How to avoid wasting time and protect your personal data when looking for a job

Are you looking for a job opportunity and do you struggle to recognize which ones are a scam?

Finding a job can be a demanding and time-consuming process, and it is highly important to only apply for real job offers in order to protect your personal data and not waste your time.

As it is a rampant time for pirates and heartless people to spread fake job offers, here are some practical tips to learn how to identify them.

CAUTION! LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE FALSE JOB OFFERS IS AS IMPORTANT AS AVOIDING THEIR SPREAD BY SENDING AND SHARING THEM WITHOUT HAVING VERIFIED THEM FIRST

Look for the company

❌ On many occasions, they hide behind reputable and credible companies. If it is a well-known company, but there are misspellings, job titles that are not usually used in the sector or strange expressions, such as, ‘Packer’ or ‘young apprentice’ it is best to call the company to make sure.

❌ If you search the company on the internet, and you cannot find references to it, or to the person who claims to be part of the company, it is most likely fraudulent. Find that person and check that they actually work in the organization.

❌ If the job offer does not include proper contact information to email the company in case of doubt or to ask for more information about the job offer, it is highly advisable to ignore the job offer.

❌ Remember that companies take great care in the details when incorporating talent into their organization, therefore, you will never find grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or unprofessional images. Lacking punctuation signs, capital letters or mistakes in grammar in a published job offer is not a sign of a good and trustworthy employer.

Received job offers you did not ask for

❌ If you receive a job offer via WhatsApp make sure that the link directs you to an official website, and if you have questions, call the customer service department of that company. Don’t just forward it to your contacts.

❌ If a company contacts you directly to offer you a job, without you having expressly sent your application, you should check their website and verify if they actually have a selection process open to fill that position.

Stealing from you

❌ If they ask you for money to participate in the selection process or make you call a telephone number with special rates, assume that it is fraudulent. Of course, if they ask you for money or a deposit prior to the interview or at the beginning of the selection process, be cautious, do not pay, and publicly denounce. If you can, contact the company and let them know, so they can take legal measures. You should NEVER provide, under any circumstances, your ID or your BANK DETAILS.

Avoid informatic attacks

❌ Always make sure that the links are correct and begin with ‘https’ and do not click on any link directly as it may lead you to download some malware.

❌ Make sure the contact email is real. If it is a free email like Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail, be suspicious because most companies have their own web domains and email addresses, e.g. mromero@dominio.org

❌ If the job description is vague, it is probably a fake job offer. If they do not provide any information about what the job consists of (tasks, sector, profile wanted), probably their intention is to get your personal data and not to offer you a job.

Unrealistic working conditions are a sign of fraud

❌ Also do not trust postings that offer salaries which are exorbitant or not in the usual ranges for that sector and position.

❌ Promising unrealistic working hours is a huge red flag in the recruitment sector. Working one or two days a week or an hour a day and earning a full competitive salary is not possible.

Are you in the middle of the job searching process? Check out our website for amazing job opportunities abroad and insightful tips about job searching and working abroad at https://blog.cityjoboffers.com/