There are plenty of shady or manipulative employers looking
for new unsuspecting candidates to sell an awful product or service. You can
save yourself some time by weeding out these dead-end jobs right away. Here are
some red flags to look for while searching for opportunities in the paper or
online:
1) The ad sounds like an infomercial. The language says it
all. “Our business has been growing by over 100% every month” or “You can’t
afford to miss out on this business opportunity” Those pitches may work well
for some stackable Rubbermaid product, but not for your career.
2) The company will be holding an “information session” held
in some dingy hotel conference room. Same thing as an infomercial except you
get a free pen and waste two hours of your time.
4) The salary is commission only. Do not even consider this
option unless you are in a financial position to forego a steady salary for a
while. While some commission only jobs can work, and are standard in some
industries, you really have to do your homework.
If you decide to meet with this company, bring a list of specific
questions to the meeting. Most importantly, meet with people who have recently
come on board and find out how successful they have been, and determine the
biggest challenges in the beginning. Put yourself in the customers shoes and
have them respond to every hole you can find in the product/service (better
yet, run the idea through colleagues prior to your meeting). If they can’t
answer all of those questions (you should have a comprehensive checklist)
convincingly, don’t bother wasting your time.
5) The same job is posted every week. This could mean the
place is a revolving door. After a few weeks, new employees leave after
recognizing there’s no compelling product or service.
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