Understanding the Purpose Behind Paid Interview Solicitations

Random question: I get solicitations all the time for paid interviews saying they want to learn more about the industry I’m in. This happens far too often (2-4 a month) to be legitimate but, I am curious what their angle is?

44 comments

Miles Goldstein
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I would just be cautious. Research to ensure they are a legitimate firm, and do not provide them your banking information. Worst case, they may be phishing for financial or related info. Best case, you are getting paid for something many of us do for free.
sh
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This is a big trend for investment companies - "expert advice" is the new "AI" startup.
sh
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The best part is it's a write off! Because "consulting" is a write off, so why not build an entire business model on soemthing you can legally claim as a loss?
Jenny Chudy
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Oh yeah i knew it was a scam of some kind but that makes a lot of sense!
sh
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I have a lot of experience in this area lol
Henry Dunn
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I’ve done a number of these interviews, specifically about Assembled and Zendesk. Agree that you should make sure they are real. I put my rate at $250/hr and had several calls, so when it works it’s nice!
Mariena Quintanilla
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These can definitely be legit but most people I’ve spoken with have found that the volume isn’t there combined with expertise fit for it to be worth their time. I’ve know a couple people that do them a few times a year though.
Erica
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Just agreeing with Henry’s pricing, that’s my expectation as well. They can be legit! I’ve done a few of them. I’ve also traded other things, a founder gave me a year of LinkedIn premium for 30 minutes of my time. Like alright boss you got it
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Jenny Chudy
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Interesting. Maybe I’ll give it a whirl but I genuinely think some of them at least are fishy
Erica
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oh yeah BE SKEPTICAL
Erica
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but some of them do pay without stealing your identity
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Mariena Quintanilla
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if in doubt post the company name here to see if anyone has worked with them. people do that in fractional united and a CTO group I'm in semi regularly
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Erica
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Yessss we love backchanneling!
mercer
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Yep. Just seconding Henry and Erica.
Mario Guisado
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One note, if you’re a freelancer, there’s little risk, beyond them stealing your identity. However, often this is done to gain competitive information. The research is conducted on behalf of a company trying to understand what their competitors do and glean some otherwise unavailable info. Tread carefully.
Henry Dunn
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Some people get their identity stolen by doing these calls???
Erica
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Yeah when they pay you and want your banking info 🥲 hasn’t happened to me but def almost happened a couple times
Henry Dunn
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Good lord. People these days smh
Erica
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It’s happening out in the regular job market too.
Jenny Chudy
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Follow up on this. How do you all feel "safe" getting paid from these sorts of things? Old school check? Venmo/Cash App? I have an offer for $400/hr so I'm at least going to explore it.
Jenny Chudy
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It definitely sounds like a competitor wanting to know what folks in the industry do (for the place I just left) so, I don't mind answering generic questions but nothing that would get me in trouble as my old company seemed very very litigious.
sh
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DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR BANK INFO
sh
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They should be using tremendous or a similar service for payment
Erica
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I typically use bill.com or similar
Jenny Chudy
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yeahhhhh. They said they either have a direct deposit form or can mail me a physical check
Jenny Chudy
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I will absolutely not give my bank info
sh
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no way
Jenny Chudy
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they did say they could send an invoice?
Jenny Chudy
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i dunno. this just feels anxiety inducing lol
Jenny Chudy
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I don't even want to give out my address. Am I too paranoid?
Erica
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Look it doesn’t hurt to be skeptical, imo
Erica
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Don’t think of it as paranoia. Anyone who is legit will understand and not be weird about it. If you ask for a more secure form of payment and they’re weird about it then you have your answer
Jenny Chudy
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ok. The company is this: https://www.alphasights.com/
Mario Guisado
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My take, sign a contract (esig), then use something like email transfer for payment. Just make sure you understand the terms. You can always start a consulting company and use email as your “address”. At some point you do have to trust.
Mario Guisado
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Did a bit of reading and Alphsights is a real org that does pay. Saying that, there probably are some scams impersonating them.
Henry Dunn
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Alpha sights is legit. I have two close friends who work there and run the teams who organize the calls. I just have them send me a check tho
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Erica
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Look that this feedback looooooop
Jenny Chudy
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This is awesome! Thanks everyone!
Jenny Chudy
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One more question: I worry about inadvertently disclosing something confidential. I wouldn't do it purposefully of course, but what if I accidentally did without realizing it? How would my previous employer know? The guy I spoke with said they have the client and me both sign contracts with terms of engagement that would keep me as an anonymous contributor, but since this is my first time, I just want to be sure I'm not wandering into something dumb.
Erica
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Just be careful and use your common sense honestly. If you have any hesitations about a specific answer, let them know you can’t answer due to NDA. I’m sure it comes up all the time
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Mariena Quintanilla
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They don't want you do divulge something confidential either and in my experience say so explicitly. I see it as looking for someone who will speak to industry trends in broad strokes and may know a lot happening that is public info and can bring it all together in a way someone just googling would struggle to do.
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Jenny Chudy
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ok thank you both. I'm reading through the terms now and it seems to coincide with what you both are saying.
Erica
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I say go for it! Let us know how it goes
Jenny Chudy
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Will do 🙂

Understanding the Purpose Behind Paid Interview Solicitations | ElevateCX