Job hunting is one of the most difficult processes any person can go through no matter their qualification or industry. With more and more young people embracing qualification acquiring makes the probability of an even harder and competitive rat race. Many young people know that there is a scarcity of jobs, especially profitable ones, but the problem these days lies with people’s hunger for taking advantage of the youth’s desperation.
Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels
When you type in Johannesburg on Google or any other search engine, various options show up. Of course you will pick out a job that is most suitable for you according to the position, requirements and so forth. For those who have no previous work experience there seems to be options as well. The famous words or most notable words you will come across are “no experience jobs” or “no experience general jobs”. A lot of opportunities will pop up from sites such as Indeed, Careerjet, Pnet, Ananzi, etc. This is a good thing because now there is an overflowing stream of opportunities. What we don’t know however, is how easy it is for people or companies to advertise jobs on these sites.
Many are legitimate posts but there are also so many posts that will lead you to either places you shouldn’t be or force you to come across professionals who use young people, pay them close to nothing and also posts that are surrounded by scam artists who just don’t want to get their hands dirty.
A lot of people know that Johannesburg is one place where you can meet different characters and hear unusual stories that you never think can happen to you but just might. Ever think an offer is too good to be true or too soon to be offered? Well, if you get an offer from these few places in Johannesburg you might want to look elsewhere because a lot of people have tale-telling experiences with these places that you do not want to find yourself in the middle of.
Scammers find it easy to get victims by promising them that they don’t need to have skills or experience, like those who operate from these places that have been highlighted as hotspots for job scams:
· ILPA House, Cnr Commissioner & Von Weiligh Str.
· Klamson Towers, 151 Commissioner Str.
· Manchester House, Cnr Von Weiligh & Pitchard Str.
· The Great Experience, Curthberths of Chambers, Cnr Pitchard & Eloff Str.
· Century (Insurance) Building, Cnr Albertina Sisulu Str.
(for an extended list of places to avoid https://bizcraft.co.za/blog/job-scammers-south-africa/)
There are many more other places where these kinds of scams are being operated and the problem is not every building or every operation is known. The best solution here is to pay attention to the small details when you are reading through a job post. Some applications, especially those that have a digital application from ready might not seem dodgy but they actually are. Remember that you are at times asked to give out your most sensitive and most positive information on these application forms so triple check the job’s legitimacy first. Some even go to the length of telling you that if you fail to fill out the information they want you will not be considered for the job. It is quite understandable who this can scare you into giving out your information because you are desperate but do your research first.
Another telling sign you should look out for is for when they tell you there is something you need to pay for. At times it is the application itself, the “uniform”, training manual or training guide of some sort. On other job scams, they tell you there are certain things like software or hardware of some sort that you will need to complete the job so they ask you to send money to a certain account. It’s unclear whether the initial objective is to find a way to have access to your account or just use those funds you send them so be on the lookout for such requests.
Now of course these scammers have various other ways to find their targets and yet what they want out of them because the truth is there are a lot of desperate people out there. These people or “companies” advertise anywhere and everywhere. From Facebook to Twitter, Instagram and so forth and they are notorious for telling seekers what they want to hear.
Comments