How to tell job spam from job offers

Posted on January 20, 2012
Filed Under Career Change, Employment, Finding a Job, First Job | Leave a Comment

When I first graduated with my master’s I posted my resume everywhere. I saw my job search as a numbers game. Hedge funds “hedge” themselves, spreading their investments out much in the same manner a gambler playing roulette might place a chip on each number (and multiple chips on numbers promising better odds), guaranteeing a return. I approached my job search with a hedge fund mentality. I posted my resume on every square inch of online real estate available to me- every job search engine and career site available.

What was my return? Daily I was hit with spam from companies promising a quick income and a brightly colored future in xyz career field. I needed neither skills nor qualifications. Just some seed money and a tremendous amount of gullibility were necessary. Their promises were couched in overtly rosette language, and seemed to be premised on a rather dark assumption: each email seemed to convey implicitly that the individuals responsible for their construction were not only opportunistic, but actively preying on the authentic fear and desperation of America’s beleaguered workforce. While a deeply entrenched sense of incredulousness prevented me from taking the plunge, I always wondered whether I rejected each opportunity without first giving it due consideration. Was I carrying cynicism’s standard? 

Although a rather pessimistic view to hold, fraud seems to be as old (or older) than human civilization. Steering clear of the religious, political, sociological, or psychological questions surrounding the issue of human nature, this indubitable view (i.e.  fraud is something that pervades, yet, does not encompass human behavior), begs an important question with respect to searching for a job, one to which I signal above: what do we use to separate the wheat from the chaff? Put a different way, how does one discriminate between legitimate job offers and, well, spam? Thrashing. No, not head bagging- thrashing…. it is the process by which one breaks grain free from chaff, the outer shell that contains grain. Although not a precise art, ResumeBear recently compiled four criteria job-seekers can use to “thrash,” separating job offers from job spam.

  1. “The one that offers ‘unlimited earning potential.’”
  2. “The one where they will land you a job ‘or your money back.’”
  3. “The one with ‘processing fees.’”
  4. “The one with ‘no experience necessary.’”
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

Leave a Comment

If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Comments




Recently Posted


Categories


‹‹‹ Previous Post Next Post ›››