Be very careful when dealing with universalcareers.org
I recently answered an ad on craigslist that read something to the effect of: "State accredited school is seeking a sales person to advise people interested in receiving a state sponsored grant and enroll them in one of our online programs."
I've been in sales for 10 years and have worked at a few places, and interviewed with many prospective employers. I replied to the ad, and shortly thereafter was contacted by a man who identified himself as the "Sales Manager", he asked me a few questions and then set up a time for me to come in to interview for the position.
I took down the address and upon arrival I had to double check the number on the building, as the run down multi purpose building that matched the number that I was given over the phone did NOT look like a campus, not even like an administrative type of building. I made my way inside and found the suite # for my interview. My first impression was that this office was set up overnight and just as easily could be taken down and moved elsewhere. There were wires, cables, extension cords and debris all over the place. A few "desks" which were no more than $20 Ikea tables were set up throughout the "office".
I met with the sales manager who pitched me their angle. I would be issued a prepaid cellphone, then would search through leads on jobs and headhunters. Usually the leads would be generated when someone visits their website universalcareers.org and expresses their interest in one of their many online work study programs. In particular they were in need of salespeople to sell their Medical Billing Work Study Program.
The pitch is that a Merit Grant has been established and that each city is only awarded $50,000.00 so the prospective student must hurry to apply for one of these $5,000.00 Merit Grants, as only 10 will receive such grant in each city. In order to apply a student must immediately pay $150.00 for a felony background check and for the purpose of "Processing the application". They are told that if they don't qualify for the grant, their money will be refunded.
Supposedly it takes 2 days to know if they qualify for the grant. If they are pre approved (and everybody is, as the $50,000.00 per city is complete B.S.) then they are sent their 7 text books. Here's the beauty of their little set-up. They tell the students that they can go at their own pace and finish the course in as little as 3 months, or in 36 months. The catch: In order to advance to each new chapter and take the required open book quiz, they must pay $245. The total cost of the program is $35,000.00.
There is no campus, everything is done online. If the poor people who sign up with them are somehow able to pay for their chapters, they will also "place" them in a job while they study and complete the course. These people are led to believe that they'll be placed in an externship program where they will acquire the skills necessary to break into their particular field of study. The truth is that all that Universalcareers will do is scour the craigslist and hotjobs listings in the respective student's area and send them these "leads" so that they may apply themselves and settle for whatever entry level type jobs are available.
Red flags all over the place. Needless to say, I did not accept this "job" offer. The make-shift office, the absolute lack of professionalism, their false promises and premises under which they operate are completely deplorable. The fact that they don't have a landline phone in the office is enough to make one wonder what they're hiding from. Why are they using prepaid cell phones? I thought the only people who used these communications devices were motorcycle gangs! Oh and wait for this... They have no way of securing the information of the people who trust them with their social security number, Driver's license, credit card and bank account numbers. This data was scattered throughout their "offices", scribbled on pieces of paper and saved on Excel spreadsheets on their computers. I've never been at a place where such liberties are taken with sensitive and personal information.
Bottom line people: Stay away from this place. See for yourself, try contacting them and ask for names (not aliases), their roles in the "school", then check with your state to see if they are in fact accredited as they imply that they are. They are counting on P.T. Barnum's legendary statement that "A sucker is born every minute." Don't be one.
