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crackedpleasures
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 1440
Location: travelling (currently Berlin, longing for the Middle East)
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 Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:50 am Post subject: Does this job look suspicious or not? |
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As stated before, I am hoping to relocate to Scandinavia or the Middle East during summer.
A while ago I was talking to a company in Morocco, and after 1 phone call they offered me a quite high position with a salary over the average Moroccan salary + commissions in euros. All I needed to do as final test is write to as many companies in my own country of origin with a proposal to corporate with them.
I did that to a few (just to see how they'd react) and despite the lack of responses from those companies I wrote to, the company said they wanted me to come to Morocco and I could get accomodation locally. I found it a bit suspicious to be paid royally without a proper interview, and as I had other options which looked more realistic I didn't really dig any further.
Now they contacted me again with an even weirder offer: without any further interview I could do a job in another local city (which is bizarre as the company site does not even mention they have an office in that city) and they'd offer me a salary higher than the average Moroccan + accomodation and food.
I am multilingual and have a good experience in customer service field, but I am not a university graduate or someone experienced in management positions... To be paid an above-average salary without having to pay rent or food, that sounds very suspicious to me. And why does their site not mention the existance of an office in that specific city?
It is like somebody offering you a salary of 3500 USD per month + the employer paying your rent and food ; maybe a diplomat or engineer could get such offers, but I have so far worked only in customer service and administration...
Am I being too sceptic here or am I totally right to find this a bit weird? I find it a bit hard to trust the offer, especially because some things are very vaguely described.
PS: I meanwhile also am in interview with a company in Scandinavia which is very reputated and thus probably reliable, so I am somewhat tempted to trust this option more. Maybe I am too suspicious though, but still...
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PilotPirx
Snowy Owl
Joined: May 09, 2008
Age: 38
Posts: 170
Location: Amsterdam, NL
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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Difficult to say anything with this information. In fact it sounds a bit strange, but on the other side things may be a bit different in Africa. Maybe they just can't get anybody with good job training and experience locally or they hope to get into contacts with europe/american customers (if they have products that they could sell there)
That they offer you payment above the local average isn't that uncommon if they want to hire foreigners.
But if I had to choose between North-Africa and Scandinavia I would go for Scandinavia without a second thought. Payment and social security are much better there.
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crackedpleasures
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 1440
Location: travelling (currently Berlin, longing for the Middle East)
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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The company is an outsourcing callcenter catering to mainly European companies who want to outsource their callcenter work to a cheap country (and Morocco is cheaper than any EU nation obviously)
I do have 4 years experience in that branch and in 4 different languages and several countries, so yes I am experienced. But I never had a leadership role in my previous functions, and regular callcenter work isn't that hard to do (even if people with several years experience are rare, it is not the type of job where experience is that important IMO). So isn't it suspicious to offer those conditions without any sort of formal interview? I may be oversuspicious though but I find it a bit weird that they'd offer me a higher salary PLUS free accomodation and food ...
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shadowboxer
Blue Jay
Joined: Jun 03, 2008
Age: 46
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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I call it the Law of Creative Anomalies i.e. If something seems to good to be true it probably is. Bear in mind that Juris Prudence works very differently outside the borders of your home country and you could find yourself in a situation where the embassy is unable or unwilling to help.
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Triangular_Trees
What is right is sometimes found on the left.
Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 1720
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Why not contact your countries embassy and explain to them about the job and ask for their opinion or recommendations on how you can investigate its legitimacy? |
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crackedpleasures
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 1440
Location: travelling (currently Berlin, longing for the Middle East)
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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That may be a good idea (although I have had some bad experiences with Belgian embassies in the countries I've lived so far, asking cannot do harm)
I maybe should browse for the name of the city and see if any international companies would come up. It would still be weird though that the official website of the company they've given me doesn't mention a branch in this city or that the guy contacting me wouldn't mention the name of the new company he's recruiting for...
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MsTriste
OTS
Joined: Dec 08, 2005
Age: 44
Posts: 3373
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| I think you're right to have suspicions. Since you'd be working on commission they're looking for salespeople. That's a red flag right there. I think you should run the other way. |
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pineapple
Deinonychus
Joined: May 01, 2006
Age: 24
Posts: 356
Location: san francisco
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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Trust your gut. If it sounds weird, it probably is.
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aninimous
Butterfly
Joined: May 07, 2007
Age: 22
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| I have to agree, it sounds a bit too good to be true. Like you, I've also worked abroad and the only jobs I found that paid for your accomodation/food were jobs like working for a hotel/pub or being a live in caregiver of some sort. I got a job with a customer service company in the UK and while they paid me decent wages my accomodation and food was certainly my responsiblity. |
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Pandora
Cat Lady
Joined: Jun 18, 2005
Age: 47
Posts: 4684
Location: Townsville
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:50 am Post subject: |
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I think this job definitely sounds bogus and wouldn't advise taking it on. I just get a bad feeling from reading about it even.
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alex
Developer
Joined: Jun 14, 2004
Age: 22
Posts: 6273
Location: DC Metro Area
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| their "test" sounds like a way of getting free work out of you. i wouldn't trust it |
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Pandora
Cat Lady
Joined: Jun 18, 2005
Age: 47
Posts: 4684
Location: Townsville
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: |
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Exactly! I don't know about anybody else, but I also have a big issue with the ethics of outsourcing call centre work to third world countries. Call centre work is generally the pits to start off with. Conditions would be even worse in other countries. Jobs are being lost in Aussie telcos because they've been outsourced to countries such as India and China.
I hope the fad of call centres soon goes the way of the dodo.
I also believe it is better to try for jobs with lower pay but more security and certainty than this job seems to have. It would be horrible to be stuck in a strange country with no money and nowhere to live and that could easily happen.
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Someday soon you're gonna rule the world.
Break out you Western girls,
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crackedpleasures
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 1440
Location: travelling (currently Berlin, longing for the Middle East)
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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I have worked in a few callcenters before, but while the wages were always decent I always needed to arrange my own accomodation (I worked in 5 countries now and never ever got anything for free, apart from one company that offered a small financial help by offering a hotel room for a week to give me time to search a place to live - this was not a callcenter though and they only paid those few hotel days in the first nights after arrival in the country, searching a flat was my own responsability)
I know it is not uncommon that in low-salary countries foreigners get paid more but what I find suspicious is that this is not an embassy or an IT company or so. It is a bloody callcenter, even if they'd give me a supervising role instead of a role as sales agent, then it'd still be weird to be given a free apartment on top of the decent salary.
The website of the company still mentions nothing about a new branch in that city where they offered me the position, which is quite weird. What company willing to grow would keep their site out-of-date and not announce the address of its different locations?!
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Pandora
Cat Lady
Joined: Jun 18, 2005
Age: 47
Posts: 4684
Location: Townsville
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: |
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I don't know but seriously, it's the sort of thing I'd avoid like the plague. It's pretty slack of them not to organise accommodation or at least to give you some tips on good places to try.
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Break out you Western girls,
Someday soon you're gonna rule the world.
Break out you Western girls,
Hold your heads up high.
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0_equals_true
Quack!
Joined: Apr 06, 2007
Age: 26
Posts: 4330
Location: London
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the way con artist work is by raising your expectations until its an offer you can't refuse. |
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