Two topics for the price of one today!
Job Scams
Every day we receive emails from organisations wanting us to advertise their wonderful opportunties to you. It is pretty straightforward if it is a paid work opportunity. We have checks that we run so that we can be confident in passing it on to you through MyFuture. In most cases it is fairly clear to us that they are legitimate because of the detailed information we ask employers to provide. Obviously you should exercise your own judgement as well, especially when checking out other websites or emails you receive. There are all sorts of job scams going on so be alert before you respond.
A scam may not be easy to spot. There are scams which use addresses and even phone numbers in the advert of the real company. The only giveaways and common themes are a combination of:
- Use of non-professional email address, and
- A high rate of pay (£15/hr), and
- They are all admin assistant jobs (exact titles may vary)
An example is the scammer tells the successful applicants they have got the job but they are currently out of town and need the student to run some errands. They send a cheque for over £1000 then pressure the student to make payments from their personal bank account account via Moneygram, after which the cheque would be cancelled leaving the student out of pocket.
Another example of a scam is a job advert with an email address that is slightly different from the real email address of a well known organisation.
Manchester Universty Careers Service has written the following advice for students:
http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/scamjobs/
The Get Safe Online website also provides useful advice on spotting and dealing with this type of scam:
https://www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourself/money-muling1/
Just remember if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Paying for work experience or advice
There are plenty of organisations around who have set themselves up to offer you the promise of an edge in job applications and networking opportunities but make a substantial charge for this service. This might be via a seminar that purports to tell you everything you need to know to get into a particular field. Getting jobs in finance or in the media are common topics for these kind of events.
Some students may find these type of services helpful, and they are happy with the training they provide. But before splashing out a significant sum of money on such an event or opportunity make sure that you have exhausted what help the Careers Service can offer. As well as a rich range of information resources online, our staff are well-trained and experienced in a wide range of employment areas. Just as the academics who teach are experts in their field so our Careers Advisers are experts in the graduate job market. Students are often surprised by the depth and the breadth of our knowledge. The added bonus is that there is no charge to use us. It is easy, when you are worried about the future, to think the quick fix offer of an "expert" seminar is the answer. But don't forget that a Careers Adviser is an expert listener and they can help you get things in perspective so you can work out a personal plan of action.
We believe that there are plenty of work experience opportunities around to apply for provided you start in good time and learn how to make good applications. Our resources can help you find the best place to look and deliver expert advice on how to apply.
No matter how trusted the source is always think about whether this is the best or only way to get what is on offer.
Responses
During your job hunting, you may occasionally see jobs
which are not genuine and whose only purpose is to take
advantage of you as a job seeker.