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St. Cloud State University
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Philip Morris visits SCSU
By Natasha Warzecha
Published:
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Media Credit: Ching Fung
Mark Crichton, district manager of Philip Morris, spoke to students interested in territory sales manager positions in Atwood.
Philip Morris U.S.A. held an informational session Tuesday evening in Glacier Room North in Atwood Memorial Center.
About 20 people gathered to listen to employees of Philip Morris U.S.A. speak about the territory sales manager and summer internship positions. The company held the session to recruit future employees for the upper Midwest region of the country; screening interviews and the initial interview for the position were held Wednesday in the Career Services Center to follow the presentation.
"I've heard a lot about Philip Morris. I know people who work for Philip Morris. It's a good company to work for when you're a struggling graduate looking for a job," said Chris Wenda, who graduated from SCSU the summer of 2001 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications.
A territory sales manager would be in charge of a geographic area that handles about 120 retail/wholesale accounts; these stores would generate about $5 million worth of product sales each year. Base salary for this position is about $40,500 for a first-year employee with a 4 percent increase in salary every six months; employees are provided with a company car, computer and many other benefits.
"If you're doing the right things, maintaining your job, you're going to get that 4 percent," said Dawn Lupcke, unit manager for Philip Morris U.S.A. "My job as manager is to help you succeed. I want to help you and pick your brain - to get you on the right path for success," Lupcke said.
The company was optimistic about positions within their company being open when students graduate this winter and this spring. "There's always movement. We always have people getting promoted," Lupcke said. Mark Crichton district manager for Philip Morris U.S.A. talked about how the company over-hires if there is an individual they feel would be an asset to the company. "We just don't want to lose you to another company until you see what we have to offer," Crichton said.
The ethical issue of working for a tobacco company was also brought up at the session. "What people say about us is not us," Crichton said. He spoke about the major changes that Philip Morris U.S.A. has made in their advertising to avoid targeting youth. "The only advertising now is advertising with price on it or in tobacco departments. You have to look over the counter, behind the clerk," said Crichton, about advertisements in public places. The company has also stopped advertising on items such as clocks where people may be forced to look at them, Crichton said.
"What bothers me is the declining industry . . . job stability," said marketing major Kaylene Hansen. Philip Morris U.S.A.'s growth is declining slowly at 1 to 1.5 percent decreases each year. This is partly due to non-smoking campaigns and some cities outlawing smoking in public altogether.
Crichton did not think that future employees of the company should be worried about the sales decrease. "Coffee's down three times as much as cigarettes," Crichton said. He also doesn't totally disagree with laws against public smoking. "Nonsmoking in restaurants is probably the right thing to do. You should be able to eat a hamburger without smelling smoke," Crichton said.
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