Finding a job today is not an easy task. People go to colleges and universities to make sure that after finishing possessing a diploma will help them get to the desired place but sometimes the reality is completely different.
No matter whether you are at a university, already finished, or have never enrolled in one, if you want to get a job that meets your requirements you need to invest all your effort and energy into the process of job hunting. But in order to succeed not only your professional skills or certain techniques are important, but also you have to make sure that your employer is not illegitimate.
Starting a job with a scammer is a pretty dangerous thing because it can lead to rip-offs or even identity theft. So, before you apply for a job, you need to make sure that something that looks like a dream job at the first glance, is legitimate enough. There are hundreds of techniques and examples of job scams which is why reviewing warning signs can help you determine if a job is a scam. The best defense is to do a little research and report exposed job scams.
How to tell if a job is a scam?
Sometimes we find a job online that looks beyond perfect. On the job description, it’s indicated that the salary is high enough, the timetable is flexible, there’s nothing complex you have to do and the description of the company seems acceptable. They don’t even need degrees and qualifications and all a candidate should satisfy is a good knowledge of a foreign language. You start to think it’s good to be true and decide to apply immediately but this is something you really shouldn’t do.
According to Forbes, for every legitimate job posting online, there are 60-70 scams posted. So, the moment you think that this job is too good to be true, you should start researching a job and the company. Just try to be aware of the warning signs which are quite easy to notice.
First of all, you should visit the company’s website, if they have one. And if they don’t consider it as a scam sign, because every authoritative company has a website and social media page where you can find the contact information, team members, details about its establishment, missions, values and so much more. Searching the company online is an essential step to decide how vague the given job is.
For example, in most cases, these scams are financial companies making calls abroad. Usually, they are brokerages that offer a wide range of products and services via phone calls and try to deceive the clients. And it’s not easy to decide if the company is a scammer or not. Imagine you need to get more information about a certain brokerage company. For instance, can Axiory be trusted? We can find out a lot of information by just googling, as we can find multiple reviews for these brokers. For this, we have to look through licenses and registration numbers on the local financial regulator. Now we can see that this broker is regulated by IFSC in Belize, and is available in many jurisdictions.
Signs of an online job scam
FlexJobs conducted some research to help its clients understand the ways to catch an online scam company. According to them, the first thing that needs to be taken into account is being asked for too much personal financial information too early in the job interview process. This kind of information includes your social security number, bank account, home address and phone number, date of birth, etc. Another sign is offering a lot of money for little work.
Although it may sound like a good chance for you, in reliable companies such a thing doesn’t usually happen. Also, sometimes job duties and the description seem vague. When you read the job listing, if you are uncertain of the company name and the mission and the advert is full of typos, grammar errors, or incomplete sentences, then this job posting is likely a scam. It’s either computer-generated or written by a poorly educated person hoping for a scam. In any case, these writing flaws and ambiguous motives are a reflection of the job itself.
Another sign that your employer is a scammer is containing a personal email address instead of a real company’s email address. For example, if it’s written that you have to send your CV to someone with the address johnsmith123@gmail.com that company is probably not so reliable. Also, if a recruiter offers you the job immediately without asking you questions about your job experience, they might be scammers because authoritative companies spend a lot of time and effort to find a candidate with proper knowledge and experience to ensure that they can fulfill their duties.
One more thing that can be a sign of a job scam is the company with lots of job listings. When you are searching for online jobs, if a firm is looking for a manager, director, graphic designer, executive, etc, the company is either scam or has a high turnover rate. So, this means this job is not a good choice to apply, because probably the firm is using keywords to target certain people.
Keywords are important warning signs and you should be careful as things like “quick money”, “multi-level marketing”, “free work from home jobs” or “unlimited earning potential” are expressive of work-from-home job scams.
Bottom Line
Hopefully, now you are sure of some signs of job-related scams. So wherever you might be searching, be careful and always consider the signs of the above-mentioned scams to stay safe and find legitimate, real online jobs. Remember to research the company and verify it before you trust and make a decision of applying and sending your personal information. That way you may spend much time and energy, but you will save your bank account, identity, credit rating, and much more valuable information. We all agree that being unemployed is pretty unpleasant but being scammed at the same time will cause nothing more than additional stress that no one needs.