the briefing for the session I attended. Now, looking at how aggressively Joey is expanding her network of recruiters, I daresay the likelihood of getting enough people to join the company in order to cover our initial investment would be pretty low.
And the reason I would label this as a scam is because, Joey Tay, being the one right at the top would get all the benefits from the increased exposure of her ads (due to many many many recruiters). All new entrants to the company is considered to be recruited by her and she gets a large bonus/commission from ECG. Whereas for the many many many recruiters under her, it's practically a perfect competition where we are all posting the same ads and hoping that lady lucky would be on our side. Yeah sure, Joey promised the bonus and stuff, precisely because it's a bonus, this means that it's a difficult target to meet! So, not only does Joey gets the commission/bonus from ECG, she'll also be earning the Joining Fee from us. Yet, she made it sound like she provided a lot of opportunities for us to earn big bucks. Pooh! Yeah I'm pretty sure there'll be a couple who manged to earn a lot, but definitely not the majority!
3) Marketing Assistant (or some other irrelevant title that I can't recall now)
This is a story that guarantees another loooooong post by itself so I shall save it for another day.
Tada~
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