Learn to spot job scams
The job market has certainly seen better days-most anywhere you live. With the economy as it is, companies have been forced to layoff and downsize left and right-thereby limiting your chances of getting that job. There are way fewer jobs and competition for them is fierce. This has led a lot of job seekers to consider types of jobs they might not have once considered, ones such as work from home opportunities. If you’re among these, best to read on to avoid those too-good-to-be-true work at home scams by learning how to identify them first.
1) Membership or Processing Fee: One of the first warning signs that the company you are considering applying to is not legitimite is that they require a processing or membership fee to apply or join. These types of companies say that they need you to pay a small one-time fee for postage, training materials, or to show that you’re serious about the position. Most of these jobs are in the business of making money off you and nothing else.
2) No Experience Necessary: Another telltale sign of a potential job scam is when an ad reads that they don’t require experience. Consider this, companies that are in the business of contracting people to work from home without knowing them are already out on a limb. Would you expect them to hire you without any experience as well? This is way too much of a gamble for a credible business.
3) Contact Info: Also beware of businesses who have sketchy contact info. A legitimite business will offer a physical address and phone number along with an email. It should also be noted that most professional businesses have emails through their companies instead of using free hotmail or yahoo accounts.
4) Website: While some may argue that having a website is not necessary to being legit, it should be considered that any business who wants to increase their market and compete for profits would most necessarily have their own website. This said, why wouldn’t a legit business have a website? For no other reason than that they are not on the up and up, and trying to conceal their intentions.
5) BBB and research: Before giving out any personal information such as contact info or arranging an interview, you should always make sure you do enough research on the company and the primary contact you have for the position. A quick google search or a search on any major search engine of the name of the company or person will give you the most obvious results of whether or not they have complaints against them. Typically, if a business has scammed a bunch of people, at least a handle of them will blog or write an article or join a forum to tell their story and help others avoid being scammed too. Beyond this, you should always consult the Better Business Bureau and like-minded watchdog companies to see what sort of info you can get on the company in question. The BBB, for example, will let you know if complaints were filed against them, what they were, and how many.
6) Target Advertising: Lastly, another common job scam is to reach out to job seekers who are looking for work at home positions, such as stay at home moms or retirees or students. Chances are, if the company is l egit, they should be describing the job, not trying to sell the fact that it is work at home. Moreover, work at home positions are typically earned instead of promised, and considered only after the question is posed by the potential employee.