Job board scams

The young grad and lying hiring managers:Courtesy of Google

 Here's the situation: You've recently graduated college and have started actively seeking work on job boards with your shiny new resume. If you don't have any well-to-do connected uncles or companies flocking to you like the lucky few in this world, you will find out the hard way especially in today's economy, no experience equals no job. Unlike the 90's or early 2000's where you would be employed in under a month, in today's time, it isn't unusual to hear of candidates being forced to move back home and taking up to 6 months to find their first real job. My advice for all of you eager beavers today is to tell you about a growing trend I've noticed in the job market this year of shark infested companies who prey upon desperate graduates who have little or no experience.

Stewie of Family Guy Courtesy of Google

The Bait: Many of us have probably seen the job postings online showing a growing business you've perhaps never heard of or working with A-List companies needing to fill a role you could easily do, specifically looking for recent graduates and entry-level workers. If you're a disheartened grad thinking of applying to these postings, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW! I cannot stress enough the risk you are taking by applying to these jobs and here is why.

No matter what bologna job position the company is supposedly hiring , take it from a person who has been there, done that, it's a SCAM! IF you were unfortunate enough to already have applied to these blood suckers here are some red flags you are going to come across during the interview process to know this is not a legitimate position.

• The high volume candidate waiting room: Vary rarely will employers schedule interviews back-to-back. Many times just a few are conducted per day with those being spaced throughout a working day to give the employer and candidate time to review and prepare. If you notice several grads like yourself coming and going for the same position as if you in the hallway on school picture day, don't fall for it, it's a trap! 

• The Tiny Office: When you initially arrive, if you are sent to a shared building with an office space smaller than your dentist's office, it's a scam. Most legit businesses that are highly profitable can afford their own building or branch office. Occasionally you may run into a start up business still getting on their feet, but even these have an employee base of typically 200 employees in a small office. Anything under 100 running around smells fishy to me.

• The Turned Tables Interview Style: If a recruiter calls you in and starts off the interview with the company background and products or services they provide in a style that comes off as a company sales pitch to you the candidate, a red flag should be popping up in your head because I can tell you this is not how a " real" interview is conducted. In a "real interview, the employer will make you justify why you are qualified to work for them and put you on the defensive instead of the other way around. 

• The Ole' Switcheroo:  IF the hiring manager asks you what position you are hoping to work in for their company and then they tell you it is currently not available and that only a marketing or customer service position is open, red flags should be going off in your brain right now.First off, this makes them a liar since their job posting clearly stated otherwise, and no legitimate employer swaps positions in an interview like that. They will usually let you know the position has been already filled or that they have found someone more qualified for the job than you.
  

• The Salesman job with no sales: If a hiring manager starts to tell you of this different position that you realize is starting to sound like a sales job when you tell them you are not into sales and they continue, this is a red flag! Any company that pitches a job where a product will "sell itself" and you just sit pretty while making fat cash, I'm sorry to say is telling lies. These so-called "customer service " positions are high-turnover sales positions using cheaply paid grads that are easily fired when they don't meet the monthly quota.Don't let their Pinocchio success stories thrill you, 90% of sales people will quit or get fired their first year because they don't have the "it" factor to make it in a competitive market. A position that requires you to travel a lot or work during the weekend as part of your regular responsibility to them is also a fraud. If you are expected to shell out your own money for gas and sacrifice family time  for their company with no overtime compensation, this is a big red flag! No matter how a fake company sells it, if it involves you being in the public with their product somehow or working during the weekends, it is a sales position and this is bad news for you and here is why.
• You don't need a college degree to become a salesman: just ask any car salesman at your local dealer and they'll tell you.
• Sales experience will only lead to other sales positions. If you seek an accounting position for example and were forced to take a sales job for a few years, employers will most likely pass on your resume for not having the right field of experience and wonder if you are really even serious about your major for taking such a bone head job. Once you begin working in a field and gain experience, many times you will build in that same area. Examples of this would be working as a file clerk that leads to becoming an account executive over time. Being a medical assistant and eventually becoming an RN. See the career paths here?
• Working without being hired Full-Time: If a company tells you they would like you to job shadow someone for a day or week and try out the position first before you are trained and hired fully, run like the wind I smell a huge scam coming! What is going to happen is these companies are going to make you work long hours at a low rate doing high volumes of sales. Whether it is by phone or in-person, if a company is test driving you without making you sign an employment contract, pass on this opportunity.

• Asking about available Work Hours: If the recruiter asks you in the beginning of the interview if you would be available to work weekends or abnormal weekday hours that were not discussed in the posting, it is a scam. This is the shark company's way of weeding out potential victims from smart candidates. Believe me, you want to be the picky one and say no even if you are available to this opportunity.
• The Two Step Interview: Now occasionally, especially for clerical or management positions, a second round is to be expected so this isn't a sure sign of a scam, but if they tell you in the beginning it is just an initial interview to feel out your personality and that they will call you back to set up the next one after they've told you of all of the above red flags, it's a scam.

After experiencing a close call myself during my job search, my mission with this article is to help all of you avoid these same pitfalls and put these blood suckers out of business because there is a sucker born everyday and my job is to avoid it being you.

I look forward to your comments and stories about my article and encourage you to post them below.

Have a good day and be safe out there in your pursuits!

Regards,
Kate.