English|Online Courses in China Touting Fast Professional Success Prove to be Ripoffs( 二 ) English

Potential consumers of such content might easily have the illusion that they can start off as a beginner that knows absolutely nothing about a certain professional skill and can still master it to the extent that they can make money out of it after taking a few courses.
In order to attract customers, some course providers would tell potential customers that they have accumulated sufficient career development resources that can help trainees find a job after finishing the courses. Some course providers would even include job recommendations and job opportunities in their contracts with the trainees.
Unfortunately, after graduating from online professional courses, trainees would soon discover the level of the professional skills they acquired through courses is far from enough to help them earn some cash. There are lots of relevant complaints that can be easily found on consumer complaint site Heimao.
Capitalizing from hypes
Why do scammy online professional learning service providers always focus on e-commerce livetream, video editing, illustration and psychological counseling?
【English|Online Courses in China Touting Fast Professional Success Prove to be Ripoffs】The answer is simple: these are all emerging sectors that people know little of. Video editing skills are desirable because of the rise of short-video platforms like TikTok’s Chinese sister app Douyin. The increasing popularity of shopping on livestreaming channels has also made e-commerce livestreaming skills appear to be very useful. Illustration skill and psychological counseling, on the other hand, might have been around for quite a while but people know little of what exactly illustrators and counselors actually do. In short, scammers purposefully choose professions and industries that people are not familiar with to create content.
Consumers’ lack of understanding of such professions and industries allows scammers to exaggerate their career prospects and business opportunities.

“Do you know how much psychological counselors make? They can earn money by simply chatting with people on their phone anywhere anytime. They don’t need to sit in an office or constantly go on business trips to make big money.”
“You will be thanking yourself in the future for taking three days to complete an illustration class. I can help you start from scratch and become a professional illustrator that can make money on your own.”
“Spend 9.9 yuan to get your complete guide to short video production. Get tips to grow your fan base and learn video editing and filming techniques. 9.9 yuan to unlock the full picture of the short video business. Come earn some cash for the coming Chinese New Year.”

Similar rhetoric can be found everywhere on the Internet. They all tell users that “it is easy to learn professional skills and then capitalize from them.” Unfortunately, given the fact that users know very little of such professions and industries, it is very difficult for them to detect the scammy sides of these lines.
If we are talking about a course that promises to turn people into professional doctors in a few days, then of course it would be very easy for people to know it is a scam because people understand how much time and resources it is required to train a doctor. But when it comes to emerging industries and professions that people know little of while looking lucrative, it becomes hard to see through the scams immediately.
Very few people can stay rational when sales agents keep telling them that even beginners with zero experience can become professionals and find jobs easily.
When sales agents are trying to sell e-commerce livestream courses, they would talk about how much growth the e-commerce livestream industry is enjoying and argue that it is the right time for entry into the sector, backing their arguments up with several success stories.