Against my better judgment, I agreed to 'interview' with the 'director of human resources' at S n E Associates. The office was generic, and the women at the reception desk was the one who interviewed me. I answered a questionnaire about what I wanted to accomplish by when. I tried not to roll my eyes, but my curiosity got the better of me. So I completed the survey and handed it in with my resume.

The receptionist promptly escorted me to her office - a young girl who looked like she was playing dress-up in mommy's ill-fitting suit jacket. She asked a bunch of standard questions to which there could not be a right answer. As I spoke, she circled things on my resume and made notes in the margin. A less experienced person might have believed she really knew what she was doing.

I tried to get some concrete answers out of her as to whom exactly I would be working for, but my questions were met with scripted, vague answers that left me more confused than before. She spewed a laundry list of 'clients', like AT&T, Google, blah, blah, blah. Did she really expect anyone to believe that huge companies like that would pay for marketing from a company in a little, dark office with nary a plant to be found and where the receptionist does the interviewing?

Don't be fooled by this - or any other - marketing company that rattles off big name corporations. Follow your instincts, and don't waste your time.