I have started to find out more and more about jobs that require you to put money up front in order to do them. Many of the “home business opportunities” that you find online require you to put money upfront in order to start working or you have to pay a membership fee in order to see the job postings. Another place that I have seen this is at temporary agencies. A lot of them charge you a fee to apply or they charge you a fee to be given access to their job listings.
Is that really what it’s come to? Do you really have to pay people for the opportunity to work? Are there really so few jobs in today’s market that we have come to the point that we have to write a check in order to get a paycheck?
I just don’t agree with that. The last I checked, you work to MAKE money. If you are looking for a job, you probably don’t have any funds to put towards paying to work anyway. Besides, the job market is just not that tight. I’m sure some of you are shaking your heads when I say that, but I believe it’s true. I’m not saying that the market isn’t tight in certain fields or that in certain areas it isn’t difficult to find employment. However, I would argue that someone who wants to work can find a job. It may not be your ideal job – we’ve all had to do our share of delivering pizzas or working as clerks in department stores. The point is, you’d be much better off doing one of those jobs and bringing in a small wage than paying for the ability to job hunt.
What I tell my students is that they are certainly welcome to pursue any jobs that they see fit. However, for myself, I don’t think that I should have to pay to get a job. The job market is always changing, but I don’t think it’s changed that much.