False Jobs

FALSE JOBS
One day I received a letter from a company called Vector Marketing. It read that their student placement office was looking for qualified applicants to place in positions pertaining to their major. The letter was vague as to the nature of the positions, just the mentioning of sales and customer service, so, being a college student, I called for a little more information. I was given what sounded like a prepared statement, “The opportunity for one on one interaction with customers. No telemarketing, no door to door sales.”
Curious, I called to arrange an interview. What I found in this office building was a room packed with students my age. Apparently lots of these letters had gone out. The interview came in the form of more of a group presentation, where I found that the job I was seeking was in fact no job at all.
What I had been asked to join was a money making opportunity to sell Cutsco Knives with appointment based (household) visits. I would be given the opportunity to hassle my friends and family; I would get to bother people who didn’t want to be bothered.
You may have noticed that a recent and quite appalling trend with such business opportunities is touting them around as actual jobs. The job web sites and job fairs are all full of this trash.
Take a look through the help wanted section of any newspaper and you are sure to find “Make $2000 a week from home! Part, or full time!”
I’ve never accepted a job where the interviewer then said “Okay, now all we need is $250 to get you started and your signature here saying that you promise to buy $100 of product a month.”
It is totally deceitful to promote an opportunity as legitimate employment to people who are looking for immediate income to support themselves and their families. I’ve even heard of companies targeting campaigns like this in areas where there are plant closings and high unemployment rates. This practice to me, is borderline fraud.