“When something seems too good to be true, it usually is.” I’m not sure who was the first person to use that phrase, maybe a caveman talking to another caveman about a cavewoman he saw, or the dinosaur to his dinosaur friend about the meteor coming straight for the earth. Whoever said it, the statement is extremely true when it comes to job postings. Though there’s probably thousands of scam job postings online, these 3 are pretty popular ones that you should BEWARE of before applying:
- Sports-Minded Marketing Representative
- Manager-in-Training
- Advertising Representative
Now while these posting titles may vary slightly on various sites or depending on the company who posts them, be very clear about one thing, you should proceed with extreme caution before applying to any of these roles. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t people who have applied for these roles in the past and have actually liked and succeeded at these jobs, but what I am saying is that they may not be what you imagine them to be. Let’s go through them and get an idea of what they are really all about.
Sports-Minded Marketing Representative: Read that one out loud….read it again….What does Sports-Minded Marketing Representative actually mean? Someone who has sports in mind when they are in the marketing department? Is it a job for a sports related company? Seems intriguing right. Well if you read through the posting you’ll most likely get these types of terms.
Entry Level
No Experience Necessary
Drive, passion for success
These are all interesting words for someone who likes sports (which is a majority of the country) and may be just coming out of college, or looking to make a career change. The problem is, it’s very, very vague. Even worse? If you try and look up the company, they are most likely not on a site like Glassdoor.com and probably have a very generic looking company page with stock photos that actually probably look like the ones on my blog (hey they’re free don’t judge me). If you’re running a legitimate company though, it’s probably a good idea to have real photos of real people that work at your company. The bottom line is, there are enough red flags before you even apply to the job that should send you away from the posting. If you do decide to apply, be ready for a pretty quick call back and someone wanting to set you up on an interview like the next day. Again for someone just coming out of college or making a career change this can seem exciting, but trust me, you don’t want to waste your time.
Manager-In-Training: This job posting is as vague as it gets, but hey, everyone wants to be a Manager right? Especially one that doesn’t need any experience and can get trained immediately. These could fall under various industries from financial to restaurant to hospitality to just about anything. Again, could Applebees be hiring a Manager that they are willing to train with no experience? Possibly, at this point some restaurants are literally hiring people with the only qualification being that they need a pulse since there are such a shortage of workebrs. But if you are reading this job posting and something feels off, it probably is. Most jobs don’t just bring you on and train you to become a Manager. It usually takes a while to work your way up the ladder no matter what the industry. A job posting that seems to be offering a shortcut to people with no experience should raise some suspicion.
Advertising Representative I will admit, this is a tricky one. There are certainly many people out there that are actual Advertising Representatives with legitimate companies. The make or break is once again going to be in the job description. Is experience required or are they hiring anyone? What are the roles and responsibilities for the position. Real jobs have real information. Scam jobs have vague information. If you are on the fence, look up the company name. That will really help give you clarity.
The reason the 3 job postings above are ones you should beware of are because they do the old bait and switch technique. You think you’re applying for a job where they want to utilize your great “sports-mind” but really, you’ll wind up going door-to-door and selling knives all day and the only sports involved are getting an insane leg work out from all of your walking. Remember, if something doesn’t feel right move on. Normal, legit companies usually wait at least, AT LEAST a few hours before they contact you about a role. Many of the postings above will literally contact you right away. They can wind up being major time wasters and derail you from searching for actual jobs. If you’ve run into any of these, definitely let me know in the comments section, I’d be curious to hear your stories.
The Workin' Parent 