There are as many scams as real jobs online, and sometimes it can be really hard to tell the difference. When you’re really desperate for a job, it can be easy for fraudsters to take advantage. You need to look out for the warning signs, and it’s important that you trust your gut. If, for example, a job offers a lot of money quickly with no experience or skills necessary, you should be doubtful. Here are 9 more things you should consider:
1. Be skeptical – If the job description seems too good to be true, then it probably isn’t a genuine opportunity. Most fraudulent job offers advertise an exceptional earnings potential while requiring little work on the part of the employee. Not only do scammers offer you tons of money, they also generally require no experience.
2. Do research – Researching the company is your best bet. Google the company’s name and the information you get will help you conclude if the company is legitimate or not. Visit the company’s website, and if it doesn’t have any contact information, consider that a warning sign.
3. Never pay for the chance to work – Think about it: if you were going for an actual interview, how would you react if the interviewer asked you to pay a sum of money to get a job? You’d think that’s crazy, right?
4. Don’t be too quick to give away your personal information – It is especially important not to give out your financial information such as your bank account or credit card number. Fraudsters are desperate for that kind of information.
5. Look out for spelling mistakes – Be careful of job ads with grammatical mistakes. Scam job ads are usually badly written, full of spelling mistakes, and generally seem disorderly when you read them.
6. Watch out for instant job offers – After you send your CV, you expect to wait a few days, maybe even a few weeks, before you get called in for an interview. Scammers won’t make you wait at all, within minutes of sending them your CV, you would have got the job.
7. Don’t trust an employer who mails from a Webmail, Yahoo or Gmail account – Most legitimate employers will email you from a company email address.
8. Beware of ads that make outrageous claims – Job ads that don’t need you to send a CV and do not specify job duties, should raise an eyebrow. Legitimate employers are seeking candidates with special skills, education and knowledge.
9. Ignore job ads that say you’ll get rich quick – Avoid job ads that guarantee you wealth and financial success by getting you rich fast. They’re just selling you dreams. The only way you can get rich fast is if you win the lottery.
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