Maybe I was a little too creative?

The article below is a re-post of an one which I wrote on July 1st 2016 and posted on Linkedin concerning whether or not one should change their status on Linkedin to show they are unemployed and seeking new employment opportunities.

Here is the URL to the original post on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/maybe-i-little-too-creative-jim-cox

I hope you enjoy the article and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

(Image credit - AZQUOTES)

Yesterday I completed my 18 month contract at Microsoft, and knowing in advance that my contract was coming to an end I began searching for new employment opportunities though nothing has yet to materialize.

Since I am now seeking new employment opportunities I thought I should reflect this in my Linkedin profile. Now there are those who advise not to state in your Linkedin profile that you are unemployed and looking for work, and then there is the opposing view that you should change your status to reflect that you are available for new opportunities.

I agree with the latter opinion because I want people to know I am available for new opportunities and I want to utilize the new listing under Experience to state what sort of opportunities I am searching for. While the Headline and Summary fields in a Linkedin profile are intended to for these purposes I find that most people reviewing profiles tend to focus on the most recent status listed under Experience.

Having decided to make the change to my status I thought I should try something different from the normal “Self” for Company Name and “Unemployed” or “Job Seeker” for Title, and I felt these changes should reflect my experience and interests in technology.

So early this morning in a fit (more like spasm) of creativity I updated my profile and listed “Career R&D” for Company Name, and “Career Engineer - R&D” for Title, and then added additional information to show what sort of opportunities I was conducing R&D for.

Where my “research” fell short in this update to my profile was the effect Linkedin’s status update to my network would have and the number of congratulatory responses I would receive for finding a new job as a "Career Engineer". While I do appreciate the consideration from those who offered congratulations I must offer a mea culpa for the misunderstanding.

One other thing that I did not consider at the time was that recruiters may not recognize or appreciate the intent of the Company Name and Title, and therefore not review my profile any further.

I have since made some more conventional updates to properly reflect my status and search for new opportunities and as far as I am concerned the original update was not a failure but instead a learning experience. I have also disabled the Notify your network? option regarding updates to my profile which I originally enabled for this particular update and I will leave it disabled until I have finalized by profile. Also this entry in my profile will be deleted once I find a new opportunity.

What I would like to know from others here on Linkedin is what do you think about posting your status as unemployed and seeking a new job. Should you change your status to reflect you are unemployed and seeking new opportunities or should you just leave your status as is with only a change in date?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Cheers ~ Jim

Job seeker beware!

Normally I try to refrain from grousing or posting anything negative in this blog, but today just as I was wrapping up today's job search my phone rang and on the other end was a telemarketer (of sorts), and I just have to post about it. Actually this is going to be more of a warning for other job seekers than my grousing about what happened to me because once I figured out what was going on I actually had a little fun by just saying yes and going along with the scam for a while (plus I was kind of bored :)

As I stated above I was wrapping up my job search when the phone rang. As soon as I grabbed the phone and I said "Hello" an automated message started up stating that the call was from a company called Employment Select, and that they are a screening service for an employer who I submitted a resume to. The robo-message went on to say that I was to call back and talk with one of their screeners about the position I applied for. The number that I was supposed to call back was 646-520-0695, which is the exact same number that my Caller ID listed. Now what I found interesting was that my Caller ID listed the caller as "VOXBONE / NYC2". (If anyone can provide some insight about this ID, then leave a comment)

Instantly the little red flags started coming up, but I thought what the Hell, I need a job and the call should be covered by my calling plan. I called the number and right off the bat I got another robo-message, with this one telling me that one of their screeners will be right with me, and that I will need to be in front of a computer with Internet access to facilitate answering the questions. The message went on to say that the ID of the potential employer will be kept confidential at this time. (Hmmm, more red flags went up).

So I waited another 10 seconds or so and BAM! I was once again listening to another robo-message pretty much telling me the same thing as the previous message, and then it told me to wait which I did. Eventually an "Angela" came on the line and started in with her scripted speech about how she was supposed to screen me for an "IT Assistant" position that I applied for, and she needed to verify my information. She asked for my telephone number and after she entered it in her system she then asked me to verify the information she had listed - Name, Address, and all the other rot, which was all correct. She then went on to tell me the process would take up to 45 minutes, and repeated what the robo message said about my needing to be in front of a computer with Internet access to proceed. (I don't know why, but this sent up even more red flags)

Somewhere in the middle of all this I interrupted Angela and asked her why Employment Select didn't offer a toll free number for prospective employees to call in, so as to save us poor unemployed soles some pennies. Her response was something in the line of "Well for you to get the job I need to ask you some questions", and she proceeded on with her ramble.

I interrupted her again, and asked who the employer was, and could she provide me with more details about the job. All she could tell me was the the employer was confidential at this time, and the position was for an IT Assistant. Angela then went on to ask me if I was in the job market and interested in this job, and I replied "yes". She then continued on to ask a few more questions which I now forget, and then she asked me how long I had been in the business. I gave my answer, and she replied "Excellent! You qualify for the job, and I am going to refer you to the employer" I thought "OK, this is cool" and then this is where the sales pitch started.

"Mr. Cox, could you tell me about your education? Do you have a degree?" OK, at this point the red flags were really flying because I list my education history and degrees on my resume, and shouldn't this screener have a copy of my resume? I replied that I had an AAS, and then Angela asked if I was offered a chance to work full time and go to school, with all expenses paid would I do so. Knowing that this was way too good to be true I replied "Yeah, sure" She then went to say that she had set me up with a adviser from another, so that I could discuss my educational plans, and that I needed to call them right away. She then gave me the number; 321-249-1490, and once again told me that I must call them right away, "no more then 10 minutes from now". We then said our goodbyes.

I sat at my desk wondering why didn't the call take 45 minutes like I was told (and yes, I am grateful it didn't). Maybe the second call would take that much time, but I wasn't going to find out. Instead of calling the second number I decided to enjoy the Sun and went out for lunch, and then took a walk. Later in the day I called the number just to see who it was and I got yet another robo-message thanking me for calling the Education Advising Division of Education Connection.

What I figure had happened, and let this be a warning to others, is that I applied for a position at one of the less than reputable job search sites, and my information was then passed along to Employment Select / Education Connection just so I could be suckered in to some scam. Now I suggest that if you have read this far and are interested in looking into this scam, you copy the phone numbers I listed and do an online search for them. You'll come up with several sites where people describe experiences similar to mine.

What's really sad is that the people are literally preying on the hopes and dreams of people who are desperately looking for work, and while Angela and her coworkers also need the work, I personally think they could do much better in the food service industry serving burgers and shakes than trying to sucker people in to some sort of scam. Like I suggested above, if you are interested in investigating this scam then search out the telephone numbers, and from there make your own conclusions. If you happened to have a similar experience with these companies, feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

By the way, this experience is inspiration for tomorrow's "Friday Fun"

Cheers ~ Jim