<p>I started a thread over in the “Internships, Careers, and Employment” part of CC (which I just found out about this morning!) but you parents have always provided valuable information. DS just graduated from college and has finally started getting serious about looking for a job. I think his resume is out on m*nster.com and he’s been contacted by several companies about entry-level marketing jobs. The whole thing sounds fishy to me–not exactly sure why, other than I know he didn’t express any particular interest in marketing (he’s a Philosophy major) and they all sound pretty similar (“Come join our fun team!”) What do these places sell? What kind of compensation do they offer? My guess is it’s pretty much all commission? Does anybody succeed at these jobs? Advance? Make a real life?</p>
<p>Well, certainly many marketing jobs can be profitable for both the company and the employee! Yes, you can make a real life. 
But entry level means exactly that. And jobs really vary depending on the company. Are these “real” bricks and mortar companies? Just online stuff? Companies/products with a reputation? Is your son outgoing and a good communicator - verbally and on paper - does he show some gusto? These are some of the things to consider.</p>
<p>What kind of companies is he being approached by and/or interested in? Is he looking to make marketing a living or just a “stop” for now??? If he’s looking to make big bucks it certainly isn’t likely to happen right off the bat.</p>
<p>A lot of jobs you get contacted about (entry level marketing! no experience necessary! we hire and promote from within so growth opportunities are endless!) are scams. A lot of them do door-to-door sales and put the candidate to work at his interview. A lot of them, basically, are just not real jobs.</p>
<p>To be honest, I really doubt an actual legitimate company is reaching out to an entry level employee with no marketing experience on Monster to say “come join our team!” Rather, it is almost certainly a scam that they are sending out to as many people as possible in order to pull people into what is most likely a multilevel marketing scheme.</p>
<p>Oh, I see…so because of his resume on Monster he is getting contacted?? If he is truly interesting in a marketing “career” - he should look for marketing positions posted - rather than companies that are randomly recruiting from a deluge of resumes on Monster. </p>
<p>There’s marketing, there is PR and there is advertising. All truly are different. And if you are truly educated in these fields, you will know the difference. You’ll also probably know which positions are more legit.</p>
<p>There are valid, successful MLM businesses such as Avon, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Herbalife and Usana. Heres an article to give you an idea or rather a heads up on how these businesses operate.
[USANA</a> Health Sciences: Investors Need To Know The Truth About This MLM Company - Seeking Alpha](<a href=“USANA Health Sciences: Investors Need To Know The Truth About This MLM Company (NYSE:USNA) | Seeking Alpha”>USANA Health Sciences: Investors Need To Know The Truth About This MLM Company (NYSE:USNA) | Seeking Alpha)</p>
<p>2plus2–that’s exactly what I think these companies are about. He has no particular interest in marketing (although would take a legitimate job in about anything). But even at 22, at least this kid is still pretty naive about the working world. (He e-mailed me last week asking what a cover letter is. 
)</p>
<p>Google “cydcor scam.” A lot of the companies advertising entry level marketing jobs are actually cydcor under a lot of different names. I interviewed with one of these companies before I realized what they really were. I stopped bothering with monster and similar listing sites because I was getting dozens of calls and they were all scams.</p>
<p>If the posting sounds too good to be true, it is. Google the company name “+scam” and see if you get any hits, and check the website and see if it looks fishy. I ruled entry-level marketing out of my job search because I was just trying to cast a wide net to begin with and it was too hard to sift through all the BS postings. If I had a genuine interest in marketing I would have been checking on careers pages at companies I was actually interested in. </p>
<p>The interview I went on without knowing what I was getting involved with was a job posting posted on the umich job board-- these postings are everywhere. The red flag that tipped me off right away? They asked for my social security number two seconds into my first interview, they only had three offices and a waiting room in their suite with an xbox in the waiting room, and the receptionist kept bragging about how they were going to an MLB game later. There were at least a dozen applicants there. The whole thing was just super, super creepy.</p>
<p>Aiyiyi! Also just spoke with a <younger> co-worker whose cousin took one of these jobs. Quit after four days.</younger></p>
<p>(And to Emahee–did you find a job? Mind if I ask how?)</p>
<p>Yes I did. My company posts on indeed.com. It isn’t remotely sales related so it was a lot easier to confirm that the posting wasn’t a door-to-door scam. I gave up on looking at anything sales or marketing related because it was too hard to verify whether or not the company was legit unless it was a bigger name company, and most of the listings I was finding were not.</p>
<p>At the particular scam company I interviewed for, it wasn’t until after I walked out on the first interview because it was creepy and did additional research at home that I was able to find out that it was a job going door-to-door selling coupon books. According to my research, the “second interview” at this company is spending a day “shadowing” a current employee, during which you get in a car alone with a current employee, drive to a neighborhood, and start going door to door for like 9 hours-- this is when they actually let on that the job isn’t what was advertised in the posting. I was offered the second interview shadowing “opportunity” within 20 minutes of leaving the first interview. They really don’t make very much effort to hide the fact that they’re shady.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info. It’s been 25 years since I interviewed for a job but this just did not smell right.</p>
<p>I am currently doing recruiting for a software company, and we pursue both active and passive candidates.</p>
<p>An active candidate is someone who applies for a posted position.</p>
<p>A passive candidate is someone who has posted his/her resume on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, Dice or any other number of job search websites.</p>
<p>Companies pay to have access to resume databases, and they search them to find good candidates and contact them to see if they are interested in applying for a position.</p>
<p>So it is possible that a perfectly legitimate company will contact someone who has posted his/her resume somewhere, with an invitation to apply for a perfectly legitimate job.</p>
<p>Of course, this is more likely to happen if you have hard to find qualifications (.NET software developer, anyone?), and you do have to be aware of scams, but I wouldn’t rule out searching for a job in this way.</p>
<p>fendrock - we also pursue passive candidates but I think it’s unrealistic to imagine a legitimate company would ever pursue a philosophy major with no marketing experience for an entry level marketing job (when humanities grads are applying by the hordes to marketing/PR positions – a recent ad for an entry level job netted 200 resumes for us, and we are NOT a prestigious company!) So I would guess those pursuing the OP’s son are not legitimate.</p>