I have to say that I emphatically disagree with the last post about not paying for courses because you can get all the answers you need on a forum.

First, it shows the MSP that you are serious about what you do. If you are doing 40+ shops a week you want to stand out.

Secondly, some of the information you get on the forums may not be completely accurate. I am always surprised by the number of shoppers that think it is OK to post the name of a company that is being shopped. There are many reasons this is not OK and is addressed in the courses. For the MSPs, it alerts them to who is being shopped and it is much easier to steal a client than to try and educate a new one about mystery shopping. As well, many shoppers have other jobs and may see that their company is being shopped and alert their co-workers. And don't forget, schedulers scour these forums and they will see that you have posted and it could work against you.

Third, it is very energizing to take a course. It's stimulating even if you could answer all the questions without reading the material. It reminds you of the nuances of what we do and confirms what you are doing right. And even after doing thousands of shops, I still find new ways of approaching things.

Lastly, almost all the courses emphasize the importance of writing a good report. I have recruited several mystery shoppers and usually help them with their first shops. I am sometimes amazed at how badly they are written before editing.

I take all the courses I can, they are not very expensive and I feel I get a lot out of them.

Here is why I disagree:

Many MSC's have their own training and tests that they use to make sure that shoppers are prepared for their shops. Notice that iSS, though not an MSC, has its own training modules for free. Moreover, the quality of a shopper is not going to be judged on whether or not they have taking a training course. Rather, we are going to be judged by the quality of our work and our reliability. Once you have done five, ten, fifty shops for a particular company, they will know you by your work.

I've been doing this a while as a side job and have yet to pay for training, though I have taken quite a bit of the free training offered. Enough schedulers call me with regularity that I know they are happy with my work - and I frequently am able to request higher pay than what is offered. If you read the guidelines and take the required training, the MSC tells you everything you need to know. The exception would be if you need to improve your ability to write or if you need some help starting out with video equipment.

You are correct that not all information in a forum is accurate. However, it's not generally hard, in an active forum to discern fact from fiction.

MFJohnston that's some food for thought. Aren't some of the courses required for to qualify for certain types of shops? Like hidden camera shops?

Could you suggest some of the free courses you've found? Any that you found particularly helpful?

I am all about not spending money on anything that is not required.

Any guidance in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Patrick -

The courses you've found on iSS will give you what you need to be successful on the assignments advertised here. However, if you explore shopping outside of the iSS platform, you'll find that you can sign up for hundreds of companies. I do a lot of work for a company called EPMS. They have six or seven training videos specifically geared towards how they want their video shops done. These videos are found linked on your shopper interface to their page - and are completely free so long as you are registered with the company which, of course, is free.

I am with two companies that do new home video shops. One had a required three hour training which led me through everything they require their video shoppers to do. (I will not name the companies as, I believe, they prefer to recruit video shoppers once they have experience.) They pay from that company more than makes up for the long required training.

I would, honestly, start out with a forum.. This one is fine, but not particularly active. The "MysteryShopForum" is extremely active and, if you ask a legitimate question, you will likely get multiple answers within a couple of hours. There are folks that haunt that forum that have been shopping for better than 20 years. You will also find an entire section of that forum with information specifically designed for new shoppers. It covers all sorts of issues from finding new companies, avoiding scams, dealing with taxes and more.. Participating on that forum has been the single most helpful education that I have had about mystery shopping. Note: it is a public forum and they do not limit participation, so some of the threads can get interesting... They also have quite a few company owners and schedulers who participate actively.

I would add that, though I have not attended on, the conferences could be useful. Yes, they would have decent training (most of which you can get for free). However, they also would give you a chance to meet representatives from many mystery shopping companies and really learn what is available. I have not gone for a couple of reasons: I am not up to traveling 1,000 miles and leaving my family at home for a few days for a conference and I am too cheap to spend money on that. I'm satisfied with what I make as it is and am continuing to do better.

MF Johnston - I guess you and I just have philosophical differences of opinion on spending money on our chosen craft. I agree - getting shops is not hard, there are plenty to go around but I want as much diversity as I can get. My path has led me to a couple of the conferences and the fact that I was gold certified and had business cards available helped me stand out. Because of that I am now in the process of working with two companies to expand their business into Canada and it's interesting to see that side of it. I've also been involved in several pilot projects for new clients and the MSC's gain credibility by telling their clients that these are our best shoppers -they are gold certified. And if you can help gain a new client, you will get a lot of the better jobs, many that don't reach the job boards. So it all depends on what you want from the industry. Each shopper will have to determine for themselves what direction they want to go. It's not necessarily the training that you get with these courses, the fact that you made the commitment to do it speaks volumes.

I, too, am offered jobs that never reach job boards. This comes from consistently doing very high quality work and never flaking. I am not looking to be employed by company or involve myself in the expansion into new markets. I teach full time and shop in order to augment my salary. The vast majority of shoppers do this part time and are looking to earn money out of need more than anything. I would never suggest that a new shopper spend money for knowledge that can be attained for free when they are short on funds to begin with. I

am silver certified. I "earned" that after having performed about ten shops. .I have never seen a benefit from it. I've only filled in that certification for about half the company for which I have worked - and the ones for whom I get the best work are among those for whom I have not. Much of the best work I have gotten has been from being recruited. By performing well , a shoppers name and contact information does get passed around.

I see value in the conferences for the purpose of networking and meeting folks. This is different than looking for knowledge to improve our ability to perform shops. Were I looking to make this a career, I would make a point of attending conferences. However, I am not convinced that being "gold" or "silver" certified would be a necessary route - I have heard many arguments on both sides of this issue. I have no need for business cards - nor does any shopper who is not looking to delve into the world of MSC's. After all, this is "secret" shopping and a business card advertises.

As I said, we have a fundamental philosophical difference of opinion. Most of the conference is geared around classes with a short networking session at the beginning. And as far as business cards go, they don't have to advertise secret shopping. Mine simply have a graphic, my name and contact information. It is given only to MSC representatives and sometimes to other shoppers. It is in itself a form of networking. I am not saying that everyone needs to go my route but I would also not discourage them from doing it or from going the way you did. I think it is more fair to offer alternatives to those just starting out or those who have been in the industry for many years rather than saying there is only one best way to proceed. This is not a career for me. I am retired and always looking for new challenges. For me personally, if I could not have expanded beyond just doing shops I probably would have moved on to something else. I want to have input into how things are done and understand it from the MSC point of view. I love what I do, have a diversity of projects and have new challenges all the time.

I completely agree that there are many different paths to take in the world of mystery shopping and, in order to support the industry, folks need to go down each path. I don't disagree with you for the most part - nor do I think we have a fundamental philosophical difference of opinion.. My initial reply was largely responding to the notion of paying for training so as to improve shopping skills. This knowledge can be acquired for free - and therefore should be promoted openly by folks who are hoping to improve the quality of mystery shoppers. My impression of your first posts were that you were emphasizing the importance of paying four coursework for all shoppers. This is the point with which I disagree. There are, after all, multiple paths to take and they do not all involve traveling (often across the country) and/or paying for training and networking opportunities.

Experience can be your best teacher....

Where can I go to learn more about silver and gold certifications? What is the links? Thanks.