Your Career as a Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping or secret shopping is a great way to secure outside income and enhance your resume. A mystery shopper is someone who provides normally a retail, restaurant, grocery store, or convenience store establishment an impartial evaluation on their location's performance regarding customer service, in-stock product, cleanliness, and the customer experience. Sometimes shoppers are asked to visit a location to take pictures of a display or a new grocery freezer for the competition.

Companies who recruit and provide mystery shop services to these retail companies have come under fire because of work at home and get rich quick scams that prey on people who are looking for a quick way to make a buck or are lured into signing up for a program by paying a fee. Reputable mystery shop companies never require a fee. They pay you after you complete a shop. There are a number of resources on the internet that provide how to's and guidelines for shoppers that are interested in getting paid to shop. The Mystery Shoppers Manual is one such resource. Cathy Stucker's website provides an online directory of legitimate mystery shopping companies as well as tips and guidelines on how to write shopper reviews and how to actually apply to companies online.

When adding your experience as a mystery shopper to your resume consider doing the following:

• Refrain from using the words Mystery or Secret Shopper. Since people often associate scams with mystery shopping, consider using the title of Service Evaluator, Customer Service Consultant, Marketing Researcher and others.
• Refrain from listing each individual company and shop you completed. Consider choosing a name for your Customer Service Evaluation Company such as "Retail Expressions" or "JMM Consulting." As a mystery shopper, you will be paid as an independent contractor for the mystery shop company you work for. I recommend listing it on your resume as something like this.

Retail Expressions. Atlanta, GA. Dec 2008-present. Marketing Researcher.

• Have your pitch ready. Be prepared to provide an explanation and articulate your skills as a Marketing Researcher. What did you do, the scope of your projects, and what type of research was involved? A great mystery shopper isn't just a mystery shopper, they are an important part of the research, marketing, and evaluation process a company goes through when evaluating the level of service a company provides.
• Highlight your writing & evaluation skills. Mystery shoppers have to write detailed evaluations of their visit to the location they were required to shop. Keep examples of your work and be prepared to present them as a writing example to future employers and add to your career portfolio.

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