Student job offer not exactly cutting edge

Throughout the campus, yellow-and- blue posters with tear-off tabs advertising "Summer Student Work and Great Pay" can be found. The posters are distributed by Vector Marketing, a sales company owned by Cutco Corporation. These posters offer what many students need in a downward economy.

Douglas Ebner, a sophomore majoring in computer science, said he was almost "scammed" by Vector marketing. During the months of April, Ebner contacted a Vector Marketing representative because he was interested in the position they were advertising.

The internship offered flexibility, allowing applicants to make their own schedules and gain access to networking opportunities and promotions. The representative told him the starting salary would be $15 an hour.

"It sounded too good to be true," Ebner said. "It was."

Ebner said he grew suspicious of the company when he was asked to pay $100 for a mandatory on-the-job-training. Before signing up for training, Ebner researched Vector Marketing's validity by asking his friends and looking up the company on the Web.

Then, he discovered he would be responsible for selling knives by Cutco Cutlery. A set of knives cost anywhere from $50 to $150.

Students who participate in the internship program offered by Vector Marketing are expected to sell the knives to family members, friend, or the general public for a small profit, according to Ebner.

He claims students are not paid by the hour as Vector informed him, but rather they have to rely on the profits they make from their sales.

"Not only would students be making less than six dollars an hour, but they would be losing money," Ebner said.

He believes the university should enclose all message boards in glasses cases, such as the boards located in North Lake Village, in order to prevent companies like Vector from targeting students.

Julie Gleason, interim director of the Office of Student Involvement, said on-campus rules about solicitation changed in April.

"FGCU rules and regulation state that some message boards located in the library, Reed and McTarnaghan Hall are allowed for public use for anyone in the university community," Gleason said. "Therefore, any organizations outside of FGCU are allowed to post any kind of solicitation as long as they do not violate our policy"

Multiple phone calls to Vector Marketing went unreturned. After several days of phone calls, a representative for the company finally made contact.

Jamie, who claimed to be a secretary for Vector Marketing, who refused to provide her last name. Several times during the interview, Jamie ended the call abruptly. She claims any allegations against the company are false.

"Students do not pay for the three-and-a-half mandatory training or the products we have them sell," she said. Jamie said Vector is currently working with several FGCU students who set up appointments with clients.

"Our student sales associates are paid weekly and are not given quotas to fill of any kind. One student from Gainesville was able make $2,000 in less than four weeks," she said. Jamie suggests students go the company's Web site at www.workforstudents.com for more information about their program.

To avoid falling prey to misleading advertisements, Ebner advises that all students take time to research any kind of solicitation.

He created a Facebook group called "FGCU students against vector marketing" to spread what he learned.

"I want to create awareness of Vector Marketing so that students can ignore the posters and postcards being passed around by them," Ebner said.