If you’ve ever searched for a job, you know that there are many things to look out for in the job ad and interview invitation.
When you’re vulnerable due to being unemployed, you risk meeting people who want to take advantage of you through scam job offers.
“How to tell if a job is a scam?” is a question every person looking for a job should know an answer to. With our tips you will learn to instantly spot recruitment scams.
Enjoy safe job search with the Jiji app
1. Money for employment
The first thing to remember for any of your future job searches is that if the prospective employer is asking you to pay money in order to be employed, the offer is most likely a scam.
No matter what reason the employer names – educational materials, training, document fee – there is no reason for you to pay for your employment.
In case the money question arises at any stage of your communication with the company, it’s a sign for you to stay away.
2. Too good to be true
We all want our job search to end with a perfect opportunity with the ideal schedule and great salary, but the truth is that not only are you unlikely to find a job that fits 100% of your requirements, but indeed job scams often offer unrealistically good conditions in order to lure you into their office or trick you into losing money.
In case you can’t believe how attractive a job posting seems, there is a good chance that it’s not what it looks like.
3. Error-ridden job offer
Whenever you receive an email or social media message from a so-called employer, always check it for errors.
A fake job offer letter will likely have punctuation and grammatical mistakes, misspellings, unnecessary capitalization, and unprofessionally sounding email addresses. If a person didn’t consider it necessary to proofread the letter, it’s best to ignore the offer, since it’s probably a scam.
4. Interview scams
If your job search process secures you a job interview, there are also many things to keep an eye on. Here are the most popular job interview scams:
- Online interview, usually through Skype or other messengers. Before agreeing to an online interview, make sure to research the company online to verify its identity, and never share any of your personal or financial data during the interview.
- Too many people waiting. If you come to a scheduled interview and see 5-10 people waiting for their turn with the HR manager, consider leaving the office and never coming back. Even if it’s not a scam, the company is bad at timing and scheduling, which is not great for working there.
- Unpaid probation. In case you’re told the company likes you and wants to offer you a job, but first you have to complete an unpaid or low-paid probation period, it’s very likely that you’ll work for a few weeks for free before being fired for no reason, so that the company saves money.
5. Protect yourself
Whenever you look for a job online, remember that there are numerous employment scams waiting for their next victims. Don’t risk losing money or your safety and do the necessary precautions to avoid falling for a scam.
First, look for jobs only on genuine websites. For example, Jiji has a whole range of mechanisms for detecting scammers and stopping them from operating. Antiscam Jiji is a great way to feel protected while looking for employment.
Second, keep your personal and financial data to yourself. There are many ways to steal your identity by untrustworthy employees, but ultimately only one way to protect it – by not sharing it with anyone for any purposes.
Third, listen to your gut. If your intuition tells you that a genuine job interview is unlikely to take place in this sketchy location or the person contacting you doesn’t sound like a real HR manager, better stop all contacts and continue your search elsewhere.
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