There comes a point where someone pushes you over the edge and you just want to scream. I want to scream right now.
One of my long term subscribers, a woman who (no matter what I tell her) continually falls for work at home “data entry” ads. I don’t even want to know how much money she has thrown away. She’s been a reader for years now and we’ve corresponded many times. It’s always the same…
Hi Sharon! I’m doing pretty well. I’ve got a number of data entry jobs lined up. Just got ripped off for $39, but these look good. Wish me luck!
Wish you luck??? I want to slap you. Every time she sends me one of these gems I’ve responded with advice on how to avoid this pitfall, what she should be looking for, etc. I’ve asked what her skills and experience are so that I could point her in the right direction. She never gives a response to this, just a thankful sentence or two for my help and then a description the newest “promising looking job”. After a couple of years of this, my responses have devolved into begging…
Please, please, please…if nothing else, stop looking for data entry and typing jobs. They don’t exist.
I wish she would realize that she is never going to find this job that she fervently believes is out there.  If only she would put her time, energy and money into acquiring the skills that employers are looking for. Seriously, this has been going on for more than 5 years. In that time she could have earned a degree. She could at least have taken some classes in an industry that lends itself to telecommuting. She might have been able to sift through the career sections of the websites listed in my Telecommute Friendly Companies section and found something.
I just can’t get through to her. The sad thing is that I know there are a lot of people just like her out there banging their heads against the same wall (and losing their money in the process).
Tags: job searching, Scams, telecommute jobs, work at home, work at home jobs
You’re absolutely right Sharon. I don’t get it myself. Over and over on work at home forums I see the same thing. Someone will say, “I know the golden rule is never to pay for a job, but I just received this in my email after I responded for a job lead on xyz company. It asks for a one time training material fee. Is this a scam or legit?” And the same person will keep asking the same thing over and over.
I swear I think a lot of people have a firewall on their brains.
Data entry jobs are so hard to come by. The only ones I know are KeyforCash.com and WorkingSol.com (And both don’t have much work). There are transcription companies like QuickTate too. But still few data entry companies! I hope the woman you write about wises up someday soon and finds something legit!