“Will this be a stupid reason to quit my job?” — Employee says his boss instructs him to post “white lie” job listings to recruit insurance agents

SINGAPORE: An employee has been instructed by his employer to post job listings for admin and marketing roles to covertly recruit insurance agents instead.

In a post on r/askSingapore, the employee shared his distress over being compelled to post these misleading job ads for an insurance company and contact unsuspecting candidates for interviews under false pretences.

“I told him [boss] that I’m not comfortable with it as it is a form of deception and he told me that it’s a white lie since nobody will be interested in the job if I posted truthfully,” the employee wrote.

“He also mentioned that he won’t force the people he is interviewing to join the industry, so it’s not as bad as I think,” the employee added.

The employee then asked, “Will this be a stupid reason to quit my job?”

The employee, however, refused to reveal which insurance company he worked for, expressing concern that doing so could lead to legal consequences.

“This is why no one trusts insurance agents.”

In the discussion thread, many netizens revealed they had fallen victim to the same ‘bait and switch tactic’ before. They shared that interviewers often assured them this was just a temporary arrangement.

They were promised that after a short period of working in the insurance field, they could transition into the promised admin or marketing roles once those positions became available.

One netizen recalled a specific instance where an agency advertised a job as a management or marketing trainee position. Eager to pursue this opportunity, he applied and was eventually invited for an interview.

However, when he met with the firm’s director, he was informed that the trainee role he had initially applied for was no longer available. Instead, the director offered him a different position as a ‘wealth manager’ to sell insurance.

He continued, “I was taken aback as I was not interested in selling insurance at all, then he say all sort of things like you see your prospect here will be good, look at the building our office we are in. Then tried to psycho me to join, in the end I still said no.”

Another netizen revealed that he went to an interview for a data specialist role a few weeks ago, only to find out that the position was actually for a management trainee at an insurance company.

He said, “I cross-checked with my friend and he mentioned that many companies are using this method nowadays, using hiring agencies and masking job postings with generic titles/job descriptions in order to generate potential hiring leads.”

Others also criticized this recruitment tactic, saying it wastes candidates’ time.

One netizen said, “This is why no one trusts insurance agents. Like word on my mother would you trust anyone who tries to do this with anything related to your life insurance?”

Another commented, “Actually I don’t quite understand this recruiting class tactic. Isn’t it quite obvious that if the person is looking for marketing or admin job, he will not take your job offer? Then both side waste time and effort in the end.”

Several netizens also told the employee that it would not be ‘stupid’ or unreasonable if he quit his job because of this deceptive practice. They emphasized that if his values and ethical standards conflict with his employer’s practices, it’s a valid and legitimate reason to leave the role.

Read also: Employee says his boss told him “you’re paid higher than the rest” after he wanted to resign; claims his boss is guilt-tripping him to stay

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