Beware of Employment Traps! Big Investments ≠ Big ReturnsPrint
March 3, 2010 | No Comments »Beware of Employment Traps! Big Investments ? Big Returns
? Be Careful if any company offers you a job with extraordinary generous commissions.
? Be Careful if any company offers you a job but asks you to pay for buying a great amount of their products/goods.
? Be Careful if the job requires you to pay a large sum of money to join the scheme and make profit through recruiting your friends, relatives and other as new members.
? Be Careful if the job involves hierarchical sharing of commission.
If you encounter any of the above situations, you may be fallen into the trap of pyramid selling.
Pyramid selling is a marketing trick of companies that try to make profit through the ways listed above. Victims of pyramid selling reported that they were persistently persuaded to borrow loans to buy products like wine, cosmetics and fragrance in prices relatively higher than the market prices. The victims were told they would be rewarded through commissions, and their careers in the business would advance. They were also convinced to ask friends and relatives to join the companies to earn commission. There was victim who even ended up with debts totaling HK$400,000.
You should refuse to accept the job if you have any query of falling into the trap of pyramid selling. You should:
1. Be cautious if the job requires you to sign up forms/document written in a language that you don’t fully understand
2. Be cautious if the job requires you to pay money to buy their products or join their scheme
3. Be cautious if the job offers only little or no basic salary but high commission
4. Be cautious if the company asks you for interview that only focuses on persuading you to buy products or pay money. If you feel something fishy about the job, do not hesitate to leave the premises.
The following links of the Labour Department can help you review some other notorious job traps in Hong Kong and strengthen your job hunting skills.
