• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Menz Magazine / Ocean Drive

shelagh

Dear fellow writer.
Approach MountReal, publishers of Menz Magazine and Ocean Drive with caution.

I've just finished two interviews with MountReal for a chief editor position on Menz Magazine. They initially posted a job for an editor, full time, permanent. The job kept changing with sales finally being added. Before I could progress to the next interview they demanded I donate four articles to their websites. When I refused to give my work away I was told I would not be getting another interview and would lose a chance at the job.

This company also has two job postings on the Government of Canada job website (www.jobbank.gc.ca):
1. Writer, Offer N° : 0159897 SERVICES MOUNT REAL INC. - mountreal.com

2.Writer, Offer N° : 0159894 SERVICES MOUNT REAL INC. - mountreal.com

They are asking for writers with a university education who are fully bilingual in French and English with experience in the fashion industry who LOVE to write (plus do administrative duties). The salary: $9 per hour (that's $9 Canadian which is $5 American).

Most of their articles are used in both magazines. I doubt they paid the writer each and I suspect they are pulling the same scam with other writers as they tried to pull with me. Approach this company with caution. At best they are cheap amateurs trying to get rich at the expense of writers. At worst they are posting jobs as a lure to get free copy for their websites and magazines.

Beware! Keep writing.

Regards,
Shelagh McNally
 

theresajames

i agree

I couldn't agree with you more. I have a friend who briefly worked there and was astounded to learn of all the underhandedstuff that went on. In fact, this friend was so shy, he/she didn't even want to come forward here..



Beware of them and do not work for them, you will be comprimising your sole and be made to lie....
 

bentbrains

Men(Z)??????????

They can't even spell Mens right. Wow! They really do need an editor, don't they??????;) Seriously, a chief editor for $5 an hour? You get paid better at Mac Donalds:coffee and probably have more time to work on your own craft!!!:party
 

Luckless

Goodbye Mount Real, Menz magazine and Overture

Don't know if you remember a post a while back about Mount Real Corporation in Canada, and their magazines, Menz and Overture. There was a warning about their job interview process and low pay.

Well, I had a friend who worked there, and he/she said something very, very dodgy was going down. The editor was never there, and they were putting their adverts in for free. Their readership was audited by another company inside the corporation. They pretended they were selling 80,000 copies every quarter. It turned out they had no readers. In fact, they hardly ever produced a magazine. When they did, it was mostly copied from syndicates, and was locked in a garage to be sent to recycling. Meanwhile, the corporation raised millions from investors, who in turn got tax breaks from the provincial government.

Surprise, surprise, the corporation had been shut down by the Quebec fraud squad. One of their companies has been caught with 65 million dollars of unregistered shares. The investors are reeling. Aren't you glad you never worked there?

Here's the link to a fraud squad press release:
http://www.lautorite.qc.ca/salle-de-presse/communiques-presse/2004/communique-4871/en/Comm23nov2005-MountReal-ang.pdf