The Vulnerable Graduate

It's no rare occurrence, yet it makes you feel embarrassed and singled out. This story is a warning to check your facts before applying for a job. I have fallen for it and so have many others. But what, you may ask, is it?

I'll give you an example.

I graduated the summer of July 2019 with a good degree in English Literature. This was an exciting time for me - I was going into the 'real world'. Sure, I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I would surely find something within a month or two . . .

Months passed with no success. My heart slowly sunk as I compared myself to friends, family, and fellow graduates. Why was nothing coming up? During university, I had made sure to keep up extra-curricular activities and work experience to increase my employability. I wasn't unaware of how hard getting a job could be, but apparently my hopes were still too high. Perhaps, I found myself thinking, there's something wrong with me. By that point I'd had a few scattered interviews, but to no avail.

Then, like a shining beacon of light, came the company. I have no intention of naming them or pointing fingers; I hope only that the shame of their actions shall outweigh the hypnosis of quick cash in exchange for people’s livelihoods. The company came to me the day after my application to their role. I had checked it out beforehand, a junior-marketing assistant role, and it seemed perfect. They would train you on the job, they understood that you may not have the relevant experience, and they would help you every step of the way. Waking up to such a fast response saying 'we would really like to talk with you about a possible interview' was a ray of light among the constant cloud of rejections.

I called back. The person I spoke to was not only cheerful and welcoming, but seemed genuinely enthusiastic about my response. They explained the role to me. It was marketing, shadowing various individuals from different departments until you could run your own marketing campaigns supporting your clients. I remember thinking, 'wow, this sounds perfect!'. We organised an interview for the next day and that was that.

My mum, always the wise one, came to me an hour later. She'd done some looking around and had found some rather suspicious looking reviews. People had been posting that it wasn't what it advertised. ‘It wasn't marketing’, she had said, 'it was door-to-door sales.' I remember telling her she was wrong. I'd checked online, you see, and the reviews had been outstanding. Mum was always a worrier; it was probably nothing.

I spent the day in a state of bliss, gathering my documents and preparing for interview questions. I'd agreed to see my best friend that afternoon, before she went back to university. We met for a walk down the beach, where I exclaimed how excited I was for this opportunity.

'Have you checked Glassdoor for possible interview questions?' she had asked.

I had not. This was my mistake. I watched as she prepared to play interviewer, looking up the company for potential interview questions. Something about her face had seemed off, concerned perhaps.

'The reviews aren't great,' she admitted with a frown. 'People are saying it's door-to-door sales, although it's advertised as marketing.'

My heart dropped as mum's words came back to haunt me. I pulled out my phone and started looking myself. Glassdoor was a lifesaver. I'm not one for five-star reviews, but I noticed a pattern with the ones I read. In the cons section was the same sentence on repeat, word-for-word as if scripted. It was either ‘the parking's not great’ or ‘the office is a little small’. Despite this, it was the negative reviews which made me realise something wasn't right.

They'd written 'it's a scam', 'it is door-to-door sales', 'they advert is a lie', and 'it's entirely commission based'. At this point I'd started to get worried. Slowly this seemingly-perfect job was unravelling before my very eyes. People were writing how they showed up to the interview, only to be going door-to-door for seven hours in a sort of 'training exercise'. This wasn't my dream job; it was a nightmare come to life.

I remember asking my parents what I should do. Should I not turn up or should I go? I decided to go, to get the interview experience, but still my mind could not stop its anxious pacing. In the end, I chose to call them. It wasn't too late, and I would be able to politely ask whether the role was what they claimed. This was not something I particularly wanted to do, but it would either annul my fears or confirm them.

My fears were not negated. What had been advertised as a marketing role with training was actually a door-to-door selling role with no secure salary. I felt embarrassed as I cancelled the interview: 'I don't want to waste your time.'

(I don't want you to waste my time any more than you already have.)

Upon telling my family and friends of the situation, I was stunned to learn that my experience was not an uncommon one. Most people I talked to suggested that they had been through something similar themselves, or knew somebody who had. Multiple people had attended interviews advertised as something else, only to spend hours of the day going up to houses and selling products that they knew nothing about. It perplexes me that there are companies not only exploiting graduates (and others in similarly vulnerable positions), but also knowingly manipulating the truth to pull people into their web.

This experience was not a fun one, and I find myself once again in a state of despair and anger that I was taken in by such a scam. I implore that others do their research before attending an interview or applying to a job. Glassdoor is a great place to check what people have been saying about companies. Look for clues in what's being written. Are the cons all suspiciously similar? Are there a lot of bad reviews? If so, are all the bad reviews saying the same thing? Are they warning you that the company is not what it says it is? If you think this may be the case, or are unsure, a polite phone call to check on your findings is never a bad idea. I will be contacting LinkedIn about the misleading advert. This experience was upsetting for a number of reasons, and I hope that my advice means that others are less likely to be subjected to it.