# What am I getting into with this job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099 "2014-04-27T09:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/1 "2014-04-27T09:09:15Z")
Monday I start training for a temp to perm position I got. I don’t really want it, but it’s the only job offer I received and you get cut off from unemployment if you turn down a job offer. I’m told the job is calling people who filled out social security insurance or disability papers but more information is needed. However, I wonder how true that is. The company is Zumatel, although the sign on the building says Zumalogic, and they both seem to do the same thing. Anyway, go to [Zumatel’s Website](http://zumatel.us/) and it says > [@](#): > > Zumatel, LP has a decade of experience providing Fortune 500 Quality Customer Acquisition Services to Lead Buyers & Sellers. > > In 2013 Zumatel made over 2 million dials and contacted 1.5 million leads. Zumatel partners can testify to our verifiable track record of increasing conversions by 43%. Additionally, for new clients these results are normally realized within 48 hours of a “go live” with Zumatel. Googling around some more I found someone on Linkedin who works for Zumatel and lists themself as a sales associate, this is what they put as their job description, > [@](#): > > I follow up online leads to help people connect with firms that specialize in SSI and SSD claims. So, will I just be getting information needed to complete a social security form, or will I be doing something else? ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/2 "2014-04-27T15:25:26Z")
Probably some sort of telemarketing quasi-scam, like along the lines of those TV ads you see that go “if you’re on Medicare or social security you may qualify for $free\_medical\_equipment”. Based on the description, it certainly does not sound like work outsourced on behalf of the SSA. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/3 "2014-04-27T15:50:38Z")
Don’t you have to apply for a job to get one? I know the unemployment rules but I know that a job that was mis-represented to you is not one you have to accept. ---
**Author:** ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/4 "2014-04-27T16:29:45Z")
I’m on unemployment these days, too; I agree with Lanzy, Go down to your local office and discuss the situation with one of the councilors. They’ll know the pertinent laws for your state, and whatever program you’re on. There is very likely a clause for the job being misrepresented (If it is… Training tomorrow will likely have a good explanation of what you’re getting in to) ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/5 "2014-04-27T17:04:02Z")
Sounds like cold-call marketing to me. Pretty much the biggest soul sucking job there is. I got pulled into something similar through a temp agency back in the early 90’s, lasted two days. I’d rather clean bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/6 "2014-04-27T17:10:57Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Sounds like cold-call marketing to me. Pretty much the biggest soul sucking job there is. I got pulled into something similar through a temp agency back in the early 90’s, lasted two days. I’d rather clean bathrooms. Amen! I did it, too, many years ago. Yes, cleaning bathrooms would definitely be preferable. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/7 "2014-04-27T18:51:51Z")
I’m going to see what they say tomorrow at training, but if it is some sort of sales job then I’m walking out, calling the temp agency and saying I quit. I’m hoping and praying I hear back from other jobs I’ve applied to so I can just move on to one of those. I live in Oregon. When you make a weekly claim it asks if you’ve turned down a job. I’ll have to check the rules to see if there’s any reason that’s OK, or if they want someone to take anything so that they don’t have to pay. Maybe if I walk out within the first hour I can tell the temp agency not to pay me and then I won’t have a record of having worked for them. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/8 "2014-04-27T19:00:47Z")
The job description raises a red flag to me. But I have zero experience with unemployment insurance, so I hope you handle this carefully. If the job is indeed a scam, or even a quasi-scam, then letting the job counselors at the unemployment office know about it should help others avoid the same predicament in which you find yourself now. I hope you don’t screw yourself by turning down the job in a manner that causes future problems with claims. I took a job a little like this once, long, long ago. It wasn’t illegal (I checked), but it was an offer of magazine subscriptions to low-income families who weren’t equipped to understand the subtleties of the payments. After many sales calls, even though I was making decent and legal money, I didn’t feel right about the semi-sleazy outfit, so I quit. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/9 "2014-04-27T19:03:17Z")
Well, it looks like if I quit because I was lied to I’ll be able to explain myself. > [@](#): > > If there is a problem, we will contact you either by phone or mail. We will explain the problem and how it could affect your claim. We will ask you for details about the situation. Please reply quickly if you get a form to complete, a letter asking for information, or a telephone message; your benefits could be delayed until you answer. If you do not answer at all, we may deny benefits. So I feel a little better. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/10 "2014-04-27T22:12:56Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I took a job a little like this once, long, long ago. It wasn’t illegal (I checked), but it was an offer of magazine subscriptions to low-income families who weren’t equipped to understand the subtleties of the payments. After many sales calls, even though I was making decent and legal money, I didn’t feel right about the semi-sleazy outfit, so I quit. Reminds me of a mortgage processing job I had once, working for a small one-owner brokerage. I was already an experienced processor, did it for a few years before moving to a big bank doing something else. So I was comfortable running a small office with the owner out doing the originations. Until she started doing poorly, and her sales started drying up. She wanted me to process a third mortgage for a client the owner had talked into getting, so she could use the equity to buy a Cadillac. As I ran the numbers and saw her equity would be wiped - for a car - and her monthly payments were nuts, though just under what a skeevy underwriter for a third mortgage lender would decline. It just wasn’t right. I woudn’t do it. Legal? Sure. Ethical? Not in my book. I told the owner she would have to process that one herself, I wanted nothing to do with it. Then I walked out. I’ll never know, but I hope she messed up the paperwork so it didn’t get approved, she didn’t know how to process them, just the sleazy selling. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-getting-into-with-this-job/687099/11 "2014-04-27T23:04:57Z")
I tried looking Zumatel and Zumalogic up in the Better Business Bureau but they’re not a member. Some more Googling got me two more LinkedIn pages. > [@](#): > > - **Assisted in filing for SSD or SSI and set them up with attorneys.** > -Worked closely with the elderly in step by step processes. > -Knowledge of medical/legal terminology in completing client paperwork, scheduling appointments, answering multiple phone lines, confirming and authorizing confidential medical and legal paperwork. > -Knowing client medications/health history. Bolding mine. > [@](#): > > I call clients interested in assistance in filing for SSD or SSI, and set them up with attorneys. And finally, from an article I ran across, > [@](#): > > Zumalogic doesn’t produce or market a product. It sells businesses “sales leads,” or contacts with potential customers looking for mortgages, auto loans, a lawyer to help them apply for Social Security disability benefits, and a myriad of other services. > … > Leeders said Zumalogic sales people go into action when a potential customer submits an online request for a quote or service. Companies contract with Zumalogic to have its sales people make contact with those people. > > Edit: A couple more sentences > > Leeders said it’s a part of business that auto dealers, mortgage lenders and lawyers may not have time to deal with, but it’s key to their success. > … > Leeders said he runs his business on the philosophy that if a sales person doesn’t reach a potential customer within about five minutes of their submission of an online request, the chances of making a sale diminish quickly. OK, so it’s a sales job. I’ve been mislead, maybe not completely, but lie by omission. Good thing to know. Besides not being told the absolute truth, I am not the kind of person who can do sales. I know if I took the job I would miss quotas and get fired. Two or three years ago I had a job at a respectable incoming call center (no sales of any kind) and I was let go. I’m going to have to turn this down. Do I call today and leave message at the temp agency or call tomorrow and talk to a live person? Probably leave a message. This is so stressful because I don’t know if I’ll hear back from other places I’ve applied or if this will screw me out of unemployment. If I turn down the job before it starts, will the temp agency report this somehow? Sorry for babbling. And thank you all for your replies.