Stop! Before You Return That Call...

By Chris Souther

Let me preface this article by saying that I believe the Internet is the best, and the worst, thing to happen to the job market for as long as I can remember. Now, on with the show.

It’s hard to imagine job hunting before the Internet. After looking at the quality of job leads in my local newspaper, to think that people used to rely on the weekly rags for their primary source of job leads, is almost unthinkable. Oh I know that before the Internet, we all probably weren’t as lazy in regards to the job hunt as we are now. It’s so much easier to just fire up the old computer and log onto the fastest mega-behemoth job site rather than actually pounding the pavement and networking. Truth be told, I’ve been very successful with the former, not so much with the latter.

Considering its importance to the livelihood of the American economy and the amount of hope that the average job hunter pins on their ability to successfully use the Internet to find a job, it’s a shame there are those out there using the Internet in what can only be considered questionable means.

I recently finished my college degree after returning to school after many years of work. When it was time to start looking again for a job, I naturally posted my resume to some of the more popular sites I’ve used in the past. It wasn’t long before I was getting bites; but not all of them were the kind of bites you want to get, which is why I’m writing this article.

We’ve all heard of multi-level-marketing (MLM) companies. These are companies that rely on new sign-ups for their success. Someone signs you up, and preferably you pay for products or services. Then you sign up someone under you and the cycle continues until someone goes broke and drops out due to frustration. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure these organizations have their usefulness…somewhere…however; their usefulness should have nothing to do with the average job hunter.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who belong to these organizations, who use the open availability, and relative inexpensive nature, of the Internet to seek out vulnerable candidates to recruit. When they call, they may sound very professional. As more of these organizations become well-known for being largely scams, they might refer to their organization’s name by its initials, or in reference to another well-known company to lend them validity. Don’t be fooled.

Similar to MLMs are companies who profess to “coach” candidates for a fee. As more of these companies are relegated to working with non-execs, they too are using the Internet to find candidates. The problem is, their contacts are quite often veiled as job leads. I had one leave me a voice message saying their VP had asked her to call to set up an interview with them to see if I was a good candidate for their company. Legally, they said nothing wrong, but after researching their company before I called them back, something I suggest everyone do, I realized who and what they were. I then left them a little nasty-gram.

So, if anyone calls you in the guise of a job prospect, be wary of anyone asking you to come in for a presentation on their company, or who won’t give you an actual job title of the position they are contacting you about, be afraid. Be very afraid.

If you answer the telephone when they call, get as many details from them about the position as you can. If they leave you a voice mail or send an E-mail, look up their company on the Internet before you call them back.

It’s a sad thing that I even had to write this article, but it’s a reality we all need to be aware of. Perhaps by educating enough people, we can stop giving these organizations fodder for their continued existence.

Best of luck.

About the Author:

Chris Souther is a writer based just outside of Atlanta, Ga. When he's not fighting traffic or chasing his son around the house, he's...not doing much else. He used to enjoy woodworking, landscaping and fishing. For more information, you can view his not-oft-updated website at: www.mindspring.com/~csouther.