How to Avoid Entry-Level Marketing Job Scams

How to Avoid Entry-Level absatzwirtschaft Job ScamsHow to Avoid Entry-Level Marketing Job ScamsEntry-level absatzwirtschaft jobs typically involve a unique blend of sales, customer service, consumer psychology, graphic design, and data analytics. And while some absatzwirtschaft positions are this and mora, the marketing employment industry is now fraught with deception, scams, and miserable 100%-commission sales jobs. Technicallyspeaking, a scam is outright fraud. However, the term now encompassesa broader setofdeviouspractices. When falling for an entry-level marketing job scam, you may make some money, but you are likelynot getting anything close to what you were promised. Tips for Avoiding Entry-Level Marketing Job Scams Not allentry-level marketing jobsare scams. However, it is getting more difficult for job seekers to distinguish betweenlegitimate marketing job postings and deceptive ones. Most of the job postings that turn out to be scams are posted by companies using a ver y loose interpretation of the phrasessports marketing, be your own anfhrer, and entertainment marketing to attract excited college students Legitimatesports marketinginvolves acquiring and managing corporate event sponsorships or endorsements.Being your own boss truly means starting your own business.Entertainment marketing means working alongside celebrities, thought leaders, and influential media outlets. However, once youve initiated contact with these employers, youll find that they want you to sell unnecessary products door-to-door, recruit someone else to sell for you (known as apyramid scheme), or worse. These positions may pay, but you will quickly find out that youve been lured into a job that you were not expecting.(Some of them will even charge you to join the team.) How the Scams Work Who wouldnt get excited and want to click on a job posting with titles like those below? ***IMMEDIATE HIRE*** Work With PRO Sports We Will TrainFRESH TALENT NEEDED - Entry Level Marketi ngStart Your Career in Sports and Entertainment Marketing These kinds of job postings specifically target ambitious high school graduates and college students. The employers hope that you get too excited about the job to do your own research or ask probing questions. If youre a college student looking for an entry-level marketing job or internship, you must first recognize how difficult they can be to find. If you find that theinterview processis surprisingly easy, then you should be suspicious. Ideally, you should work with your career services office, a mentor, or one of your professors to help you land a reliable position. How to Identify a Scam As you peruse job postings, here are a few things that can help you identify entry-level marketing job scams. Getting the Call Back Job scammers willtake anyone expressingan interest. If you submit a resume, they will contact you immediately for an interview. They may even do a phone interview right away and give you the impression th at you are a prime candidate for the open position. The next step is an in-person interview. The bewerbungsgesprch Process Here is a classic marketing scam scenario. Youll show up for yourin-person interview in your Sunday best. Theres a good chance that it will be your first job interview ever. Youll be nervous, but excited. Then youll realize that this isnt an interview at all. Youll be expected to get into a car with a current employee and ride along to a neighborhood that is not at all close by (maybe even a couple hours away). Your interviewer will tell you to take one side of the street while he or she takes the other side, and youll start selling coupons door to door. The coupons often have something to do with major sports teams or entertainment venues. (This gives them the legitimacy to call the work sports and entertainment marketing.) Youll quickly feel uncomfortable and ask to return home or to the office. The interviewer will then employ shaming or intimidation tactics to get you to change your mind. In extreme cases, the police have reported these interviewers threatening physical violence or showing a weapon. No one should have to go through such an experience. But unfortunately, these things happen moreoftenthan we would like to think. The less overt marketing scams might involve formal office interviews, but at the end of the day, the employer expects you to sell unusual things in unusual places and will pay you as little as possible (unless you successfully recruit your friends and family). Multi-Level Marketing Scams (Pyramid Schemes) A somewhat controversial, yet legitimate, way of doing business is through amulti-level marketing(MLM) setup. The idea is to build a following, manage your team, and then encourage your team members to build their own following, too. Good MLM companies do not charge you to get involved, and theyusually offer good products or services. And while MLM companies strongly encourage you to build your own team, th ey do not coerce you into harassing your friends and family. However, what makes MLM companies controversial is their tendency to exaggerate the income youre likely to make. You will initially work hard for moderate income, at best. In contrast, a pyramid scheme asks for a financial investment up front and promises you that you will make it back, and more, faster than you could imagine. Products and services are usually of low quality and overpriced. Most importantly, Pyramid Schemes try to force you to harass others with what is nowyour ownPyramid Scheme. How to Find the Right Jobs Thankfully, it is not impossible to find great entry-level or internship positions in marketing. However, it is important that you recognize that some of the better positions might be more difficult to acquire. At the same time, if you find an employer that is thrilled to hire you, you need not feel overlysuspicious. To help you get a good feel for what is available and a legitimate offer, here are s ome insights. Finding a Good Marketing Internship The idea behind a marketinginternshipis to reinforce classroom instruction with professional experience. Despite the notionof interns being the ones whoget the coffee, internships areinstructivesincetheyexpose students and aspiring marketers to the way an agency works. As such, amarketingagency/departement should be reputable and robust. You will be expected to do a great deal of grunt work. But instead of your work being door-to-door sales, you will be supporting full-time staff members with data-entry and marketing-research tasks. In addition to grunt work, you will get to experience creative projects,collaborative teamwork, and deadlines. You will walk away with a clear understanding of what a marketing position looks and feels like. The best way to find a good internship position is to research companies and brands that you admire. On company websites, they will usually post internship opportunities and how to applyforthem. Y our college will also have on-campus resources letting you know of marketing internships that come highly recommended. Finding a Good Entry-Level Marketing Position Getting a goodentry-levelmarketing position is not too different fromfinding a good internship Having a good idea of what brands youd love to work for can help you narrow your search.Your college will have job assistance offices, coaches, or opportunities available to students.You can also use only job sites to locate reputable entry-level marketing jobs. One of the best ways to research entry-level opportunities is to read employee reviews on sites likecom. Questions to Ask the Employer Once you land an interview with a reputable employer, arriveprepared with questions. Here are a few questions to ask, especially if you suspect that the opportunity might be a scam What are the day-to-day tasks associated with the job?What training will you receive?What is the nature (not the amount) of compensation? For example, is it hourly or commission-based?NoteMost legitimate entry-level marketing positions do not involve heavy sales. Any job advertising itself as an entry-level marketing job that pays 100% commissions is most likely a scam.Does any part of your job involve recruiting team members?Who are the companys top clients?How long does the average employee stay with the company? If the job involves sales, how are leads generated?NoteIf you are generating your own leads in an entry level position, the job is likely a scam. The Bottom Line Search by Company Instead of by Job Keyword. Scams are good at using job keywords. Instead, if you know the name of a good company, searchbythecompanyandyoullknow that their open positions are legitimate.Note the Interview Process. Employers trying to sell you a scam are not vetting you they are trying to trick you. Theyre hopingthey can bring you in before you start asking questions. Once you do start asking questions, they will get defensive and ask you to j ust trust them.Use Online Reviews. Thanks to search engines like Google, it is getting harder for scam employers to deceive the population. Take advantage of theonline tools availableto help you avoid entry-level marketing scams.

How to Retain Senior Employees and Stop Brain Drain

How to Retain Senior Employees and Stop Brain DrainHow to Retain Senior Employees and Stop Brain DrainHow to Retain Senior Employees and Stop Brain Drain RossheimWith the labor market, the stock market and 401(k)s all on the rebound, senior managers who have been hunkered down for five years are now considering their employment options.To avoid a brain drain, smart companies are reassessing their employee retentionstrategies for how to retain senior employees. Here are eight top retentionstrategies for 2014.Top talent wants top challenges. First, beware of anyone who tries to sell you on a gimmick for retaining top employees. Remember that more than anything else, top talent simply wants to be exercised.Thats why taking on responsibility and working on challenging tasks are the career-enhancing opportunities that executives cited most frequently in a survey reported in the Wall Street Journal by Elizabeth Craig, John Kimberly and Peter Cheese.Its the money, stupid. Of course, many of us mere mortals are motivated by big financial carrots that can be claimed in a year or five. For senior employees, a competitive salaryis only part of the story.In 2014, the chief forms of deferred compensation for retention of executives are stock options, long term incentive plans (LTIPs), profit sharing with vesting and a 401(k) match with vesting, says Charley Polachi, managing partner at Polachi Access Executive Searchin Boston.What matters to young Boomers and old Xers. Lets face it Todays multigenerational workforcediffers when it comes to retaining senior employees.Executives in their 40s or 50s have been around for a while, and theyre driven by influence and power, says Angelo Kinicki, a professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. They want to stay in an organization that gives them opportunities to make change.What matters to Millennials and younger Xers. Younger, fast-rising managers may be looking for more coaching and better preparatio n for further advancement particularly with masteringsoft skills.Execs in their 30s have often been promoted without having all the skills from managing people to interpreting financial statements that they might need, says Kinicki. What might keep them at their companies is the opportunity to train and to be on projects where they can hone those skills.Fit the retention tactic to the person. It should come as no surprise that many executives who have made unique contributions to the enterprise will not be enticed by generic efforts aimed at retaining senior employees.One-size-fits-all retention packages are usually unsuccessful in persuading a diverse group of key employees to stay. Instead, companies should tailor retention approaches to the mindsets and motivations of specific employees (as well as to the express nature of the changes involved), says a report by consulting firm McKinsey Co.But beware inequity and jealousy. If, in your efforts to retain senior workers, you do o ffer one executive a customized perk for continued loyalty to the company, dont expect that her peers wont be miffed if they learn of it.Anytime you individualize, you can create feelings of inequity, says Kinicki. So you need to be very careful about it. But in the end, you have to reward those who deserve it, to get them to stay. Even for upper management, work/life balance is a draw. More and more, executives who have given up a lot on the personal side to excel in business and have earned a measure of financial independence in the process want to reclaim some balance in their lives.Thats why even at the executive level, workplace flexibilityhas become a key recruitment tool and a way to retain older workers, says Katie Bouton, president of Koya Leadership Partnersin Newburyport, Mass.Consider offering sabbaticals. An extended period of paid time off may be the ultimate loyalty-builder for top talent. Executives who took a sabbatical have told me, This is a wonderful perk the c ompany cares about me as an individual, they want me to have the opportunity to regenerate, says Frank Faeth, principal at Faeth Consultingin Bronxville, N.Y. People come back recharged and refocused, and they say they feel more tightly aligned with the company.What if the executive uses the time to find a new employer? If executives who take sabbaticals end up leaving the company, so be it, says Faeth. If they believe theyd be happier elsewhere, then its best for everyone that they move on.Even the toughest execs are seeking meaning. As many senior managers seek more balance in their lives, many will also stay with an employer longer if the company connects to its community or otherwise provides meaning beyond the bottom line.Private enterprises might borrow a page from the non-profit sector, says Bouton. Non-profits leverage employee engagement with the meaning that senior executives find in the work. At nonprofits, senior executives believe in what theyre doing.

Save the Day With Accounting Temps

Save the Day With Accounting TempsSave the Day With Accounting TempsA disheveled manager in a blizzard of paperwork told her boss how overwhelmed she and her staff were feeling by the stepped-up workloads they were shouldering at the company. She decided to do something about it by bringing in accounting temps to get some relief.This managers not alone. Ninety-two percent of the CFOs interviewed in a recent Accountemps survey cited one of the benefits of working with temporary professionals was access to specialized skills on an as-needed basis.How else can accounting temps save the day? Almost as many CFOs in the survey cited the value of bringing in temporary professionals so they can evaluate prospective full-time employees first hand, maintain productivity when theyre not ready to hire full-time staff, alleviate the workloads of full-time staff and fill in for employee absences.Here are five tips to get accounting temps up to speed and seamlessly integrated into your kollektiv1. Give staff a heads-upInform your full-time staff members when the temps are expected to arrive. Explain the role these workers will play and what specific duties theyll tackle. This will ensure theres no confusion when the reinforcements arrive, while helping everyone boost productivity in the workplace.2. Prepare a workspace for the new tempsWill the interim employees work exclusively in a common room or will they need their own individual workspaces? Make sure the areas where they will work have all the necessary computer equipment and supplies.3. Conduct an orientation on the first dayOn their first day, give the accounting temps an orientation with a tour of your office, explaining the day-to-day workflow. Also provide a brief summary of policies and procedures. Introduce them to everyone on the team. If you wont be supervising the team yourself, designate a liaison for the accounting temps.Provide clear direction from the start of the assignment, including deadlines, and keep t he lines of communication open.4. Treat them like regular employeesEven though they arent full-time employees, include temporary staff in all relevant meetings. Make sure they receive emails and other communications about goings-on in the company. Make them feel welcome by inviting them to team lunches and other staff outings.5. Acknowledge their effortsGet the best out of all your team members, including the accounting temps, by consistently recognizing their efforts. Provide regular feedback and thank your staff, at all levels.Supplementing your team with accounting temps is a cost-effective strategy to meet your business demands, whether youre looking for someone to eventually become a full-time employee, or you need help to handle a short-term spike in activities, such as tax season.Are you ready to find out more about the benefits of working with a staffing agency to find temporary accounting professionals? We can help you hire