Job hunting in South Africa is very easy with the use of the internet. There are so many recruitment agencies out there offering genuine jobs.
And there are so many job scams on the internet hard to even count.
When you’re job hunting, please be wary of companies that claim to offer legit work but in fact scams.
Job scammers take advantage of your desperation of getting employment. But you can easily spot a fake job post with the following simple tips.
Let’s dive right in…
1. Spelling errors on the job post
A poorly written advert could be a red flag for you to know it’s a scam. The moment you see typos and grammatical errors, run away from that ad post – IT’S A SCAM!
Companies have or hire professional copyrighters to publish job ads on their behalf. The ad will be properly written including all the requirements of the position.
I’m sure you’re aware that hiring managers would not take your CV seriously when it has typo and grammar errors – right?
2. Paying to be placed for the job
According to South African law, applicants aren’t supposed to pay to be placed for any job position. No company should charge you for giving you a job – red flag – IT’S A JOB SCAM!
Criminals use this strategy on unsuspecting job applicants.
It wouldn’t make sense to pay while you’re looking for a job. We’ve seen a lot of reports where scammers publish non-existing jobs just so they can collect money from job seekers.
Avoid this kind of job post and save your money for transport to genuine career opportunities.
3. Give us your banking details
Companies and hiring managers are prohibited by the law to ask for your financial details.
Job scammers and criminals would ask for your banking details, claiming to do a credit or reference check on you. You must know that this is completely illegal.
You must never give anyone your banking details, not until you’ve signed the employment contract at the company premises.
4. No experience required job scam
The reason you’re unemployed today could be mainly because you don’t have any kind of work experience in your resume. Employers love applicants with experience in the field they’re hiring for.
Now,
When you come across an ad with “no experience required”, just know it’s a job scam. A scammer is waiting for you to react so they can make cash from your misfortune.
5. Emails from non-business addresses
So you’ve applied for a job at “CoMoney” and suddenly you receive an email from a Gmail account. Don’t even read the mail, move that to a spam folder immediately and carry on with your life.
Avoid being ignorant and protect yourself from job scammers.
Companies like to keep all communications professional for legal purposes. This will also help you (job seeker) with proof should anything go wrong.
6. Jobs abroad – Outside of South Africa
This has become a common practice among criminals to smuggle and traffic people abroad.
They usually target young adults, promising them modeling contracts and so on.
Avoid such ad posts– they’re mostly job scams.
Don’t get me wrong, it is possible to get a job outside South Africa. You can do it through a registered and well-established company.
Avoid these, human trafficking is a huge problem in the country as it is.
Report job scams and fraudsters
There’s already a platform that helps job seekers with tips to identify fake jobs.
They also help people share their scam experiences. This helps you be very cautious with your next job application.
Remember when it seems too good to be true, it definitely is.