Whenever the scammers of the world sense an opportunity, they jump into action, and the current worries about the U.S. economy have attracted their attention.
Be Careful Out There!
So, BEFORE you apply for a job:
1. Google the employer’s name.
Is there a Google map with a flag at the employer’s street address location?
No? Be careful.
No? Be VERY careful.
No? Not a good sign.
No? Not a good sign. Either they are ignorant or they are hiding something. You need to know where they are located, even if you are working from home, so that you can contact them if you have any problems or questions.
2. Google the recruiter or contact name on the job posting.
If the only “contact” information for the employer is a form for you to complete or an email address, be leary of them.
The job seems to be for Acme Widget Company, but the contact e-mail address for your resume is AcmeWidgetHR@hotmail.com. Be very careful – this is not a good sign. If the posting is legitimate, the recruiter’s email address should be at the domain name of the employer or the recruitment company. Anyone can get a hotmail.com, yahoo.com, or gmail.com address, and no one checks to see that there is any reality to the name chosen.
3. Does it seem like a sensible job?
A position without any requirements is not a real job. Be suspicious of jobs with no skills or experience required. Real employers can only afford to pay people to do real work. Ask yourself if a reasonable person would hire someone to do that job?
Keep your “shields up” as Captain Kirk suggested many years ago. Still good advice, coming back from the future.
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What about places like School Specialty in Greenville, Wisconsin? They had me jump through hoops for a part time customer service job. I scored 100 percent on a data entry exam, was interviewed by 2 people. Then they sent me a so-called personality test. They said “be careful you don’t lie”, “lots of people do”. One question was: Are you a Conservative or Liberal. Very invasive questions that shouldn’t be on an employment exam. (about 190 questions) How about this one? Would you sent your bad food back in a restaurant or shove it to the edge of your plate? Since I would send mine back, that must signal that I couldn’t be manipulated. You got it ! What a bunch of crap! This is supposedly a legitimate business. I found out they hired someone 25 years younger than me for this job. They don’t want to hire people who are over 50 years old. The perfect resume, the perfect interview, and then you can just hope that the job you’re responding to is a real job. Well, as evident in the interviews I’ve had, even the real jobs are not to be believed. What I recommend to anyone over 50, is to play the Wisconsin Lottery, it’s your only chance to make some money.
What about the jobs on something like Craig’s List. You can not get the info to check out to see if the job is real or a scam. Then they are gone in the wind. Is there anything that can be done to protect all these people out of work right now? They are already in bad shape and then there are all these scam jobs out there getting ready to feed on desperate people looking for work. How can we stop it or get the word out?????
Sadly, a lot of employers do a poor job of recruiting and hiring. Recruiting and hiring are not something most people are taught in school (neither is job search). And, even if these subjects were taught, the whole process has changed quite a bit in the last few years, so most of us would be out of date in our knowledge and skills.
Hiring someone younger is not proof that they passed over you because of your age. The problem is you don’t know. So you guess, and your age is the most obvious. Maybe it was the sending the food back question. Maybe it was how you shook hands with someone. Maybe it was how you were dressed or answered the tell-me-about-yourself question. Don’t leap to conclusions. Just move on.
It doesn’t, frankly, sound like an ideal place for you to work, anyway. You’ll find a better place.
Check craiglsist postings the same way you check any other. Look for some legitimate proof that the business is real, as described in this post.
I agree with you 1000% on the scammers. They are hurting people already in pain, and it’s an evil thing to do.
Don’t think we can stop scams. Every age, every place, and every profession has scammers – part of the human condition.
Articles on this website are one of the ways I try to get the word out to people. If you have other good suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.
I am stuck when it comes to ways of helping to protect people looking for work and not being hurt or taken advantage of. That is why I seached this out. Now how to get the word out about this? Create a posting on Craigs List so people can look here if they want and possibly do a copy and past of that bogus ads that come up? I really don’t know but I am angry about it. I am open to suggestions too.