Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

The high point of my Abercrombie & Fitch career, a part I've never addressed in any great detail, was the "recruiting." I would put on some layers and set up in the Streets of Southpoint food court area, approaching various "collegiate" and "quality" teens

I would approach these teens and, after telling them I found them to be "collegiate" and "quality," try to coerce them into accepting a minimum wage folding job as a "brand rep" in exchange for some 50% discounts on a limited number of "seasonal items"

I was told to approach "tanned" and "blonde" teens, so that was where I concentrated the majority of my efforts. Eventually I stopped trying to recruit female brand reps because that was very creepy, and made me extremely uncomfortable at age 20.

So I began focusing exclusively on tanned teen men, "ephebes" if you will, and actually was pretty successful at convincing these teens to work a few shifts before quitting or getting fired for stealing.

Being the guy who was out there in the food court 2-3 days a week recruiting "ephebes" was not a good look. In addition to all the other awful things about A&F, which I've addressed elsewhere, this was very uncomfortable but I volunteered for it bc it got me out of the store