Evaluating Alternative Ways Of Making A Living In A Downturn Ways You Can Tell Between Good Opportunities And Dodgy Schemes

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August 28, 2010

The existing economic downturn brings to mind the situation in the early eighties, a time of equally high joblessless statistics as at the current time. From 1980 onwards the country experienced a sharp contraction in manufacturing industry, so that a lot of older industrial jobs vanished or were very hard to find. It is fascinating to note the similarities between that period, and current conditions, looking at the kinds of dodgy opportunities that I saw offered, and are resurfacing once more today, a high proportion of these being sales positions, that nobody would have any interest in, if real vacancies were not so scarce.

And yet, there are contrasts between the two periods, as a result of the development of Internet business and an increasing number of worthwhile online jobs to be had at the current time, that were not available in the eighties. Although the the suggestion that people can work from home has not only just emerged, the Web significantly increases the number of options for doing so.

I do not deny that there are lucrative opportunities selling things or working for yourself, however it is crucial to tell such positions apart from frankly exploitative roles, and shun positions promoting something dubious. Once in the eighties I attended an interview with an employer promoting a new business directory. I was supposed to visit businesses getting them to purchase an entry in this. I concluded that this supposed directory had a fairly shadowy existence, and decided not to take up the vacancy. In fact, the directory never saw the light of day.

In another example I enquired about a position marketing a financial scheme, and was requested to turn up at a hotel for an interview. It is quite common for employers to rent hotel space for the purposes of interviews. However, when I got there, I found this company actually had an office in the hotel. Before they agreed to hire me, I was expected to to sell five policies, to people in my circle of friends. To put it another way, they were not interested in me, but in my contacts. Needless to say I decided not to take that up.

Then there were the door-to-door sales jobs which I tried out. The majority of people find doorstep salemen irritating, and it was a markedly dispiriting experience. Occupants may find various disagreeable ways to tell you they don’t want to buy your product. I also tried my hand at selling by phone, which was better in once sense since I could work from home, but this was even worse than door-to-door sales. It’s a lot easier to put the phone down on a cold caller than to shut a front door when they’re standing on the doorstep.

The door-to-door job adverts are less common now since many neighbourhoods have been declared ‘no cold calling’ districts, and most of the telesales positions have been moved to India. Nevertheless, this year I applied for a vacancy in market research, which I predicted would be more suitable since it did not involve selling anything. However, I discovered that very few people were interesting in taking part in the survey, and some simply put down the phone straight away. I gave that up after a day.

Therefore, with conventional paid work continuing to be scarce, what other types of opportunity are worthwhile? After I tried out various dud jobs I then found out about Internet business opportunities. You will find some promoted on various online jobs boards, but there are also websites dedicated to the field of Internet business itself. Positions like these enable you to work from home, so there is no requirement to move to another part of the country. Some opportunities may necessitate a certain amount of investment, but I know from my own experience that online jobs are definitely better than selling stuff by cold calling. Since I entered this area a while ago, I have never personally looked back.

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