Every now and then, you might spot a somewhat fishy job ad online, or receive an oddly vague job offer from someone sliding into your LinkedIn DMs. You know, where it’s an ‘AMAZING COMPANY’ with an ‘IMMEDIATE, HIGH-PAYING’ role available right now?
Well, apparently there’s a world of fake job ads out there. But why? And what should you watch out for?
Bureaucracy at work
In an interview with News.com.au, an anonymous recruiter from Melbourne revealed that posting fake ads is all-too common. As are fake job interviews, too: sometimes, candidates will be brought in just to hit an internal quota.
That’s the case a lot of the time at recruitment agencies where staff are measured by numbers, rather than results. It’s also a pre-emptive measure – a lot of the time, the interviews will become a database compiled for future opportunities, rather than for the one interviewees believe they’re being interviewed for.
As a virtually unregulated industry, these shady methods are all too common. Under Australian consumer laws, it is illegal to advertise a position which doesn’t exist, though it’s hard to prove.
You can tell you might be in the midst of a quota reach if the job contact is completely out of the blue or feels only loosely relevant to you. If you go through to the job interviews, it’s telling if they’re loose with details of the position, or, on the other hand, if every answer to your question creates a sense that this is your dream job. If it seems too good to be true…
NEPOTISM? WHERE?
Another shady reasoning behind fake job postings is that they can obscure any below-board appointments. If someone promises the job to a friend or family member, they can cover their tracks with a fake job search.
IDENTITY SWIPING
Then there’s the plain diabolical identity stealing. Some fake ads are just plain ol’ scams – if you bite, they’ll ask for personal information or even a deposit for a background check. This, of course, is a scam. Don’t give a potential employer money, that’s what they should be doing for you!
To avoid this, just do some simple Googling. Does this mystery company have a website? Employees on LinkedIn? What happens when you type their name + “scam” into Google?
Stay vigilant out there.
Source: News.com.au
