As a journalism major, finding my first post-college job was no walk in the park. It seemed like for every ten resumes I delivered, there was one response that read something like this:

We have reviewed your resume and have given your qualifications careful consideration. Given the skills and qualifications needed for the position, we have decided to pursue other candidates who more closely match the required skills and qualifications. We will keep your resume on file for six months…blah…blah…blah.

Ah, the token rejection notice – the politeness police’s answer to respectfully obliterating your self-esteem. If dealing with these every couple of days was not bad enough, then there’s the companies that can’t seem to get enough of you, put you up on a pedestal and tell you how successful they’re going to make you. These of course, are the scum of the corporate earth, the scam companies.

I first learned about the scam companies a few weeks out of college. The add jumped out of the classified in its bold text, perfect bait for any naive “17th grader” fresh out of his vain college surroundings: “ENTRY-LEVEL, COLLEGE GRADS! SALES CAREERS IN MANHATTAN!” I guess I should’ve known better…

Nevertheless, I got excited and immediately applied. A day later I received a call from a young woman telling me her company was extremely interested in me and wanted to see me tomorrow. I said I’d be there, hung up the phone and started wondering how I got so lucky.

The next day I cruised into the city looking like a pro. Suit and tie, fresh haircut, leather briefcase – I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

After pacing around the block a few times, waiting for my appointment time, I walked into the building. My first reaction was an uneasy one. The place was smashed between clusters of second-rate apartment towers and as I walked down the hall I wondered if I had made a wrong turn.

As I finally found the place my attitude took a 180. Fresh wood floors, industrial designs, pop-music playing – could I actually work here one day? As my “future” boss came out to greet me, I had no idea he was really “the boss.” He couldn’t be more than five years older than me!

He took me into his office and won me over with talk of how he made it big in under a year of working for the company. He told me I had a lot of potential, that I’d be able to do it too. Basically, he tried to say all the right things.

After I left, he told me I would get a call this evening telling me whether or not I got the job. Sure enough, that evening I got the call, they said to come in the next morning for orientation and I said yes. I barely had time to take it all in before they were stuffing a job down my throat. It seemed unbelievable…and it was.

When I finally had time to digest, I decided to check out the company online to see what other people had to say about them. The first three links that came up were “Scam-Reports” busting the business for its pyramid-like schemes and ill-treatment of employees. I didn’t believe it, so I searched my would-be boss’s name. Who types in their name on Google and gets a Scam-Report as the first result? This guy!

So I learned my lesson, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. If you’re a recent college grad, it’s likely that someone will try and take advantage of you too. So look for the telltale signs I discussed in my story. Most importantly, if you’ve never heard of the company before, Google the hell out of them!

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