The representative from Beyond Barnard responded quickly and asked if I could give her a call. A copy of my original email is provided below: A screenshot of the email I sent to the Beyond Barnard office We asked the secretary at Beyond Barnard who to talk to about a career fair question and were provided the emails of the career fair managers. We knew we wanted to maintain respect-we weren’t going to walk into the office with an air of superiority and say, “Hey, there was a pyramid scheme at your career fair, by the way.” Instead, we were going to phrase it like a question: “Can you tell us how you think we should respond to this opportunity we were offered?” Then, we would weave in the facts of the matter. We agreed to go to the Beyond Barnard office to call attention to the fact that there was an MLM recruiting students on campus. Although we understood what Primerica’s motives were and didn’t plan on attending the workshop, we were concerned about the other students who went to the booth at the career fair. Sure enough, it was listed as a multi-level marketing company (and even hosts lavish conventions). I decided to check out their Wikipedia page. I scrolled down and found two additional testimonials: “No, Primerica is not an MLM.” and “No, Primerica is not a pyramid scheme.” Understanding the basic concept of rhetorical ethos, I knew I couldn’t trust this. The first thing that showed up on the “People also ask” section of Google was, “ Is Primerica a legitimate company?” The response that followed was, “ Yes, Primerica is a trustworthy company.” This answer was taken directly from the company’s website. Later that day, I looked up Primerica online.

How about career fairs at other schools? Or LinkedIn? There could be hundreds of people at this workshop, for all I knew. We got “interviews,” so it was reasonable to assume everyone else who went to the booth had the same outcome. I kept thinking about how many people would be there. My friend answered the call, though, and told me the representative wanted us to go to the downtown office from 7:30 to 8:30 pm the upcoming Tuesday night for a “workshop.” Workshop? Why call an interview a workshop? I didn’t have my phone on me, so it went straight to voicemail. Above all else, I think they were just happy that I got a real job interview.Ī day or two later, the same representative called my friend and I. Primerica is on the stock exchange, so they must be an actual insurance company. They said they thought it seemed legitimate. I later left the fair and told my parents about the encounter. I was happy for her, but still suspicious-is this company really giving out interviews to everybody who drops off a résumé? I assumed the representative was just lying to me or letting me down easy-she would probably never follow-up.Ī friend of mine, also a first-year, walked up to the booth, heard the same pitch, and was offered an interview. The promise of an interview was exciting, but a part of me knew it felt too good to be true. How many would that have been? I estimated it to be at least 50 other students. I thought about all the other people who must have come to that booth too. She took one glance at my résumé and agreed to interview me on the spot. I gave the representative my résumé, and she told me she’d call me in a few days to schedule a time to do an interview. Her words seemed slightly bombastic and vapid, but I accounted for that with my lack of concrete financial knowledge. I thought to myself: Wow, this company seems super cool! I would get to truly help people and change lives. She mentioned the prospect of flexible part-time work hours, which seemed perfect for a full-time college student. Primerica’s aim is to help ordinary people gain financial literacy and see past what regular insurance companies are telling them. She told me how most insurance companies aren’t transparent to their clients and lie to them about interest rates. She said Primerica was a company geared toward helping middle-income families learn how to manage their money. Their representative was a super friendly, bubbly woman who seemed to truly enjoy her job. When I was there, I stopped by a booth held by a company named Primerica.

On the first Friday of Fall 2022 classes, I went to the For-Profit Opportunities Fair hosted by Beyond Barnard, Barnard’s career center. I never would’ve thought taking down a multi-level marketing ploy would be on the agenda for my very first week of college!

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