Avoiding scam job offers

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This is something that should be a concern of all of ours... especially those of us who've been looking at job listings on campus bulletin boards and online.

The critical eye will know that these listings are, as always, a den of scoundrels, cutthroats and scum preying on the desperate, needy and unemployed, posing as legitimate job offers.

I was recently called by what I suspect to be one such company: in particular, because I can find almost no information on them online aside from their address. They seem to have no phone number or email address listed, and don't even have a website or fax number: all of these are oddities that lead me to expect something suspicious that could easily hurt a prospective applicant more than it could help.

So, I was wondering: how many people here have been duped by scams posing as legitimate employment opportunities? What are your methods for detecting and avoiding these kinds of fraudulent offers?

It's easy. You can avoid being duped by just not giving them anything they could use to profit. The second they ask for money, or personal information, or financial information, say no. No legitimate company needs to know anything more than common resume information and how to contact you.

The worst that happened to me was a guy calling to get me to sign up on a job board. The board was crap, and all it did was send my contact information to a bunch of colleges and I got spammed. Nothing I couldn't fix with a mass delete.

Then there's the recruiter problem. They sometimes post fake job offers to get your name on thier list, then find positions for you and profit when you get hired. These guys help you at least in some capacity, and aren't a bad deal if you're into contract work. However, they really can't force you into anything, but they will try thinking you don't know any better. Many times you can just go around them to the hiring company directly thus duping them.

If a company asks for money, financial information, or personal information such as a Social Security number before the interview, then they're a scam. A legitimate company will only ask you for your contact information in case they want to reach you to schedule an interview. If I don't recognize an e-mail address, I immediately send it to the spam folder and delete it without even opening it.

In sales jobs, if it's unpaid training, it's typically a rip-off.

In addition, in a reputable sales jobs, even if it's commission only, will pay you at least minimum wage during a slow week. A disreputable place won't.

That's true in most cases. Not all, but most.

I got suckered into doing a street sales job for a perfume company. It was billed as "management training" but in truth, you got to management by moving product. On some level, that made sense, but I told them up front that I sucked at selling and didn't want a sales job.

I had a similar experience with the Primerica group. It was supposed to be about financial consulting, but ultimately you got paid for selling products. If they were honest about that up front, I would have walked away.