Angle Down Icon An icon shaped like an angle pointing downwards. Jenna Vaught. Jenna Vaught
- Jenna Vaught was a college student using LinkedIn to get started in her career.
- But what she thought was a job interview turned out to be lunch at a country club with an older man.
- “He knew I could do it. He felt like I was an object he could play with,” she says.
This is an essay based on a transcribed conversation with Jenna Vaught about her experience of being the victim of a LinkedIn scam. Insider has verified her LinkedIn messages with the man, as well as the details she posted on the site. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
A few years ago, I was a junior at Florida Gulf Coast University, just one more year away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
I also worked full-time at a restaurant called the Capital Grille. It was a very popular place – I once met Judge Judy there. People who thought I was someone from Naples, Florida would go there and brag about it.
But graduation was approaching and I needed marketing experience, so I was looking for an internship to take the next step in my career.
Back then, I loved LinkedIn. I was one of my first friends to start using it and I cracked the code. If you can connect with a person at a larger company, you can continue to network. For that reason, I really liked it and used it all the time to message people with questions about careers or things for school projects.
Up until that point, all my experiences had been good. And then I had the strangest lunch of my life.
A new connection on LinkedIn
It was December 2020 when a wealth advisor contacted me on LinkedIn.
He said he was a regular at the Capital Grille and had seen it on my profile. He asked if I could call him and offer him an internship.
Jenna worked at the Capital Grille in Naples, Florida while studying. Jenna Vaught
Although he worked at Merrill Lynch, he was looking for a personal marketing intern for the financial conferences he organized.
I was 20 years old at the time and I was saying yes to everything because I needed to get everything I could, plus having Merrill Lynch on my resume would be a big step forward. So I said, “Yeah, I’ll give you a call.”
We received a few phone calls and messages about work, but he also asked me a couple of times if I could get him reservations at the restaurant.
I looked him up in the restaurant’s system to verify that he was who he said he was. As far as I could verify, everything on his LinkedIn profile, his name and his position at Merrill Lynch, was true.
He set a date for the job interview, but something wasn’t right
He set a date and sent me a place. My generation doesn’t question that kind of thing. We’ve become desensitized to meeting strangers on the Internet.
But when I did show up it was at a fancy country club by a lake, in a gated community.
I remember immediately regretting my choice of outfit. It was a hotel full of women in glamorous summer dresses, and I was there in dress pants, a blouse, and flats. I felt very self-conscious.
He was probably in his early forties and definitely had that frat boy personality. You can tell by the way some men carry themselves. They think they’re the coolest.
We sat down and he seemed to know everyone who worked there.
Jenna Vaught. Jenna Vaught
We were probably a quarter of the way through lunch when I saw him looking at all the waitresses, when I realized he wasn’t actually there to talk about work.
Everything revolved around him. Honestly, I can’t even remember half of the conversations because my brain was paralyzed by how awkward it was.
I wanted to leave, but part of me was still thinking, “What if this is legit?”
There was no physical moment where the hand touched the leg, but as a woman, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I knew there was something off about this.
We didn’t talk about the internship until lunch was almost over and I brought it up. Still hoping to impress him, I told him all my ideas about outreach, social media marketing, LinkedIn mailing lists, and brochures.
I was still a student, but I knew what I was talking about and it felt good when someone asked me my opinion about it.
That was the last I heard from him.
At the end of lunch, I was just trying to be nice so he would finish sooner. I never heard from him again and he logged out of my LinkedIn account.
In retrospect, it seems like it was a power play. I was there and available, almost like a plaything. And he got my ideas for free. I don’t know if he ever used them.
As a twenty-something, I wanted to post it on LinkedIn or even contact his employer, but I didn’t think they would take me seriously.
I sent him a message saying I felt disrespected, but as a college student looking to start my professional life, I felt very discouraged.
I asked myself a lot of questions about why it didn’t work out. Was it because I’m a woman? Was it because I’m young? Was I not attractive enough for this person to hire me?
I kept making excuses for him, but now I realize that these types of experiences shouldn’t happen.
I was 21 and he was 15 years older than me. We could have gone to a public place, but I was there and available, and he knew I could do it. He made me feel like I was an object he could play with.
I don’t hate men, but I don’t think that can happen to a man. And that’s why I feel disgusting, dirty and taken advantage of.
Now I work for women
In college, LinkedIn was the only platform I could use to find something, but now I can’t rely on it, especially for networking. It’s become just another Facebook.
Jenna now works for an all-female team at an advertising agency. Jenna Vaught
But you still have to rely on these third-party websites to help you find work, which carries the same risks.
I value myself much more now than when I was younger and I know that my time is money too. You shouldn’t let yourself be exploited for being young and inexperienced.
Find employers who align with your values and don’t accept anything you don’t feel comfortable with. You can always do things digitally before meeting them in person.
And if you do encounter them, always have an exit plan.
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