Unusual student job

The chalk markings all over campus are recruiting  not for a club or fraternity, but for cool students to do easy work. Workforstudents.com directs you straight to the website for Vector, the company famous for selling Cutco knives. A sleek and streamlined webpage lures you in with phrases like “flexible scheduling,” “no experience required” and “up to $20 an hour,” leaving students wondering what the catch is.

Vector has always been popular among high school and college age students for their emphasis on giving you easy, fast money. Their hook is that they require all student sales representatives to go through three half-day training sessions, then send them out into the field. These training sessions give the students the fundamentals of the business how to set up appointments, explain products, encourage sales and create interpersonal connections.

Many students are naturally weary of making cold-calls or door-to-door sales, but the company actually discourages this. In order to foster an atmosphere of confidence and comfort, the sales representatives start selling to only friends and family. From there, they get recommended to people, slowly expanding their sphere of influence.

Sophomore Evelyn Tews has been working with Vector since June. She originally heard about the company through a random mailing she received. Like most others, she was lured in by the idea of $16 an hour with no experience required. She called the number, went in for an interview and was hired as a sales representative. From there, she set up appointments and started making sales. Naturally a shy person, she had a bit of trouble initiating appointments and conversations with customers, but she says the training sessions really helped her feel more comfortable.

“It’s a good opportunity for people our age. Vector’s unique because you can actually focus on your own personal growth, because you only get out what you put in,” Tews said.

Tews, who only works as a sales rep over the summer, loves the flexibility of being able to return to her job over school breaks. She also notes that the company is flexible too, employing primarily young people.

They have a policy of promoting from within, and would rather train a sales representative to be a manager than to hire an outsider. The students are given freedom to apply to management positions at any time, so it’s completely common for Tews to see authority figures in the company who haven’t reached the age of 20 yet. She enjoys working with college kids, because she thinks that since students are so used to learning, they pick up training quickly and easily. Tews herself is training to be an assistant manager next summer, which involves weekly conference calls with her current boss. Noting all of the advantages of a flexible company and good base pay, she says she has learned a lot about starting conversations, selling products and overall confidence.