What have I gotten myself into now

I love it when companies phone up offering me a job. I love the thought of there being someone out there who has read my CV, liked what they saw and wants me to join them. So when such a phonecall comes through offering me an interview, I jump at the chance, put on my bestest suit, tell everyone on twitter that I finally have an interview and head to the underground station.

So, Friday I get the phonecall and email from TFTA, god knows where they got my CV from, I've been spunking it out all over the internet for months, but hey, they want me.

It was only a few minutes before the interview today that I bothered checking them up on t'internet, google lead me to this helpful blogpost:-

Yesterday I received a call from The Financial Training Academy asking me whether I was looking for a job. They claimed that I needed no experience and that they would train me up to be a mortgage consultant. Sounding more than a little fishy, but being the hopeful graduate that I am, I organised a meeting for the next day at their supposed office at 4 Frederick’s Place, Old Jewery, Bank. On the phone, they offer you training and what seems to be the offer of a job lined up at the end. However, after a cursory google of their company and glimpse of their site, I discovered that it was a scam. They set up fake interviews and promise you false job posts.

I shrugged and walked in anyway.

I smiled, filled in the forms, signing whatever's put in front of me, notice the herds of attractive young ladies who worked there at the TFTA office at 4 Frederick's Place, off Old Jewry, near Bank Station in The City of London. I scribbled in my pocketbook that this seems to be the office for several similarly named companies:-

• The Financial Recruitment Academy
• The Financial Training Academy
• The Business Development Academy
• The Technology Recruitment Academy
• The Technology Training Academy
• Academies International
• The Vocational Training Academy

Then I emerged an hour later, sweating in my suit, clutching a piece of paper that appears to have signed me up to £12,000 worth of debt, an enrollment folder and a book about the A+ certification

I can't help but feel that £12,000 is an awful lot of money that I don't have right now and would rather not be saddled with such a debt, I'm going to have to phone up and cancel all this.

Scam.com has a bit of a write up about the organisation, saying its the same mob who were covered in this Guardian article.

I'm not saying that any of Academies International's activities are a scam, it could be a very effective way to skill yourself up to a high level that's worth paying £9,000 for, and the guarantee of a job at the end of it well, under the current ecomonic climate, it might be worth it.

Although I wonder what that guarantee entails, do you get your money back if there's no job? Or do they just default and give you a job themselves? Going by the testimonials on the website, written by the people who actually work there, the answer is probably

I tried looking into what jobs were on offer, the woman in the interview, just said they were with "some very big companies," which sounds great, that's the sort of company I want to work for, very big ones. But without any actual company names to go on, I took to the internet.

This piece from the Mortgage Introducer looked promising.

Premier Network Group (PNG) has entered into a partnership with The Financial Training Academy (TFTA) to help bolster the mortgage sector.

PNG will be working with the Academy to help mould its training systems so that students are equipped with the most relevant skills to deal with today's evolving market place.

Sadly Premier Network Group went into liquidation in May, so its not that promising.

Homph, I understand there's a website out there for reviewing educational establishments and training facilities, there was some news story about how it was just used by schoolkids for abusing their teachers, but I think in this instance, it would be a little useful for validating whether £12,000 is good value for the service provided.