Blake's Job Hunt

[BlakeMP]

So as you may know, I've been looking for a better job for some time. I've enjoyed working as a substitute teacher, but you can't pay the bills that way. With school starting again soon, it occurred to me that perhaps if I could find a decent work-from-home data entry gig, that might help close the gap until I could find something permanent (or at least until the contract with my publisher kicks in in a few months).

So searching on Craigslist, I found a position that sounded good -- paid per package, make your own hours, work as much or as little as you want... Sounds great, right? But how can I be sure it's legit? That's the question. I was hoping that some of the more world-wise folks than myself might have some advice. Here's the information I got back when I sent a request for more information:

Information

This home-based position is a great opportunity for stay at home moms/dads, students, or anyone who wants to work in the comfort of their own home. Phone communication is absolutely NOT required. You respond to orders sent to your email and process them at your convenience.

Details

This Home Based position gives you the opportunity to earn $100-$700 per week. You can choose to work full-time or part-time and can choose to work the hours of your choice. You do not have to contact anyone you will be processing responses from Ads, which will be explained to you in your training materials. Everything is sent to your email account. There is no contract to sign; the amount that you choose to process is entirely up to you. As with any job, you must be willing to work hard and try to respond to the orders in a timely manner. Remember, you are your own boss, and the money is there for you, if you work for it!


Compensation

You will be paid from $10.00 to $20.00 for each order that you process. For example, if you process 35 in a week you make $350 to $700 weekly. The average person makes $600 per week. The amount of money you earn is entirely up to you. You will be responsible for keeping track of your earnings at tax time, as we do not take out any taxes or provide you with a 1099 form.

Training

The training materials you receive will give you step-by-step instructions on how to get started. There is no special software required for this position.

Method of Payment

You will receive your payment through Pay Pal, you are not going to be paid weekly, you will be paid for each application that you process. There is a one time non-refundable fee of $15.00 this cost will cover the training materials sent to you. Once you have processed your very first application you will have made back this fee.

If you do not have a Pay Pal account: Sign up is FREE! The website address is http://www.paypal.com use XXX@XXX.com (Blake's change) as your reference for signing up, remember, only use the reference if you are just signing up!

Once you have signed up for your free account, you will be using this for your business to receive payment, by electronic check, credit card, or debit card. Pay Pal is a safe and secure way to pay directly online, and you transfer the money from that account directly into your checking or savings account. Be sure that the email account you will be using for your business is also the email account that you use for Pay Pal. It is easier and much quicker for everyone. Please email me as soon as you make your payment via Pay Pal so I can expedite materials to you. Make your payment at Pay Pal for $15.00 to XXX@XXX.com .

This work from home opportunity is legitimate, how successful you are only depends on the time and effort you put in. I am here to help you get started and answer any questions that you may have. If you are serious, and are willing to put forth some time and effort, then I look forward to hearing from you again.
Thank you for your interest and we look forward to you joining our team.

So what do you think, guys? The $15 fee for the "training materials" is what has me most skeptical. Should I give this a shot, or keep looking?

[Rapscallion]

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

If the money's so good, why aren't they doing it themselves?

Rapscallion

[Banrion]

I'd be wary of this one. It kinda sounds like, you make your money by "processing orders" from other people for the very same training materials that you are paying $15.00 for.

[Phoenix79]

I would do a Google search on the company name . . . if it is a scam, there will be something about it listed on a website somewhere, for sure.

I doubt that what you are selling is the training packets, just because they pay you up to $20 for each order you process, and that's more than the packet costs.

I would definitley look into it a bit more before sending that person any paypal information, it does sound too good to be true.

Just my :2cents:

Phoenix

[Banrion]

I doubt that what you are selling is the training packets, just because they pay you up to $20 for each order you process, and that's more than the packet costs.


No one ever said scammer's use real math, and its the wording "between" & "up to" I was also a bit turned off by the sentence that states "this is legitimate" I think that is the scammers guilty conscience getting the better of them.

I do agree to run the company name through google, and also Rip Off Report to see what you find.

[BlakeMP]

Thanks for the advice, guys -- I can't believe a Google search didn't even occur to me.

[TNT]

I've done some checking into work-at-home offers and the only ones I've found that are legitimate pay the same or less as the job would pay if a person went to an office to work. That is, there are legimate at-home telephone CSR jobs -- and legitimate reasons to take them -- but the money is about the same as one would make having a full-time job with the company. (Actually, somewhat less because of benefits, the tax situation, and the fact that at-home CSRs are only paid for the time they're on the phone -- at work, I still get paid even if I spend 20 minutes doing nothing between calls).

If someone's really paying that much to process orders, chances are that you also have to find the people to place the orders (you have to place the ads) or the company is looking for someone to take responsibility for selling a shady product (We didn't sell that overseas pharmaceutical -- this work-at-home independent contractor did it!).

[BlakeMP]

Okay, forgetting the envelope stuffing scam or whatever the hell it is for a minute... I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine who is a teacher, and she tells me the high school she works at needs an English teacher at least until January, and she may be able to help me get the job!

Keep your fingers crossed, guys.

[Sphinx]

Good luck with everything!! I recently decided I want to do is be a teacher so thats what I'm going back to college for:D

[BlakeMP]

I've been thinking about it for a while (that's how I wound up as a substitute in the first place). The good news is there's a program where where you can teach uncertified and the schoolboard will pay for you to take night classes for your certification. I may wind up going that route.

[BlakeMP]

Yesterday I went to the School Board to fill out an application. I know they're accepting noncertified teachers right now, but the biiiiiig blank spaces where they asked for teaching qualifications left me feeling somewhat inadequate.

This morning, I got a phone call from my friend at the school. She tells me that there are now TWO English teacher spots open, so it's looking pretty good for me. Apparently, the state department of education has passed a new rule about noncertified teachers. They have to meet at least one of these three requirements:

1. Passed the Praxis exam. (Strike one.)
2. Hold a Masters Degree. (Strike two.)
3. Score at least a 22 on the ACT -- Slam! Home run! I've got a 29. (Here in the southeast and some other areas of the country, colleges go by ACT scores rather than SAT. It's on a 0-36 point scale.)

This afternoon, the principal calls me up and we chat for a little while. He wants me to come in tomorrow and then go to the school board office to take care of some paperwork, including my college transcript. Then I contact my college and find out that it takes two to three days to process my request for the transcript.

So yeah, I'm on a roller coaster.

[BlakeMP]

So... yeah.

I got the job.

I'm a teacher.

:runaway:

[TNT]

Congratulations!

[LostMyMind]

Now let us all pray for the kids.

Just kidding, grats BlakeMP

[BlakeMP]

I've already started praying. :D

Spent this afternoon on a woefully inadequate shopping trip. I've got the feeling this is gonna be a trial-and-error thing... every two days for a month I'll be stopping at the store for something or other I'll realize I need in the classroom.

[LostMyMind]

Make sure you have enough straitjackets and a tranquilizer gun. ;)

You'll need alot of pencils and papers. Alot more than you think you'll need. There always be someone who forgot theirs.

[BlakeMP]

Well, I survived my first week, and so did all my students. In fact, there's only one I think I would legitimately want to strangle. :LOL:

I'm actually happy with this. So far, at least.

Wish me luck!

[Sphinx]

Keep us informed so I will know what to look forward to :roll:

[BlakeMP]

A teacher in training? :) Well, best of luck to you.

Today I was exposed to my first Lesson Plans. Now those of you not in the teaching profession may imagine that a Lesson Plan is a clear, concise map of what subjects you are going to teach in class, and when. And that may be correct in a school system not controlled by a governmental entity, such as a private or parochial school or a school from Mars. But here, the Louisiana Department of Education requires that your Lesson Plans be written with GLE (Grade Level Expectation) language. The teacher who's kind of coaching me handed what amounts to an enormous (like 20-page) list of buzzwords to describe every possible topic that could come up in an English class. Then, just in case the buzzwords aren't confusing enough, the state requires that you distill each set of them into a seemingly random designation of letters and numbers.

The end result is that if you want to spend a day teaching, for example, fragment sentences, vocabulary words beginning with the prefix "Im" and a discussion of the short story "The Most Dangerous Game," your lesson plan may resemble something like this: ELA 37b; GRE 25q; USSR 1977; 12 bQl9; S&AHC2B; YRUStillREEDingTHIS?

Don't get me wrong -- one week in and I'm already feeling more worthwhile in this job than I did in five years at the newspaper, but MAN, the paperwork they give you is a load of bullcrap.

[LostMyMind]

:lol: Welcome to education by council. Too bad you can't get a teacher's pet to do the paperwork for you :D

[BlakeMP]

Teacher's pets? I don't know that those exist anymore... at least not in my class. The closest I have is the girl who amazed me today by actually having read a book I referenced. :D

[BlakeMP]

So today at work, I had one of the best moments since I've been at school. I've got copies of both of my novels in my classroom (yes, I am that vain) and one of my students was putting up a dictionary when he saw my picture on the back of one. He looked at it. Then he looked at me. Then he looked back at the book. Then he looked back at me. Then he said, "Your name is on that book."

"On the one next to it, too," I said.

I know they tell you not to let 'em see you smile until Christmas, but it was pretty damn hard not to then.

Then came one of the most frustrating moments at the job -- I wrote up my first behavior referral. My second period class has been seriously beefed up -- to the point where I've got more students than desks. And with the increase in numbers, so has there been an increase in talking. Now if it's just a little chatter, I'll tell a student politely to be quiet. But today went WAY beyond "a little chatter," so finally I told the entire class to keep quiet -- that I didn't want to hear another word from them until the bell rang. That's when one of 'em pushed me too far. Now this kid has been a problem since day one -- he's not just a talker, but he's rude, obnoxious and disrespectful. He never has his book, he never takes notes and he has yet to turn in a single homework assignment. What's more, when I tell him anything (or sometimes other people), he fires off a stupid little salute and says "Yes sir!" in a voice that would be appropriate for Bullwinkle. So when I told the class to be quiet and he fired off that "yes sir" -- well, that was the last straw. I called him to my desk, wrote up the behavior referral in full view of the rest of the class and sent him off to the office.

The rest of 'em didn't give me any more problems. Sad thing is, it was only about two minutes until the bell.

[LostMyMind]

Now you're in for it, those students of yours are going to look for mistakes in your book just to hold it over ya. Them :devil: you know. ;)