SMS.ac / FanBox

I applied for this job at the end of July and heard back from a guy named Ahmed, he asked I take a standard graphics test to see if my skills are up to par. I was actually happy they did this to avoid getting any candidate who may not be up to par. Anyway, I send in the test and that was the last I heard. Emailed again two weeks later, and no response so I wrote off the job as "I am not good enough" and left it at that. Cut to ONE MONTH later and I get a response from another person named Vera. She tells me that they reviewed my test and liked what they see and would like to do a phone interview. I agree and we have our interview. The interview was a very standard HR type interview, "what is your best quality, what do you do when you are challenged etc." She said she will call me by the end of the week, the interview happened on Wednesday. Friday came and went and no response.

Monday arrives, and I get a call from Vera (no apology for not getting back to me), saying they would like to do an in person interview on Thursday. I agreed, and we lined up a time for me to interview. They inform me where to park (at my expense) and told me to show up 15 minutes in advance. I do this and show up at the correct time and meet up with Vera. Vera walks me into a room and then asks if i need anything and tells me she will be right back. Thinking that I would interview with more than just her and she would be getting maybe my new boss or co-worker she arrives back with my water and a clipboard, no other employee. Interview was pretty much the same interview I did with her on the phone and we talked about standard HR business questions. That interview ends and she informs me that there is a presentation about the history of the company that will happen in another room with another HR person.

The presentation was interesting, they went over the history of the previous company SMC.AC, the ups and downs of staring a company, .com bust etc. From there they go into the history of fanbox.com, how/why it started, what they do, what their plan is. The guy who was speaking seemed nice enough, very into what he was doing and drank a ton of rockstar. The presentation ends and we ask a couple questions, he then proceeds to talk about how the "joke of the day" texts are still going on (I guess a product that SMC.AC made a lot of money with back in the day) and opens up his phone and tells us a joke he got from a friend. The joke was not only not funny, but really inappropriate to tell. He got a good laugh out of it, and the candidates who were in the room with me chuckled awkwardly. Shortly after that, he let us know that there is yet another interview after this one.

I met with a girl who walked me to another room where I waited (for what I thought would be either my boss, or someone in P-Dev department) and I got neither. Turns out he is in tech, and he asked me a series of questions mostly pertaining to how I do in certain situations (which was asked previously by the first HR lady) and also mentioned that this company is a "startup" and there is a chance of not getting paid due to this reason. Also, asked about my general work ethic, how I felt about long hours and asked to see some of my other websites I have designed.

So after 2.5 hrs of interviewing, it was finally over and I could go home.

Overall, I felt the place had a very odd energy, very vacant building (from my understanding they went from 200 people to 50), and on top of that, I never saw anyone working, (I arrived at lunch time but left much later than lunch, and the building didn't feel our sound any more full). After the interview I did more research on the history of the company, the jobs etc, and I came to the conclusion to not take the position, mostly due to the reviews, the working hours (one HR guy said 55+ average work week), and the possibility that there is no pay because this company is a "startup". Which is odd, since they have been around for quite some time now.

Dude --- I worked there for almost 3 years and am a stockholder and the reason you think its S***** is because you did not get an offer. How can one possibly know how good/bad it is if they have never worked there? I can speak to it because I did.

What a bad part of human nature to criticize something vs. looking inwards at yourself. There are positives and negatives there for sure. I have never worked somewhere were everything was PERFECT --- that is why they call it work. If you want an enclosed/protective environment, I suggest going back to school. If someone finds such a place, let me know. I can ensure you that serving slurpees is not the answer.

I interview with them on May 2008. They hold something called Open House. When I get there, I am totally regret. The company looks like shit, the office looks broken, and the working environment is horrible. I don't get job there, because I really dislike the environment, and what they do (eg. SPAM). They only pay the airplane ticket for me to get there, but I must pay the ticket by myself when I fly home. It is different what they said before I came to there. I sent E-Mail to recruiter, and never got any response back. I strongly suggest people don't interview with this company, because they are doing things wrong. Also don't believe what recruiters say, because those are bullshit. Working in the 7-11 will be better than woring in this shitty company.

Getting a interview invitation back to July 2008, I rejected it b/c they didn't want to pay my air/hotel up-front. After a phone call, I was convinced by the recruiter. Anyway, I didn't get the job b/c I didn't like the company and its interview process. However,****be aware***** SMS.ac didn't reimburse my expense (even at this moment Sept 2008) but send me a Promissory Note in a term of 1 year. What I can sure is......if you didn't get a job, you maybe not have your reimbursement back. Be selective, guys. Of course, I totally agreed the posts right here, it is just the truth about this "Bad Apple".

On average I made far less than min. wage. My manager was probably stoned and weird as hell. Plus he yelled at one of my coworkers for yawning one morning. What do they expect when you have to work 12 hours a day for basically no pay? The ceo was on cocaine I'm convinced. He would rant for hours about the company and yell at everyone but he doesn't know what he's talking about at all.

They are so tricky, they tell you that you will get paid $50,000 but then they can't even give you one paycheck in full. Stay away from these a$$holes!

Oh man, this place is such a nightmare! I worked in recruiting, so I can tell you from the inside just how terrible their HR process is. The VP, Ken, and the CEO (along with the rest of the leadership) are some of the biggest bigots ever to walk the earth.

No one wants to work at this awful sweatshop because their reputation is so terrible, so they decided to set up a telemarketing style recruiting system to call and email thousands of college students all over the country, hoping to scam a few poor fools into flying themselves out to San Diego to interview. A bunch of people fell for it, thinking they would get paid back. Needless to say, FanBox will never pay them back.

Then, the really unlucky ones were offered jobs and spent money out of their own pockets to move all their belongings across the country to San Diego, and FanBox then informed them that they would not be able to AFFORD THEIR PAYROLL!

The list goes on and on, which is why I quit. This place is awful, and you should not apply, no matter how desperate you are for a job.

The culture was so contrived, we actually had do these stupid cheers every morning in the office like it was a high school pep rally or something. And if you didn't get excited enough in the cheers, you were considered a "bad apple." Seriously! The place is a total cult run by a bunch of crooks who don't actually know anything about business. They cling to a few lines they memorized from management books and repeat them over and over but don't actually how to execute on any of their supposed strategies.

That really happened. The CEO took a group of Managers to Europe on the company's dime and on the same day told the rest of us that there would be no money for payroll (yet again).

Not only that, but there was constant yelling. My manager was Ken, and he was one of the top abusers/ manipulators in the company.

I bounced after a couple months and can't believe this company still manages to limp along. You would think someone in the top ranks would figure out that their concept sucks and decide to shut down, but no.

The pay suck and sometime no pay at all.
You get yell at constantly.
They tell you bunch of BS to make you feel like their doing good and someday your make a lot of money. That day will never come.
Thank god I did not waste more then a year there I would have never forgive myself.