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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Internet Job Scams and Job Offers


Looking for a job isn’t as hard as it used to be when so many employers ask you to visit their website to submit an application for employment. Even the biggest retailer in the world, Walmart, directs you to a kiosk of computers in the store to enter your application on their website. Applying for work at many of your local supermarkets or home improvement chains is an application process that needs to be done online too. That’s the good news about this post.

Recently, I updated my resume on Monster, the mega job search engine, and over the next two days I was contacted by email and phone about several new job opportunities. My hopes were raised, I was getting back to the grind and a well deserved and earned paycheck. I was so surprised when I got an email from someone claiming to be from Edward Jones, the mega financial advisor company. Just a clipping from the email...

…I am a Recruiter working with a prominent financial services company. This company is one of the fastest growing financial services firms in the United States and Canada. I have come across your resume on Monster and would like to talk to you about a role that I'm currently looking to recruit for. Judging from your previous work experience, I think you would be very successful in this role. I am looking for people that may be a good fit for a Financial Adviser position, which is open to individuals looking for a career change and those with previous experience.

About Edward Jones....

Founded in 1871, Edward Jones is one of the nation's largest Full-Service Retail Brokerage Firm focused on individual investors and small businesses.
Edward Jones ranked No. 2 on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For 2010" list in its 11th year on the prestigious list. Edward Jones also ranked No. 1 for large-sized companies.

A background in Finance is not required for this position - training provided.

To learn more, I invite you to take an on-line assessment which will determine your potential in a competitive sales environment. Upon completion, a Recruiting Representative will be in contact with you in regards to the next steps.
***It is not necessary to add your resume to the assessment, as we already have your monster copy.

To complete the assessment please visit:
www.selfmgmt.com/cgi-bin/links.exe?Code=EJMM41


They thought that I had the potential to be a fully fledged investment guru? Um, they must have not read my resume. This definitely smells like a phishing scam to steal peoples identity or worse. I looked into the actual real Edward Jones website and they do offer careers but you really need to go through some rigorous training to be offered an investment advisor position. Right there on the site you can get all the information you might need to work for Edward Jones.

Then we come into the bait and switch scam where companies offer you a job as an insurance agent. Aflac, American Liberty and Firemans Fund insurance companies are the latest ones to offer you a potential job AFTER you pay the fee to get a LICENSE to sell insurance. Are these people selling insurance or insurance training? If I had the money to get a job I might take them up on it but I don’t which I’m sure is the case for many unemployed people. Whatever happened to companies screening candidates to become new insurance agents and paying for their training and license?

See the paragraph above as some large real-estate companies are pulling the same bait and switch.

Last but not least is the Craigslist.com scam riddled job postings. My humble apologies to the real folks posting real jobs. Craigslist is a great tool for finding local companies posting local jobs but when you get several replies back asking you to PAY for a credit report up front when you apply for the job then it is a SCAM. Do Not reply to emails from Samantha at ERG Corporation (ergcorporation.com) if you like your identity where it is. Just a quick Google Search of "ERG Corporation Scam" or their phone number 888-249-9197 comes up with plenty of bad news. XRC Corporation is the same job scam/credit report scam.

The old saying about things sounding to good to be true still holds water when it comes to looking for a job online. If you are even the least bit suspicious about any replies you get about a potential job then I highly recommend a Google search with the companies name and Scam in your search. Post away in the comments of any scams or stunts you have seen during your job search.

I wish you luck in your job search and hope you get the job and not the job scam.

Papamoka

Related Posts: Illegal Email Job Scams

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4 Comments:

Blogger The GTL™ said...

Good stuff, brother!!! I've noticed the same things to be true in my own case as well. Screw it -- I'm gonna just be a rock star ;-)

Keep up the good work here and good luck finding the perfect job, my brother :-)

2:11 PM  
Blogger Papamoka said...

Thank ya much my brotha from anotha motha! Rock on but for God sakes please don't spend all the music lesson money on beers! ROFLMFAO

3:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That email you received may or may not be a scam for all I know. But I can tell you that Edward Jones is a great place to work (I know people who work for them). I have gone through their interview process and it is legit.

1:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Outstanding content! Will you follow-up on this subject?

3:38 AM  

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