Southwestern Advantage

Many of you may have had a short presentation/survey in some of your classes from representatives of Southwestern Advantage during which they talked about a summer "internship" opportunity.  I did not have them come to our Gen Chem class because I knew that they came to the Bio class that most of you are in at 9:30 and I didn't think you all needed to have a second dose of their sales pitch.

It has come to my attention that the representatives of Southwestern Advantage may have been a bit overzealous in their tactics when strong-arming their way into some classrooms.  A message was sent to faculty from the Career Development Center :

It has come to our attention that representatives from Southwestern Advantage are visiting your classes to explain their Internship/ Employment Program and to request that a survey be completed by your students. We also understand that they are stating their visit has been authorized by The Career Development Center and/or our Director, Greg Toutges. This is not the case.

During their pitch in class, I have also noticed that the recruiter is very reluctant to describe exactly what this "excellent internship and independent business opportunity" is.  Southwestern Advantage is a door-to-door bookselling business.  They sell books and "study systems" that are intended to help pre-college students with their studies.  I have not seen these products, so I don't know whether they're good or not, but doing a quick web search leads me to believe that the products sold by Southwestern Advantage are quite expensive, and given the wealth of FREE information and tutorials available online, I personally would never pay the prices I saw mentioned even if my child was struggling.

Southwestern Advantage uses an independent contractor/seller model, so although the recruiter very likely spoke about earning $8000 during the summer (a number he used when talking to me), that number may not be realistic, and may require 10-15 hour days, 7 days a week for weeks at a time.  In addition, there will be living expenses that you would not incur while living at home and working for minimum wage, so if you are considering exploring a summer job with Southwestern Advantage, make sure you really analyze the numbers they provide, although I would expect that they will offer very few concrete details until you have signed a contract.  Sales can be a very good career for some people, but it's not for everyone.  Set up a spreadsheet to calculate income and expenses to compare your various summer option before you are coerced into signing a contract.

A few students have also mentioned that the Southwestern Advantage recruiter was asking for Dragon ID#'s and social security numbers.  I did not attend the presentation in any classes this year, but if the recruiter was really asking for this type of information, I would be EXTREMELY suspicious of their intent, or at the very least their tactics.  In addition, when Lucas Odegard, the "Corporate Recruiter" who probably talked to your class, met with me about coming into Gen Chem, he consistently referred to all of you as "kids".  Like it or not, you are not "kids", you are adults.  If Mr. Odegard considers you all to be "kids", it seems to me that he has a profound lack of respect for all of you, and merely sees you as another resource or product that he may be able to use to make money.

I am sure that there are pre-college students who have benefited from Southwestern Advantage's products, and I am sure that there are college students who have earned good money selling these products, but I have been extremely unimpressed with the tactics that have been used by Southwestern Advantage on our campus.  If you choose to explore this opportunity, please make sure you are fully informed and are not taken in by a slick and predatory sales pitch.