One of the saddest and most frustrating things about being a career coach in a really bad job market is that I have people coming to me on a daily basis who have been scammed out of a job. They go through a recruiting and hiring process only to have their bank account drained.
No matter if you're a seasoned professional desperate to find a new job or a recent college grad trying to land your first job out of college, job posting scams can be absolutely demoralizing.
Let's walk through the six warning signs that a job is fake so you can avoid falling for job posting scams in your job search.
1. You Can't Find The Recruiter
The first red flag is that you can't find that recruiter, or whoever's contacting you, anywhere publicly. They should have a fully fleshed-out LinkedIn profile. They should have an email address that's linked to a company that has a website so you can prove that it's legitimate. With job posting scams, many times you can't actually find the person anywhere. If you can't search the person's name and find them, something's wrong.
2. There's No Information On The Company
The second warning sign is that there's no information on the company. Make sure there's a legitimate company website. Go to Glassdoor and Indeed and look for company reviews. Search for company social media accounts and make sure that there's depth in their content. Go to the company's LinkedIn profile and see if there are actually people employed there. All of this research will help you confirm that they are who they say they are.
3. Grammatical Errors & Spelling Mistakes In Emails
The third thing you should watch out for in the job search process is grammatical errors and spelling mistakes when a company is interacting with you. If you are catching a lot of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in the emails or contracts that they're sending you, that is always a red flag because legitimate companies do a good job of proofreading all of their materials.
4. They Talk About Money Immediately
Another warning sign is money is involved immediately. They do one interview with you and say they want to hire you on the spot and pay for all of your computer equipment to work remotely. That is suspect. And that's probably the most common scam I've heard because there are so many people who want to work remotely these days and need a job and end up falling for it.
Also, please pay attention when you're doing those interviews. If they're saying they can't be on camera because they're busy and they're only working through audio with you, that is suspect. Why are they hiding their face?
5. Personal Information Is Required Immediately
The fifth warning sign is your personal information is required immediately—again, to send you that money. They might say things like, "We're going to need your social security number, your bank account, and your routing number, that way we can drop the cash in there today." This is such a classic example, and more and more people are hearing this after applying for a fake job. So, if the company says this to you, it's definitely a job posting scam.
6. If It Sounds Too Good To Be True
Lastly, and most importantly, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you were making a certain amount of money before and a company comes along and offers you double that to work remotely and set your own hours, it's too good to be true. In this competitive job market, I know you want to believe it, but you need to be cautious.
I want you to be successful in your job search. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there doing terrible things to prey on job seekers who are desperate for jobs. So, please be careful.
You can do this. Stay safe out there, folks. Good luck, and go get 'em!
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