Looking for a job these days can be a pretty challenging affair, with increasing numbers of candidates applying for every job that gets advertised. It’s made even worse due to the fact that some of those jobs that are being advertised are not even real, legitimate jobs to begin with! Scammers and opportunists are viewing the current economic climate as the perfect opportunity for them to take advantage of proactive job-seekers by advertising and recruiting for a whole range of job scams. They’re getting increasingly subtle and clever about it though, so spotting a fake job over a real job is getting harder to do. If you’re a tad sceptical about a job or simply want to protect yourself, these tips should help – 5 Ways to Avoid Job Scams.

Always research the company
If you see a position advertised and have never heard of the company before, do a little snooping around on Google. Check out if they have a legitimate business address listed, an active phone number, a Vat registration number. All these things can go some way to informing you of the legitimacy of a business. Why not use Google Maps to see if you can actually view where they claim their offices to be. If the only information about them seems to be links to other jobs ads, then perhaps alarm bells should ring. Virtually every business these days has some form of web presence, even if it is simply being listed in an online business directory. If this company doesn’t, then it should raise quite a few questions. Proceed with any job application with care!

Use internet forums
There are internet forums galore these days where people connect and discuss every topic under the sun! They can prove to be great sources of information too and you needn’t always be a member of the forum yourself to avail of that information. By simply putting the Company Name + job + forum into Google, your search results should reveal details of any threads or discussions that other people have had about the company in question. You may find out that they are scammers, that their promise of a mind blowing salary is actually lies, that they thrive on conning people. In essence, chances are you won’t be the first person to have come across this company and their job ads, so why not attempt to find out what other people’s views and experiences have been. There is wisdom in the ‘crowd’ after all!

Don’t pay to apply
No legitimate company will expect a job applicant to pay for the privilege. No matter how fancy they may word it, or disguise the reason as to why they need you to pay to apply, don’t do it! They may claim a fee is needed to process your application or to cover the cost of an information pack about the job. Either way, simply don’t do it. A real job with a real employer would never expect you to pay a fee when applying. Likewise, a legitimate employer would never expect you to provide them with your bank details before a job offer had been made and accepted by you.

Beware of extravagant promises
Many job scams promise unbelievable salaries and perks in their ads. As the old saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Get rich quick schemes and jobs that appear to offer extraordinary rewards for very little work should usually be avoided. Be realistic  – if a ‘regular’ employer is unlikely to pay that type of salary for such a post, why should this employer. Many roles with very high OTE (on target earning potential) often transpire to be commission only roles or some form of pyramid style scheme. Another cliche, but a true one – don’t believe everything you read!

Don’t be pressurised
Within most organisations, the recruitment process takes a little time. If things seem to be moving extremely quickly with a particular role, be on your guard. For example, if you apply for a role and immediately get called for an interview and again immediately get offered the post, do beware, especially if you seem to be pressurised by the employer to accept. If they adopt hard sell techniques when trying to convince you to come on board, proceed at your peril. A genuine employer would never have to resort to heavy handed pressurising when recruiting candidates.

We hope these tips help you to avoid some of the opportunists out there. Got any other tips you’d like to share? Why not let us know via the comments section below.