Over the weekend I got my resume out to dozens and dozens of job sites and boards and services, etc. And I'm now getting some responses, which vary from outright MLM pitches to things that at least sound legit. I had a call this morning from a "Bankers Life and Casualty Co." which was purporting to want to interview me tomorrow for an "executive position". I say "OK" and start to look them up on the web. Needless to say, it's never a good sign when the first few things I see on Google include the word "scam".
It's too bad to find that the company that funded the MacArthur Foundation has ended up like this.
Given the company's history (and it seems to be a part of a big insurance conglomerate) I'm very tempted to give them a chance, but there are red flags everywhere on this. The main HQ for the company is actually in my neighborhood, but I'm being asked to come to a small suite in a non-descript office building out in Des Plaines. The stuff I'm reading on-line talks about these high-pressure "group interviews" (that nobody is told is for a group until they get there), that once you're "hired" you have PAY for your training and then PAY for your state accreditation, and that the jobs involved are "boiler room" sales positions. And, to top it off, there is NO WAY to contact the company ... I just spent the better part of an hour between various phone numbers and web sites, NONE of which will let you get through without entering a policy number (or putting you name on a contact list for a sales call). The number I was given on the phone goes to an obvious "call center" and I got transferred to a full box. With all these factors, I can't see spending the time and/or money to put myself through what is very very likely to be a bogus interview.
It really pisses me off that folks try to take advantage of the desperation of the job seeker to hook them into what is clearly a scam. But, i guess there are enough people that fall for the "Nigerian Scam" that it shouldn't surprise me that that a lot of folks fall for these much more subtle (if less costly) sleazy hoaxes!