7 Red Flags That Reveal Whether a Job Posting Is From a Dishonest Employer

On the one hand, looking for a job has become much easier thanks to modern technologies. We no longer need to buy newspapers with job postings and check vacancy announcements on boards. At the same time, the internet opened new opportunities for tricky employers, job hunting companies, and fraudsters.

We at Bright Side tried to figure out the red flags that indicate a job posting is sketchy. Hopefully we can help you understand it’s a scam and keep you from wasting your time on useless interviews.

They promise you too much.

Miracles don’t happen, especially in the job market. If a job posting offers money and conditions that are too good for a certain position, it means there is a trick. Either the job will turn out to be different from what was indicated in the announcement, or you will have to pay something to apply. In general, collecting money from candidates for a vacancy is what fraudsters like to do most.

The job description is vague.

If it’s hard to understand by the job posting what company you’ll be working at, it’s a clear sign they are trying to cheat you. Real employers don’t hide their names and try to list as many details in the posting as they can to help filter the candidates. Phrases like “Marketer at a big international company” almost always mean that you’ll, in fact, have to sell cosmetics or something of that nature.

They don’t give any details over the phone.

Another red flag is when the company refuses to answer your questions by phone and asks you to come to the office to get all the necessary information. It shows that the potential employer doesn’t respect your time, which means they are not that interested in you as a specialist.

Their criteria are very vague.

The absence of clear requirements for applicants doesn’t mean anything good. If all you need to get a position as a manager’s assistant is to be 18+ and a desire to earn money, it’s worth pondering what type of manager you’ll be assisting.

They give you a difficult test task.

Having the test task itself doesn’t necessarily mean you are dealing with dishonest people. Many employers want to assess your responsibility and qualifications in advance. But if the unpaid test task requires several days of hard work from you — that is too much.

They ask you for a big list of documents.

Taking all of your documents to an interview is not a good idea. At the stage of getting to know each other, your personal data might only be required when recruiters are hunting you personally, and not as an experienced specialist. Of course, they will promise to call you back but since they have already gotten from you what they wanted, it will probably not happen. At the same time, you could soon get a call from the bank validating whether you submitted a request for a loan.

They have bad reviews.

Even if the job posting looks perfect, don’t neglect the opportunity to look for reviews about this employer online. There are cases when respectable companies with hundreds of employees behave dishonestly toward new employees, and it’s better to learn about it before you start to work with them.

What other red flags do you pay attention to when looking for a job?