what is the difference between MSPA, Jobslinger, Sassie, Prophet, Volition and CTCSS; and how do they interrelate with each other?

it seems like i'm required to register on dozens of different websites, and i don't even know what they all do, or how they are connected to each other. it gets very confusing. many of them send me emails too.

are there any other sites that i need to register with? what are the best sites to check for potential job assignments?

is there any way that i can simplify all of this?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2011 06:13PM by vince.

MSPA - Mystery Shopping Providers Association - the trade organization of the companies that hire you to perform shops. This is an organization that promotes shopping to clients on behalf of its member companies. It does little or nothing for shoppers, though I understand there is or was a forum over there and they do want to sell you certifications that are of questionnable usefulness.

Jobslinger - a free service (as opposed to JobslingerPlus which is fee based) that can assist you in finding companies that have recently posted work in your area. It pulls information from those SASSIE companies that choose to participate, from the Volition job board, from the MSPA job board and from a few other sites. It is owned and operated by the same folks who own/operate the SASSIE software service.

SASSIE - a prepackaged software that can be bought/rented on a fee for services basis by mystery shopping companies for purposes of providing a platform to interface with shoppers. It includes registration, job board, shop log and communication tools.

Prophet and ShopMetrics and ClientSmart are alternative software platforms for companies to use that provide them similar shopper interface to the SASSIE platform.

Volition - another shopper forum which is moderated, often heavy handedly. It is a good research resource to see other shopper experience with companies.

CTCSS - is an outside scheduling company. Generally outside schedulers do not create jobs but simply advertise and schedule them for companies that are too small or are otherwise unable to schedule shops themselves. There are a number of other scheduling services out there as well as free lance independent schedulers. Ultimately the scheduling companies are evidently not responsible for misrepresentations to shoppers or for payments to shoppers.

How do they interact? Well, not all legitimate companies have chosen to be members of the trade association and not all members of the trade association are good companies to work with. The MSPA will never stand up for shoppers as their 'client' is the companies we work with.

Jobslinger is a 'quick and dirty' tool to find some companies that have had shops in your area in the recent past. Those shops are generally taken already if they are not dogs, but it does give you an idea of companies to sign up with so that you will receive emails when jobs are available or have access to their job boards to look for work.

In order to do on line reporting, all companies need to have some platform to send and receive information. I work with several companies that uses email for that purpose. Some companies have websites they have developed for proprietary use (think Maritz, Sinclair, Market Force, Gapbuster, Corporate Research, etc.). Many SASSIE companies appear to be one or two person companies with limited amounts of work or a small branch of a company mostly engaged in other ventures. It is convenience they are paying for, whether it is a SASSIE platform or some other platform. These websites typically also provide the companies with reporting options to their clients.

Volition, as another forum, can provide you with a second opinion or discussions of companies that may not be discussed here.

Some of these seem to be 'in bed with' other ones, but as an IC it is your choice where and with whom you wish to work.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MSPA - Mystery Shopping Providers Association -
> the trade organization of the companies that hire
> you to perform shops. This is an organization
> that promotes shopping to clients on behalf of its
> member companies. It does little or nothing for
> shoppers, though I understand there is or was a
> forum over there and they do want to sell you
> certifications that are of questionnable
> usefulness.
>

okay, i'm registered with the MSPA with a silver certification. is there any way that i can get a list of their main clients, so that i could apply for each client separately? would this be a good course of action for me?

> Jobslinger - a free service (as opposed to
> JobslingerPlus which is fee based) that can assist
> you in finding companies that have recently posted
> work in your area. It pulls information from
> those SASSIE companies that choose to participate,
> from the Volition job board, from the MSPA job
> board and from a few other sites. It is owned and
> operated by the same folks who own/operate the
> SASSIE software service.
>

i keep on getting advertisements from jobslinger to subscribe to their paid service? is it worth it? or are there better options?

> SASSIE - a prepackaged software that can be
> bought/rented on a fee for services basis by
> mystery shopping companies for purposes of
> providing a platform to interface with shoppers.
> It includes registration, job board, shop log and
> communication tools.
>
> Prophet and ShopMetrics and ClientSmart are
> alternative software platforms for companies to
> use that provide them similar shopper interface to
> the SASSIE platform.
>

i like the sassie system because it has a spellcheck for the questionnaires. prophet doesn't seem to provide this. i haven't yet used anything other than sassie and prophet. i really prefer the spellcheck option.

> Volition - another shopper forum which is
> moderated, often heavy handedly. It is a good
> research resource to see other shopper experience
> with companies.
>

i also see potential assignments posted there, but i can probably just go through the sassie system, right? or will i miss some volition ads if i only go through sassie?

> CTCSS - is an outside scheduling company.
> Generally outside schedulers do not create jobs
> but simply advertise and schedule them for
> companies that are too small or are otherwise
> unable to schedule shops themselves. There are a
> number of other scheduling services out there as
> well as free lance independent schedulers.
> Ultimately the scheduling companies are evidently
> not responsible for misrepresentations to shoppers
> or for payments to shoppers.
>

okay. do they all advertise through sassie?

Not all good companies are members of the MSPA and not all MSPA members even shop in the US. I feel sure there is some list of MSPA member companies on their website, but there are also lists of companies here and at Volition.com to sign up with.

JobslingerPlus and many other folks would LOVE to have you pay them for their services. There are even some companies that hint if you pay them money you will see more jobs. Send me money and I'll keep answering your posts (just kidding). Keep you wallet closed. There is no reason for you to pay one cent to anybody to shop. Some folks feel that spending money for this or that has been very beneficial for them and I just wonder. When I have spent good money on a mediocre movie it is hard to admit that I was just robbed. Your best bet is to get signed up with some companies, watch their job boards, accept some jobs, do them well and build your reputation. Companies you are signed up with will often send you emails when jobs post. You will learn when some companies tend to post their jobs so you aren't checking 3 times a day during those parts of the month when they don't post.

If you are concerned about your spelling, type your narratives in Word and then copy and paste them into the form. You really don't want to limit your employment options and opportunities just because of a form. I don't remember off the top of my head if Prophet has a spell checker, but whether a form provides one should not be a determining factor of what companies you work with.

SASSIE does not have an overall job board. Each company has a job board and the basic Jobslinger website pulls jobs from SASSIE companies that choose to participate, and it ALSO pulls jobs from the Volition job board and the MSPA job board. So just the basic free Jobslinger should provide you jobs from all three.

If an independent scheduling company uses the SASSIE reporting system (such as Kern does) then there is an opportunity for them to have their postings show up on Jobslinger. I don't believe that CTCSS uses the SASSIE reporting system, so if their jobs appear on Jobslinger it probably is because they have posted them on the Volition job board.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not all good companies are members of the MSPA and
> not all MSPA members even shop in the US. I feel
> sure there is some list of MSPA member companies
> on their website, but there are also lists of
> companies here and at Volition.com to sign up
> with.
>

okay, thanks. i will search here and at volition.com for companies.

> JobslingerPlus and many other folks would LOVE to
> have you pay them for their services. There are
> even some companies that hint if you pay them
> money you will see more jobs. Send me money and
> I'll keep answering your posts (just kidding).
> Keep you wallet closed. There is no reason for
> you to pay one cent to anybody to shop. Some
> folks feel that spending money for this or that
> has been very beneficial for them and I just
> wonder. When I have spent good money on a
> mediocre movie it is hard to admit that I was just
> robbed. Your best bet is to get signed up with
> some companies, watch their job boards, accept
> some jobs, do them well and build your reputation.
> Companies you are signed up with will often send
> you emails when jobs post. You will learn when
> some companies tend to post their jobs so you
> aren't checking 3 times a day during those parts
> of the month when they don't post.
>

then i won't spend the money. i just have to find the right companies. i wonder if there is a basic master list somewhere. the jobslinger recruiterator list that i've been using doesn't give all of the prime companies.

> If you are concerned about your spelling, type
> your narratives in Word and then copy and paste
> them into the form. You really don't want to
> limit your employment options and opportunities
> just because of a form. I don't remember off the
> top of my head if Prophet has a spell checker, but
> whether a form provides one should not be a
> determining factor of what companies you work
> with.
>

thanks, i'll just use the word document first then for spellchecking.

> SASSIE does not have an overall job board. Each
> company has a job board and the basic Jobslinger
> website pulls jobs from SASSIE companies that
> choose to participate, and it ALSO pulls jobs from
> the Volition job board and the MSPA job board. So
> just the basic free Jobslinger should provide you
> jobs from all three.
>

okay, i'll use that too then.

> If an independent scheduling company uses the
> SASSIE reporting system (such as Kern does) then
> there is an opportunity for them to have their
> postings show up on Jobslinger. I don't believe
> that CTCSS uses the SASSIE reporting system, so if
> their jobs appear on Jobslinger it probably is
> because they have posted them on the Volition job
> board.

okay, thanks again.

There really are limited shortcuts. It takes time to build up your business, just as it takes time to build up any small business. When folks want to jump in and only work for the "high paying companies", it is sort of like a beginning building contractor only wanting to build luxury home in the $5 million category. There certainly is more potential profit in them, but there is also a level of experience needed to get it right and the potential for huge losses if you don't.

My absolute favorite companies to work with rarely need to advertise on job boards. They have few enough jobs that they are rarely discussed on forums because so few shoppers ever work with them due to the limited locations they shop. Their work is demanding, but the pay is commensurate. One of them hasn't had work in my area for two years, yet they still categorize as one of my favorite companies to work with, and I know that if they get a client in my area again, we will be in touch. Only one of these companies is a member of the MSPA.

Then there are the companies that don't fall in the absolute favorite category, but are quite decent to work with. I find that most of these use the Prophet system, though some use ClientSmart or their own proprietary software. Some do advertise on job boards, some don't. Some are members of the MSPA, some aren't. Many of them are discussed on forums, some with seemingly endless complaints by shoppers.

It really comes down to looking at the job boards of the companies and you can only do that by being signed up. Jobslinger or public job boards are just a little helper to get started. They are a quick way to find SOME of the companies with work in your area. You need to be aware that more often than not, jobs hit the non-company job boards when there are no available shoppers in an area or the job is such a dog that nobody wants it for the fee offered. You will also discover quickly which of the companies you sign up with email when they have anything in your area or only when they have shops they can't get anyone to take.

If you want shopping to work for you, you cannot bypass the step of signing up with companies and watching THEIR job boards. Over time you will discover which boards to check and when. I have one company I begin to check daily about the 20th of the month. Another posts generally on or about the 25th. Another posts on the 30th, while still another posts around the 5th. Some tell you when to expect postings, others do not. Check your state beyond your immediate area. Make a note of who they are shopping. If none of those clients are in your area, it probably makes little sense to check their job board regularly. Over time you will figure out how to optimize your time in searching.

As far as spell check is concerned IE, Chrome and Firefox have built-in spellcheckers. The misspelled words are underlined. You can then right click on the word and the browser will suggest alternate spellings.

Just a small rule of thumb....you should never have to pay to become a mystery shopper. Best you can do is email each company and ask questions. And just to clarify MSPA, they do have a board where all different shops are posted. And you can search by entering your city and how far you are willing to travel to see what is available in your area. This can be done without signing up with them. Good luck!

Emma A. Valdivieso
Project Manager
Phone: 888-300-8292 extension 209
Email: emma@mysteryshopperservices.com
Website: www.mysteryshopperservices.com
MY Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (PST)

LIKE us on FACEBOOK
[www.facebook.com]

I would also add the MSJobBoard to this list.

www.msjobboard.com is a board that has live updates of all the jobs on the companies that post to it. They update every 5 minutes, so for the most part, the jobs you see are jobs that are available for you to take.

It is still in the Beta test phase right now, with 12 companies posting work, but when we launch the website it will have at least 30 different MSCs posting. The goal is to be the "one-stop-shop"

I really like the mapping feature

Aeding Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would also add the MSJobBoard to this list.
>
> www.msjobboard.com is a board that has live
> updates of all the jobs on the companies that post
> to it. They update every 5 minutes, so for the
> most part, the jobs you see are jobs that are
> available for you to take.
>
> It is still in the Beta test phase right now, with
> 12 companies posting work, but when we launch the
> website it will have at least 30 different MSCs
> posting. The goal is to be the "one-stop-shop"
>
> I really like the mapping feature

thanks for mentioning this.

Alex I like your site. More than jobslinger - most of their postings are 'stale'.

Emma Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just a small rule of thumb....you should never have to pay to become a mystery shopper. Best you can do is email each
> company and ask questions. And just to clarify MSPA, they do have a board where all different shops are posted. And you
> can search by entering your city and how far you are willing to travel to see what is available in your area. This can be
> done without signing up with them. Good luck!
>
> Emma A. Valdivieso
> Project Manager
> Phone: 888-300-8292 extension 209
> Email: emma@mysteryshopperservices.com
> Website: www.mysteryshopperservices.com
> MY Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (PST)
>
> LIKE us on FACEBOOK
> [www.facebook.com]-
> Services/15200759977#!/pages/Business-Evaluation-Services-Mystery-Shopper-Services/177047345664549


I joined you based on this post. Now I will see if you guys are OK. -- I. L. Banks