Job offer: am I wrong for being leery about this?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, so last night I get my currently unemployed (except for an outside contracting gig that doesn’t pay all my bills) home to find a message on my answering machine from about 7 pm — a barely comprehensible one due to the accent. Fortunately, there’s an accompanying e-mail as I’d hoped. It was from a recruiter whose company works with a very large and very well known company based less than an hour north of me. It’s for a job whose duties aren’t really what I’ve done before, but it brushes up close enough to seem manageable at first instinct. I reply with my interest.

9:30 this morning I get a call from the recruiter. Apparently, this job pays $11 an hour — way less than I’ve made in a long time. I say that’s okay, figuring this’ll give me time to consider, and I can just change my mind later. He says he sent me an e-mail confirming this is okay with me, and for the reason mentioned earlier, I figure I’ll answer it later in the day when I’ve had time to think.

He calls back a little before noon, wondering about the reply. I tell him that I was thinking about it, and he tells me that they want me to go in for an interview — at 2 pm this afternoon! I’m kind of startled that when they said this was an “urgent” position, that it was THIS urgent.

So while I’m processing this, I get a third call from the recruiter’s onsite manager, who tells me that there are five positions, and that he pretty much guarantees I’ll get the job if I interview for it. After some agonizing, I call him back to accept the interview, with less than two hours to go before the start time, but the hiring manager had a doctor’s appointment, so they’re rescheduling for tomorrow, same time. This actually gives me time to think.

I’m not at my best under pressure, and this was some heavy time pressure. Things are moving way faster than I thought they would, and the low pay plus the pace plus the fact that if I hadn’t been contacted for this first, I might not have applied for a job with these duties (well, I might have, in a “might as well” casual way) have “poisoned” me against this whole thing before I even get started.

My financial situation is not horrible (I have substantial savings left), but I could obviously use a job. That’s the only reason why I’m still considering this whole thing to begin with.

Obviously, my considerations of all this has been a little panicked and disjointed because of the time pressure. Now that it’s relieved somewhat, any thoughts to help me catch my breath and think rationally about this?

2

I cannot figure out why, but somehow, this is a scam.

And brah, you can make $13/hour delivering pizza while listening to podcasts or sports all night. Don’t do this shit.

3

I definitely understand why “scam” came to your mind; it did to mine. But I have not sent them any personal information — only a resume I’ve put online anyway — and the company that is hiring, and where the interview is taking place, is extremely well known (not the recruiter’s company; I know relatively little about it, except that I vaguely remembered seeing its name before).

But despite my relative certainty that it’s legit, the feeling and thoughts at first that involved questioning whether it was a scam is a big reason for this thread.

4

What are the job duties? If they ask you to give them money, for any reason whatsoever, walk out.

Actually, on some low sneaking level I am hoping this is white slavery and you will wind up narrowly escaping the Evil Pimp Enforcer with some beautiful exotic woman and liberate dozens of innocent victims of sex trafficking and then sell your story to a major studio and collect millions and then descend into a downward spiral of drugs and debauchery before finding religious fulfillment and end up hawking the Sphincter Strengthening Exercise Miracle machine on QVC.

But probably not.

Regards,
Shodan

5

I would be curious enough to go to the interview. It sounds fishy, but who knows? It could be legit and lead to a better opportunity.

6

It sounds like a position with extremely high turnover. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need 5 people all at once, the pay would be higher, and the need would not be as urgent. But I’d go to the interview, if you are curious. If you take the job, I wouldn’t expect much out of it in the long run.

7

Are you on unemployment? Check to see whether it’s possible to decline a job without losing benefits? And if so, under what conditions.

8

Last fall, I accepted a job that really did go from first offer to interview to first day on the job in a span of three business days, and it really was legitimate. But then again, it was a position that I had previously expressed interest in (that’s why they contacted me), and there was a clear and explicable reason why the job was opening up so suddenly, and why it needed to be filled so quickly.

When you go in tomorrow, ask questions. If they won’t answer, run like Hell. If they do answer, consider whether the answers are reasonable. If the answer they give you is that you’ll be transcribing encyclopedias and they’re only offering the job to you because you have red hair, call the police.

9

Low-pay + short time to interview indicates that it’s likely not a pleasant job - I imagine they have so many spots open because people are constantly leaving for something better, as get lives mentions.

Then again, a crappy job > no job. But I would keep looking for something - $11/hr is pitifully low.

10

I’m going to go the opposite opinion and say that if it’s a recruiter that you’ve heard of, and a company you’ve heard of, that it’s probably legit and it’s just how recruiters work.

The job I have now is contract and while I knew my recruiter from the recruiting website (so it wasn’t a cold call) she emailed me out of the blue and said “Hey there’s an opening can you come tomorrow?” It’s a relatively low-level job that requires my skill, but nothing earth-shattering. I include that last bit because interviewing all the people at once, and the speed of the interview might just mean that it’s a low-level enough job that they aren’t going to be super picky about who they hire (also why you might be a shoe-in for the job).

I was actually cold-called by a recruiter for a position that I would have been really good for and had an interview set up before the hiring manager (at the firm, not the recruiter) decided to cancel it…so even THOSE aren’t necessarily bad.

11

Might be legit, but; every job interview I have ever had that was low pay and high pressure was not one that I ever accepted. Like others have said, high turnover for a good reason.

12

I’m not on unemployment. Also, as I said above, I’m pretty confident as to the legitimacy, but the fact I questioned it at all makes me wonder about the wisdom of the job anyway.

13

Is it possible $11/hr is pay for the probation or training period, and after 60 days, or something, you get a raise to something you can live on? Back in the early 90s, I took a job that started at $8.75, but after 30 day went up to anywhere from $9.75-$12.75 depending on education, experience, and languages (that’s when benefits kicked in, too). I went to $10.25 in 30 days because I had a degree, and $11.50 in 90 days because I had some experience, and knew a language on their list. After a year, I got a raise, and was making $12.25.

It turned out to be a really good job, and I stayed there a long time. If I had refused because $8.75 was ridiculous, I would have missed out on something I liked.

It’s good to be skeptical, but it’s also good to check out any port in a storm. Being unemployed sucks. Like someone said, though, if they ask for money, even money for training, or personal information, like bank account information (other than payroll for direct deposit after you are firmly hired), run fast, run far.

The main scam I can think of is that after they promise you a job, you are going to need some kind of training at your own expense, and the job can fall through if you don’t pass the training.

14

If it’s an hour-ish away, it’s a total non-starter. There’s no way you could continue to job hunt if you are working 8 hour days and driving two. And the gas and wear on your car reduce that $11/hour to nothing.

15

You have nothing to lose by going to the interview. I’d say go and hear them out.

Now, having said that, don’t confuse the recruiter with the employer. This could be nothing more than typical aggressive recruiter tactics. Recruiters are paid on commission and they do everything they can to get their candidate in as soon as possible in hopes that the company will hire the first person or so that they see. This particular recruiter may have just received the listing if the company had originally contracted with other recruiters and they couldn’t deliver. He who acts fast gets commission first. Recruiter behavior (and promises) are essentially meaningless. Use them as the conduit they are and then forget about them.

Judge the job based on the interview. The hiring company may be completely on the up and up, or shady as heck. But go and see.

16

“Look, do you want to be a human cannonball or not? There are plenty of guys who want this job, so I need your answer right away.”

17

The only valuable question when looking at a job is “where can this job take me.” Are the new skills valuable ones that will broaden your portfolio and eventually lead to more options? Does the position offer room for advancement? If you plan to move, does the new city have a stronger economy?

If it’s a dead end job where you won’t grow, that’s something to strong consider. But if it will teach you new skills and could get you a foot in the door for something bigger (and you don’t expect better options any time soon) then you’d be dumb not to go for it.

I must say, “I don’t do well under pressure” is a weak-sauce excuse. If you want food things to happen in your life, you have to jump on opportunity because it doesn’t knock often. I don’t know if this job is a great opportunity, but it’s worth checking out.

18

There are some very high-pressure, sweatshop-like recruiting companies out there. Sounds like one found you.

Welcome!

I had one contact me. I didn’t go on the interview because it HAD to happen EXACTLY that day at a time when I already had one scheduled. I figured if they couldn’t give a choice of interview times, I didn’t want to work for the company.

19

Sounds like their weeding out anyone who isn’t desperate.

20

Just my own perspective, but assuming this job requires more skill than retail or file clerk, I don’t even get out of bed for $11 an hour. I certainly wouldn’t drive an hour to do it.

If this was the only thing standing between you and losing your house, that would be one thing, but if the job requires any kind of higher level skill at all, they are completely cheaping out on the pay rate. And in my experience, compensation is one indication of how much your company/boss respects and values you. Last time I made $10 my job duties were literally to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day and be available during the rare moments when someone needed a fax sent or a folder filed. And this was over a decade ago – I’d expect the going rate for receptionist or file clerk in an office environment to be higher now.

If you’re curious, and/or think you can negotiate a higher pay rate, why not, but I sure wouldn’t expect anything worthwhile to come of it. There are better paying and closer jobs out there.

One thing I learned early as a freelancer – and it applies just as well to direct-hire jobs – if YOU don’t value your skills and experience, no one else will either. If they can get a 10-year pro for $11 an hour, they will have no qualms about doing so. The question is, will you let them?

Honestly this sort of sounds like the AmeriTrade scam that was going around in… 2005ish? They would phone up anyone who had posted a resume online, and say they had a job that was a perfect fit for their qualifications. Funny, when I asked what sort of graphic design I’d be doing, they always told me “Oh, the job is nothing like that” and couldn’t give me an answer to why they thought it was perfect for me, in that case. I think I had five different people call me with that same line. In any case, yeah it was an actual job, but nothing I had any knowledge or skill or interest in (financial planning or something, I dunno), and it seemed to have some element of MLM to it too.