Scams, Spams and Shams – Avoiding The Perils of Today’s Digital Job Hunt

Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m going about the digital job hunt incorrectly, maybe someone should write the definitive digital job hunting guidebook. Regardless, in today’s digital world of online hunting for a job, even an executive level job it's scary and dare I say even downright dangerous sometimes.

In 1999 I attended an MCSE+I boot camp, I’m a HIPAA certified professional and even a Certified Security Compliance Specialist but some of these posting, even on my “go-to” job boards are seeming a little “phishy” lately. Job hunting online, at 40+ must be more nerve-racking than being newly divorced after 15 years of marriage and hitting a singles bar. Luckily, I’m only looking for a new career…

Maybe it’s the job description sounding way too good to be true, or the fact that I see the same companies reposting the same ad or job description over and over. Maybe it’s the generic follow up email from the company, wanting you to click thru “here” to “schedule” an interview with the managing director. Between the daily news about hacker attacks and constant PSAs about identity theft how are we supposed to know who’s safe and what’s real? Hmmm, kind of seems like dating dangers and who wants a digitally transmitted virus?

Whatever it is, if a posting gets your Spidey Senses going then do some research before you click-thru or send them a resume with all of your personal information neatly laid out. Check out the company review sites, Glassdoor seems like a useful source for company reviews even though I do see what must be a lot of “canned” goody-goody reviews which, along with the person that’s upset about getting tossed for sleeping at their desk which I disregard. Consumer review site are great but the over the top good and the horribly bad reviews should be taken out of your decision-making process.

LinkedIn, not just a plug here, is always a go-to for me when researching a company. Look them up and see if they have a company page, and then look at the people employed there. If a company has some generic page and three employees with no other work history let’s hope they’re a startup and not telling you otherwise.

Sending something to “companyname”@gmail or outlook.com is something to think about as well. Getting a branded email today is cheap and easy, if a company is using Gmail for their email then you better be applying to Google (wait, I think they even use @google.com). I even go so far sometimes and use Google Earth to look up the address for the business, if it’s not what you’ve been led to believe it was then use your head. People do run companies out of their house all the time and that's fine, if that’s what you're expecting to see. 

The bad guys know that people looking for jobs can sometimes feel a little desperate and they will prey on desperation with “too-good-to-be-true” job offers.

In closing, be smart about what you click on and what you send out. If it doesn’t feel right then do your research and know the company before sharing anything with them. If you find out that they’re legit then you already have your research for the interview partially done.

You’ve probably guessed this by now but I’m not an internet security expert, heck I’m not even a writer. This is the first thing that I’ve ever published and really, I’m just a hugely experienced, amazingly dedicated guy looking for a new career in sales leadership. Okay, that was a self-plug…