While you go about your business as a mystery shopper, you likely feel a sense of seclusion and isolation in your job. You don’t have co-workers to interact with around the water cooler, and you have very little contact with your supervisor. There isn’t any after-work gossip at the local bar or the camaraderie of a regular lunch bunch at the noon hour. Somewhere within the regular gossip and chatter that goes on with co-workers in other types of jobs, there is actually some value that you can gain and improve yourself as a worker. With mystery shopping, you may feel you are missing out on this aspect of a traditional job.
Luckily, this is not the case! As a mystery shopper, you can also experience the value and friendship of co-workers, although in a slightly different setting. There are several great on-line forums or communities you can join and become an active member in, specifically for mystery shoppers.
Enjoy A Sense Of Community. When you become an active, contributing member of an online mystery shopping community, it is the equivalent of chatting with co-workers around the water cooler. You will feel a sense of community with other mystery shoppers. With one mystery shopper’s gripe, another shopper may share a solution to that problem.
Don’t just sit on the sidelines and read through the forum posts. Get involved by posting your own questions or thoughts on your job as a shopper. You will be a happier mystery shopper when you know there are others out there who share you same thoughts, concerns, and feelings.
Get The Latest Scoop. In addition to enjoying an improved attitude about your job in general by becoming an active member of an online community, you can also gain some great knowledge and insight from other shoppers. If you have been looking for new providers to work with, don’t by shy about posting a question on the forum about other shoppers’ experiences with a few of the providers you are interested in.
If you’ve had ongoing issues with one provider or scheduler, share your frustration with other shoppers and see if anyone has a solution or has had a similar experience. Online communities are great place to get the latest and greatest news about your industry.
Heads Up! Mystery shoppers are unfortunately in a position to be involved in more scams than the average worker. With the majority of our assignments coming from the internet rather than from a supervisor in a nearby cubicle, it may sometimes be difficult to discern which assignments are bogus and which ones are legitimate. Once you’ve found a few legitimate providers to work with, you may be content sticking with those. However, if you ever want or need to branch out and increase your income, you’ll need to try out some new providers. The MSPA is a great source for locating information on possible scams. However, even the MSPA may not have the most current information that mystery shoppers out in the field have.
Mystery shoppers love to talk about their experiences with other shoppers, especially to warn them about possible scams. So keep your eyes on the forums for the latest news on potential scams to avoid.
There is so much you can gain as a mystery shopper from not only visiting the online mystery shopping communities but also from becoming an active and contributing member in one.