Before I even began MS, I read a ton of suggestions here on MSF, so I know that rule #1 is to apply to as many MSC's as possible. In just one weeks time I have already had great luck with about 5 MSC's and found some work in my area (30 miles from home is my limit). But I have gone through the application process with about 15 other MSC's....including the essay questions, personal background, etc....just to find out that there are no shops even remotely close to me- even within 60 miles.

I am only applying to MSC's that are listed on this forum. Is there a way to find out if the company generally works in my area before going through the application process unnecessarily? Or should I just keep plugging away and apply anywhere and everywhere and hope for the best?

Thanks for any help :-)

I wish I could tell you there is a really easy way but there isn't. Going on JobSlinger would give you an idea of which companies have jobs in your area. By time time you see the postings on JobSlinger, the jobs are long gone, so you won't get actual jobs from JobSlinger. But it would tell you which companies are posting assignments in your area and you could then sign up with those companies and be ready when they post more jobs.

If you have signed up with 20 companies in only one week and already found work with 5 of them, you're not doing bad. That 25% of the companies you have applied with. And, if you have only been doing it a week, some of the other 15 may actually have work in your area but it may have not been posted within the week. A lot of companies only post their assignments once a month and their job boards stay empty for a lot of the month. You may get e-mails in a week or two from some of the others as they post later in the month.

Try to speed up the application process as much as you can. Except for the companies requiring tests (and you can postpone taking the tests with most companies), there are usually only two narrative questions: one is usually a short one-paragraph job history and the other is a sample narrative of your best (or worst) restaurant or retail experience. Type both of those in a Word document and save them. You can use the same ones for most of your applications. Some browsers will auto-fill your personal information - FireFox and Chrome both do for me - or download RoboForm. You can shorten the process of registering with a new company to almost nothing.

AustinMom, thanks so much for that detailed response! Your suggestions are awesome and I appreciate them. It's funny that you mentioned the restaurant narrative....just today, after rewriting the same silly narrative on 4 applications I asked myself why didn't I just write it in Word and cut and paste?! Duh....:-)

Jobslinger was a brand new idea I hadn't seen before...I will definitely try that. Thank you!

Hugs*

Google is also your friend. If there is a shop you are interested in doing go to a google search, you can usually find the name of the mystery shopping company. Just don't ask on the forum what companies shop who as we cannot divulge D/T IC contracts - but there are always ways to find out. Good Luck!

Coyle has shops all over, so chances are there is something near you. We also have inquiry and/or reservation calls that you can do completely from home. Check us out at [www.coylehospitality.com]

Hi, who-am-i. You can also sign up at msjobboard.com, which is an aggregator for companies on the Shopmetrics reporting platform, like Jobslinger is for those companies on Sassie. On each of those sites, be sure to go through the list of linked MSCs and sign up with them. You never know when a client will suddenly pop up in your area or switch MSCs.

iSecretShop.com is a good source. Various MSCs use their platform and it's a one stop shop.

Sign up for your account, log in and go to Agreements. That's where you will see all the MSCs. Sign the ICAs for the ones you are interested in and then do your profile.

Thanks everyone, I've followed your suggestions and they were dead on! Once I found local jobs on Jobslinger and msjobboard (regardless of the job, actually), I went ahead and signed up with that company. Now I see I have lots and lots of work not only close by, but right here in my town! Thanks again everyone...:-)