Avoiding Job Scams

With graduation coming up in December, I have been on a job hunt. LinkedIn, Indeed, and Zip

Recruiter have been my top three search engines of choice. Something that I have learned as I’ve

been looking for jobs is how many scams are out there. These job scams have one goal: to get your

personal and confidential information. At first it is hard to tell the difference between a fake job offer

and the real thing. The best thing you can do is to do research to easily recognize scams. Because

no one informed me of this issue and how to avoid it, I have compiled ways to recognize and avoid

internet scams. 

The first thing you can do is educate yourself. Figure out the most common job scams in your

industry. This will will only entail a simple Google search and the information should just roll in. A

majority of these scams will target entry level job seekers. They know that these young professionals

are most likely looking for their first job and therefore are inexperienced with scams. 

The second thing to know is understand the warning signs of a scam. An obvious example of this is

when a company contacts you out of the blue for an interview for a job that you never applied for.

Real companies won’t randomly reach out to you and do this. They won't know anything about you

unless you initiate the conversation. Another sign is that the pay is suspiciously great for not a lot of

work. They will give you an offer that you couldn’t resist if you didn’t know better. I was offered an

entry level job working 30 hours a week for $35 an hour. A super obvious sign is when you get the

job right away. You only have one interview over the phone or instant message interview and

immediately after the interview you receive a job offer. Normal interview processes will include

multiple interviews and a waiting period to hear the companies’ decision about the open position. If

you keep your eyes open to these signs, you should be able to avoid common scams.