Misleading Job Ads

[DrFaroohk]

This happened to me a few times at my various jobs in the past and now my wife is dealing with it:

You see a job for some sort of management position in the paper. Usually assistant manager something or other for some company. Ok, so you apply. And you get an interview! And they love you at the interview and you're practically hired on the spot with a really good wage, lots of hours, benefits, the works...

Then you show up monday morning for work, and get started assistant managing.

"Oh, actually, you're just a part time slave right now. You get 5 dollars an hour and 10 hours a week. After 90 days, we move you up to peon, and after six months we promote you to human being. If you stick it out for 5 years, you might get the assistant manager slot."

I realize it's practically retarded to hire someone off the street for a management position that might give this total stranger access to things you don't want total strangers to have access to, but then why do they bother advertising it that way?

[Boozy]

Because the actual job is crap, but they don't want crap candidates?

I've twice walked out of job interviews that turned out to be a bait-and-switch. Never said a word, just walked out while the interviewer is in mid-sentence. If they lied to get me in there, they do not deserve the courtesy of even a "goodbye". I'm not pleased to be defrauded of my time.

[Andara Bledin]

At least let them know you're walking because they lied to you and if they lied to get you in the door, how can you possibly trust them with anything else.

Honestly, though, the hours, rate of pay, and benefits should all be discussed and agreed upon before showing up for the first day. Then if they don't live up to that, walk out for breach of contract.

^-.-^

[Eisa]

Wow. Yeah, that's pretty fucked up.


This isn't like that, but it does remind me of how I keep looking for jobs right now. I don't have any psych experience and I'm getting my bachelor's in less than 2 weeks. So I keep looking. And it will be like "entry level *blah blah blah*" and I'll go "yay!" *reads fine print* "Must have doctorate degree..." Shit. Or "bachelor's degree required" and I'll go ok yay! *reads more* "must have at least 2-3 years experience in *blah blah field*." When the fuck was I supposed to go out and get that, you can't even DO that when you're an undergrad...

[Dreamstalker]

DF, my mom's dealing with that right now. It's a town job and had she been hired for the advertised management position she would make enough hours to get benefits. Come to find out there was no actual fulltime slot available and as it stands now she's just week-to-week. The irony is one of the schools she gets sent to is majorly shorthanded and the manager there would love to have mom as full-time...but the director keeps telling her (the manager) that she doesn't have anyone to give them <_<

The game store job was a bit of bait and switch. Position advertised was only online sales...when I get hired he says "oh well you can handle online sales while running the register right?" (it doesn't really work the way you're thinking)

A temp agency around here is notorious for posting great jobs on Craigslist just to get you in for an interview, then they reveal that job didn't actually exist; they claim to call you with 'matching' jobs but never do. I'm also noticing job postings that are actually from an agency but are created to look like it's a private party...advertise what looks like a great hourly rate but when you reply, they reveal it's an agency and your real pay would be less than half that.

[insertNameHere]

I LOVE the entry level job must have 5 years of experience in this technology that only someone who is established would even have a chance of having or.
Must have 1 year help desk experience and be able to write your own name, or at least make an X. - Screw you guy who spent last 4 years busting his ass to learn tech and get a degree, you only worked 9months as helpdesk you don't qualify for position that pays double what you make in a gas station

[muses_nightmare]

I hate that! As someone who is currently looking for work it's aggravating to read a job posting and apply and find out it's a completely different job.

This happened to me recently actually, I applied to this company advertising for a part time receptionist position, and found out that it was essentially a telemarketing job, I was calling people that their sales reps wrote down and asking them to come in for an interview to be a sales rep (they sell knives, basically like a door to door sales person, but without the door to door part), and they made the people who had evening and weekend plans on their cell phones use their own cell, I didn't so I used their office phone (I took the job and lasted all of 2 hours), they had us block the numbers before calling people. Just sketchy all around. I was only around the 2 hours because the first part was training of sorts, reading the script and such, and well I've been looking for work for awhile now and didn't just want to give up on a job like that. But it was just so so sketchy, and I couldn't morally stay there. They completely misrepresented the job in their ad, posting as a receptionist position, instead of what it was.

I also get annoyed by the postings for "graphic designers" that end up being a web designer position. While the two fields may be becoming more combined, a graphic designer still works mainly in print. It wouldn't be so bad if the bulk of the posting was for actual graphic design work, but when they expect you to know advanced programming, that's web design/programming, NOT Graphic design.

Or when companies don't state in the postings title or very beginning of the description that it's an unpaid internship. Grr....

[insertNameHere]

Or when companies don't state in the postings title or very beginning of the description that it's an unpaid internship. Grr....

I got an e-mail from dice that basically said don't take a lower job to get your foot in the door either, which was proven at my current job as a cashier trying to step in the corporate office. they just cut your foot off in the door.

[protege]

A temp agency around here is notorious for posting great jobs on Craigslist just to get you in for an interview, then they reveal that job didn't actually exist; they claim to call you with 'matching' jobs but never do. I'm also noticing job postings that are actually from an agency but are created to look like it's a private party...advertise what looks like a great hourly rate but when you reply, they reveal it's an agency and your real pay would be less than half that.

That sounds like *every* temp agency that I've ever dealt with. They promise jobs to get people in the door, but never delivered on them. Total waste of time, in other words. Time, that could have been better spent looking for a real job. Now, I don't bother with them. Any calls or emails from those twits go right in the trash.

[XCashier]

At least let them know you're walking because they lied to you and if they lied to get you in the door, how can you possibly trust them with anything else.

I like this! Let them know what you think of their sleazy business practices. They may not change their ways, but if enough people tell them off, it just might sink into their thick heads that, hey, maybe they're going about this the wrong way.

A temp agency around here is notorious for posting great jobs on Craigslist just to get you in for an interview, then they reveal that job didn't actually exist; they claim to call you with 'matching' jobs but never do.

Most of the temp agencies I applied to did just that. Or they'd claim "the position has already been filled". People are desperate to find work, it's dishonest and cruel to jerk them around like that.

[Dreamstalker]

I LOVE the entry level job must have 5 years of experience in this technology that only someone who is established would even have a chance of having

YES I see that too. In some cases I've seen the required experience is on something so specialized that the only way to get said experience is to work for a company that uses it.

Also the entry-level support postings that specify '2-3 years experience in a company helpdesk environment'. I've never worked in a cube farm and my last official helpdesk position was 6 years ago, but I am versed in dealing with users. You don't have to have official proof to still be good at something.

I think employers are trying to weed out the people they might have to *gasp* train even slightly (they see it as wasting money).

[Andara Bledin]

My favorites are the ones that require X years of experience in a program that hasn't existed for X years to begin with.

^-.-^

[KellyHabersham]

Not sure this really counts as "misleading", but since this thread reminded me of something the church does when posting ads for open positions.....

The main place they look to recruit people is via a "Classifieds" section on our denomination's district website, and when an ad is posted, the applicant is basically instructed to call the church office for more information about the position. However, (and I know this from experience) whomever answers the phone actually has no info on the position.......all they can do is take the person's name/number, and pass that on to the heads our our personnel committee.

[Rageaholic]

Wow. Yeah, that's pretty fucked up.


This isn't like that, but it does remind me of how I keep looking for jobs right now. I don't have any psych experience and I'm getting my bachelor's in less than 2 weeks. So I keep looking. And it will be like "entry level *blah blah blah*" and I'll go "yay!" *reads fine print* "Must have doctorate degree..." Shit. Or "bachelor's degree required" and I'll go ok yay! *reads more* "must have at least 2-3 years experience in *blah blah field*." When the fuck was I supposed to go out and get that, you can't even DO that when you're an undergrad...

Sounds like most of the listings on indeed. They're entry level jobs, but still require experience in the field, which means it's not entry level.

[Eisa]

^Precisely. If you already need to have official experience, then it's not entry-level, stop peddling it as if it is!

I also have a hard time seeing a doctorate position as "entry level" but I can see how it could be, at least by terms of when you got it.