Flyers advertising "Students Wanted! High Pay Opportunities! Great Experience!" can be spotted throughout campus. These seemingly dream jobs claim benefits like high pay with few and flexible hours.
Though the flyers may be abundant, the information on them often is not. Usually, there is a phone number and recorded message for students to listen to.
Marketing Professor Alan Dick sheds some light on what students might expect should he or she apply to one of the advertised companies.
"Most of them sound like a pyramid scheme," said Dick. "They say that you'll make a lot of money for just using the computer or stuffing envelopes. But the reality is that the only people making money are the people who placed the ad."
Junior business major Katie Hamilton said she dismisses almost everything she sees regarding these dream jobs.
"Immediately, I think it's a scam. I mean, I know friends who have done it, and it definitely isn't worth it," she said. "And have you ever seen those offers written in the corners of the blackboard? I mean, who actually takes the time to write all that?"
Joe LaTorre, an international business major said he once followed through and set up an interview with one of the companies.
"I saw an ad that said I could get paid $15 per hour. It said 'no telemarketing, flexible hours, and college students wanted.' So I called the number and the person told me that they had one interview spot left at 6 p.m. that Friday," said LaTorre.
When LaTorre showed up, he said, the interview was not what he expected.
"The place I went to was in an office behind a shopping center. It gradually filled up to about 25 people, all of who were told that they filled the last spot on Friday at 6 p.m. And no one knew exactly what the company did, exactly," he said. "Eventually, a guy came out, and said that he was going to conduct a 'group interview' with everybody at the same time. I couldn't believe how shady this place was."
According to LaTorre, the representative gave an hour and a half sales pitch trying to convince the applicants they could make a fortune selling knives, after which, "almost everybody got up and walked out," said LaTorre.
Students can get a better idea of how some of the advertised companies work by going to the Web sites posted on the advertisement.
"This site does not contain a bunch of hype trying to convince you that you'll become a millionaire overnight . This is a serious business opportunity with unmatched potential and we are only accepting serious people truly ready for a positive change," states one such Web site, www.MakeMoneyWhileGoingToSchool.com.
Excel Vartec, a communication company, advertises that students can "Make money when (their) phone rings," then gives a phone number. The three-minute recording about the benefits of working for the company does not exactly say what the company does, except that they implement the "friends referring friends" system.
Students are quick to question how reliable these companies are.
"It just doesn't seem believable," said junior Emily Flaum, a health and human services major. "In real life you have to work to make money, and door-to-door or telemarketing just doesn't seem to be a real way to make that much money."
Students are not the only people who are cynical about these job opportunities.
"This is something that most people in marketing do not condone. It's really just people taking advantage of other people, which has been going on forever," said Dick.
