MSCs asking for Work History and References just to sign up?

Is this common these days? I was filling out a sign up form for Caliber (soon to be Interactions Marketing), but I backed out of it when I came across two items. I thought I’d ask about it here first.

They want your employers from the last ten years and two references. I wonder why they want this information and whether they would contact people in my personal life. It doesn’t seem right to me.

Then while I was composing this post, I got a response from Market Force about reactivating my account. It was deactivated due to inactivity quite some time ago. Anyway, they are asking for employment history in the last 5 years and explanations for any gaps.

Are many of the MSCs asking for such information to sign up now?

"All we want are the facts." Sgt. Joe Friday

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2013 06:53PM by goldilox.

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I'm getting back into the business again and I've noticed some MSC's asking what MS companies I work for now. I haven't been asked for references yet or my employers from the last ten years. Isn't it odd in a way, since we're considered independent contractors that they're asking for your personal information? Anyway, I haven't been denied by any companies and started right back into MSing with all companies except one without giving them any info.

-Yeah We all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun. -John Lennon.

I've had a couple ask me to upload a resume.

I want the work so I comply. Why would I want to keep my work history a secret? They may be looking for a history of reliability and work ethic. They are putting a lot of TRUST into us -- into people they've never met and likely never will meet. I even paid for a background check for one company because of the sensitive nature of the work. They need to be sure that whoever they sent out on their behalf is someone they are pretty sure they can rely upon to be honest and conscientious and do a good job.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

It's also possible that they may have specialized work requiring special skills and they're running keyword searches on the resumes to see if some of their shoppers are qualified.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

I've had companies do more intensive profiles on me after hiring which then helped them "niche" me into certain areas for jobs. I always have a resume handy should they need one. It certainly doesn't hinder you to have one.

-Yeah We all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun. -John Lennon.

I have just started but it seems to me that you could simply not put anything related to MSing in the work history. The one I did that required that used an example of being a stay at home parent for a few years.

We're talking about mystery shopping companies asking for resumes, not about applying for other jobs. I tell people I am a business consultant, which is really what we are except we only give information, not advice. "Customer service auditor" is another good term to use to describe mystery shopping, or on-site business evaluations. There's a thread somewhere about different terms people use to describe it.

I wouldn't fill out a resume for a "real" job and leave out the wealth of experience we gain by mystery shopping.

But that's not what OP was asking about. They were asking about shopping companies wanting our work history before they let us shop for them.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

One issue with supplying work references to MSC's would be if they called them. many of us apply to over a hundred MSC's. I wouldn't want any reference to be called that many times.

Plus, the MSC's are not hiring us, they are using our skills as Independent Contractors. It isn't reasonable of them to expect us to go through the same lengthy process we would go through to be hired, but not offer us the same benefits an employee would be offered. Some companies want us to act like employees when it suits them, but want to treat us as IC's when that is more convenient.

We are always free not to answer any questions they ask, but they are also free not to use us for shops.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

I sure do appreciate all the responses here. You have all made good points. After reading this I have come to the conclusion that my sense of boundaries is a little bit stringent.
That’s why I asked the forum here. I suspected that I was being a touch too guarded. I guess I just need to accept that the industry has changed over the last few years.

Thanks for the input.

"All we want are the facts." Sgt. Joe Friday

CeriseMaross Wrote:
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> I've
> noticed some MSC's asking what MS companies I work
> for now.

I won't divulge that information. Other forum members have stated that they won't list the MSCs they work for, either.

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Owner
Summit Scheduling and Editing

I've always listed them but maybe I'll start just saying "Market Force" (which pretty much everyone shops for at some point) and "19 others" instead of listing all 20 that I've actually shopped for. I wonder why they ask anyway unless they're trying to weed out people who are just looky-loos, or employees trying to get access to the information so they'll know when they're going to be shopped.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

The employees who are going to be shopped don't have access to the MS company's database, so it definitely isn't that. In most cases it is to make sure that there isn't a conflict of interest between the location being shopped and the shopper's past work history.

Owner
Summit Scheduling and Editing

I was thinking of them signing up with the MSC for their company, so they can SEE the jobs and the dates, and notice when the job for THEIR store disappears from the board, so they know it's assigned and what the range of dates was.

Not to see the database, just the jobs listing.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

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MSCs asking for Work History and References just to sign up?

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