Altig International

[Ajay]

Has anyone heard of this company? I received a voicemail from someone in their HR department saying she has my resume. I don't know how she got it because I do not remember applying at this place. I've never even heard of it before she called me.

Did a quick Google of it and apparently it's a pyramid scam. I just wanna know how they got my resume really.

[jedi]

The same thing happened to me. Do you have your resume on Monster?

[Ajay]

Yep I do I realized that's how they probably got it after I made this post.

Didn't bother calling them back and they haven't called me but from what I've found on the internet about this company is it's exactly like a pyramid scam. I don't want that.

[Shaolin]

yeah when I posted my resume a few years ago Primerica called me non stop..

[abyss]

I actually went to one of their meetings. :cry: and WFG, I'm just a sucker for punishment haha.

[TheWholeTruth]

I won't go as far as to say that Altig International (American Income Life) is a "scam" but I will say this: Partial truth is not really truth - it's nothing more than a lie in disguise.

I was a hiring manager for this company so not only am I familiar with the licencing/selling processes of this company, but I am also familiar with how/why people are hired and what they can expect along the way.

There ARE agents who are successful at Altig International (AIL). But I'm going to be REALLY upfront with you here about what it takes to be successful there. Then you decide for yourself with the whole truth........

The recruiting department of Altig International is nothing more than another sales department. We had quotas as to how many people we had to hire per week because we knew that: of the people we hired, less than half would make it through the licencing process; of the people who got their licence, less than half would get through the training process; of the people who made it through training ... maybe one, MAYBE two of them would be selling insurance with us for maybe the next year. This is not because these people were unintelligent, either. They had a lot of odds against them.......

As I said, I had a weekly hiring quota. Hiring Managers were promised commissions based on how many of our personal new hires made it through the entire process and actually made a sale. Problem was, you only began to earn commissions if you had two or three hires making their first sale at the same time. Well, let's just say, in the several months I was there, I never saw one dollar of commission. Never more than one hire got to their first sale at a time. In fact, most left the company before they even got to that point, or shortly after.

Here's why............

When I hired people, I had a few scripts to follow: one, the script I used to get them in the door; two, the script I used for the first interview, to make them feel important yet still question whether or not I wanted to hire them; three, the script I used during the second interview to convince them this was the opportunity of a lifetime; four, the final script I used in the third interview where I made them feel like they were the "cream of the crop", the "best of the best", and that this opportunity would not be given to just anyone.

Funny thing is, because of my quota, my sole purpose there was to hire as many people as I could - cream of the crop or not. I tried to hire everyone from teenagers working at McDonald's to geologists from other countries who could not get regular work due to immigration laws. I tried to hire everyone and anyone who would take the bait so that I would earn my own commissions (.......commissions I never did see. Did I mention that?).

I was upfront with my potential new hires about the fact that they would be expected to invest in their own licencing (buy their own books, pay for their own exams). I was upfront about the fact that they would be without an income during this licencing process, and during their subsequent training. I was upfront about the fact that it was a 100% commission position and they would not start seeing their first commission cheques until after they made their first sale. I would tell them, "Expect to be without an income for between 4 to 6 weeks. Then expect to start seeing a major income."

So, I was being partially upfront with them, yes. But here's the WHOLE truth that they didn't get upfront:

- VERY FEW people can make it through that licencing program in the 2-3 weeks the hiring managers tell them it takes. This is legitimate, heavy-duty study material. Most people will take twice that long to get through. Some won't pass the exam the first time, and will have to try to take it again (which adds another week onto the licencing process.)

- By this point, these people have been without an income for 6 or more weeks. Their bills are piling up, and the stress of those money struggles are piling up with them. But now that they've passed the licencing exam, they're expected to go without income for ANOTHER 4 weeks while they go through inhouse training with other agents.

- This job requires people to work evenings and weekends. It is not as flexible as hiring managers make it out to be in the initial interviewing process. Once you're licenced, the other agents will drive you to WORK, WORK, WORK, seven days a week. "Pay the price for success!" they'll tell you.

- But you're warn down by now. You're exhausted. You're not seeing much of your family because you're working really hard. You're also (presumably) behind in your bills because you went without an income for a couple of months.......AND, on top of that, all your expenses for this job (travel, gas, hotels, food, pens, paper) is coming out of your own pocket. Yes, all these expenses are tax deductible at the end of the year. But what good is that if you have no disposable income to feed your family during the year?

Here's the whole truth: There ARE people who succeed in this business. I've seen it myself. But those people are few and far between.

If you want to succeed at this, you have to make sure you have some kind of financial buffer to cover your ass while you're going through all this licencing and training. I would recommend that you have at least 5 to 6 months worth of income stashed away to support yourself because, don't kid yourself, that's how much you're going to need to get your business off the ground. (And how many of us have an extra six-month nestegg laying around that we're willing to possibly throw away on a job where a small percentage of the people hired actually stay?)

Another thing you have to be prepared for, if you want to succeed at this job, is that you will be WORKING seven days per week. Altig International (A.I.L.) will guilt you into believing that your job should be you're number one priority. You must give, give, give. You must be willing to "invest in yourself" to succeed. Funny thing is, though, they won't invest anything in you. They won't help to pay for your licencing, or pay you a small salary to get you through the training.

They want you to "invest in yourself" before you've seen tangible results. But they won't "invest in you" until you've shown them tangible results. That's the truth. (I already know how Altig International reps will counter this statement. They'll say, "We invest in our people by providing them with some leads and insurance forms." Well, here's what I say to that: that's not your investment in your people; that's simply your cost of doing business. It's a given that you should provide that to your people.)

Anyway, so, is it worth it? That's your decision. It certainly wasn't worth it for me. I found it all very hypocritical, to be honest with you. I came to a point where I felt sick to my stomach when I hired new people, because I feared I was setting them up for bankruptcy.

I saw MANY very professional, hard-working people leave that company in order to avoid personal bankruptcy. They walked out feeling terrible about themselves, feeling like they'd failed. I want them to know that they were not failures. NONE of them. They were all wonderful people who were not given the whole truth right from the start and then realized, a little too late, that a career with this company was not going to deliver what they had originally expected. They were human.

[hussein]

Wow. Great post.

Edit: Thats a great first post? :dunno:

[Whistleblower99]

A reporter with CTV National News, named Kathy Tomlinson, is looking for information from any Canadians who have experience with this company.
She is looking for someone with direct experience working for this company, who is willing to be interviewed on camera about their experience(s).
She can be reached at 416-313-2486
Or at [email protected]

Please reply ASAP as she is on deadline to do this story.

Please refer to the threads "American Income Life Is A Scam" and "American Income Life is a Fraud" on www.scam.com for more details.

[adam c]

i went through the whole interview process and conference

bah waste of time

[Mr. Younger]

Hi. I'm Marc Younger, I'm a Manager in AIL/Altig International. What disappoints me about most of these forum posts is that most of these people have never even tried the opportunity.

American Income Life (AIL) is not a scam, not a pyramid scheme, it's an insurance benefits company that is a fortune 500 subsidiary, works with 40,000 different unions across north america, and AIL has thousands of successful Agents, Supervisors, and Managers across North America and New Zealand.

I was working in a call center before AIL found me, and now I've got a sales team that works with me, and I will be opening an office of my own in the next couple months in south Montreal. I don't get what the fuss is all about.

Is it easy? No, you have to be good with people, disciplined about running your own small business. Just like in real estate, not everyone makes it big, but for those with perseverence and dedication do make a great living in this company, and there are many people to give you a helping hand along the way.

I work hard, but I'm paid well and I love what I do. I help families get the protection they need that their company fails to provide for them, and that the bank charges too much for.

It's that simple. These people that put bad reviews after just recieving an email and never actually giving it a shot is just dishonest.

[mekeni]

:dunno: :zzz: :zzz:

[drew_goring]

Originally posted by Mr. Younger
Hi. I'm Marc Younger, I'm a Manager in AIL/Altig International. What disappoints me about most of these forum posts is that most of these people have never even tried the opportunity.

American Income Life (AIL) is not a scam, not a pyramid scheme, it's an insurance benefits company that is a fortune 500 subsidiary, works with 40,000 different unions across north america, and AIL has thousands of successful Agents, Supervisors, and Managers across North America and New Zealand.

I was working in a call center before AIL found me, and now I've got a sales team that works with me, and I will be opening an office of my own in the next couple months in south Montreal. I don't get what the fuss is all about.

Is it easy? No, you have to be good with people, disciplined about running your own small business. Just like in real estate, not everyone makes it big, but for those with perseverence and dedication do make a great living in this company, and there are many people to give you a helping hand along the way.

I work hard, but I'm paid well and I love what I do. I help families get the protection they need that their company fails to provide for them, and that the bank charges too much for.

It's that simple. These people that put bad reviews after just recieving an email and never actually giving it a shot is just dishonest.

Knock Knock.








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FUCK OFF!:rolleyes:

[xxjessmicaxx]

I'm so happy I saw this forum! I was supposed to go there next week.

[Antonito]

I'm confused, do companies like this actually pay people to google search and join forums to make these "we're not as corrupt as everyone says" posts, or are these just super keeners?

[Trini]

waste of time