10 Shady Job Recruitment Practices Every Job Hunter Should Be Aware Of

No matter where you reside in the United States, it can be tough as week old bagels to land the job that’s right for you. It rarely matters what type of degree you have because competition is stiff across the board, especially when it comes to landing a job that will lead to a long-lasting and fulfilling career. The days of landing a career on the basis that you have a college degree or licenses are over. It is now time to network and job hunt for your life. But, the last thing you need while searching for a job is to be railroaded by job recruiters or employers seeking to take advantage of you because you need gainful employment. Many job recruiters and employers use shady tactics to gain applicants who are losing hope and are willing to settle for any job that is offered to them.

1. Posting False Job Titles Or Non-Existent Jobs

Many shady recruiters will post job titles which have nothing to do with the job position they are seeking to staff. This is an opportunity to make the job sound like it requires more credentials than what it really demands.

For example, a recruiter who seeking someone to sample products in a retail or grocery store may seek out college students or recent graduates by labeling the position as marketing or public relations. This is face-to-face marketing. But, in no way, shape, or form is this marketing or public relations in the strategic sense. Another shady tactic is to post jobs that are not available within a specific company to attract candidates who are in desperate need of employment and will accept ANY job position.

2. Rigging Assessment Exams

This is a tactic that is used among a few temporary hiring agencies. When you come in, you are given an assessment to fill out. The assessment is fairly simple and no matter if you have earned 100 percent, you will get at least 2-3 wrong answers. If a recruitment agency is shady, you will not see the answers that you’ve “missed” and the recruiter may refuse to show them to you when asked. A more trusted method of assessment would be one that utilizes a third-party assessment platform.

3. Minimizing Your Qualifications Or Ignoring Your Education

Many shady interviewers already know where they want to place you before they interview you. It’s often not the job position that you applied for, but one they have a desperate need to fill. No matter what you say, or the qualifications you inform them of, they will ignore your past experience because they “do things differently.” They may even insist that they offer a non-accredited technical training program provided by the company to improve your technical skills while discouraging you from seeking the same suggested skills from an accredited source. This will bring me to the next shady practice…

4. Offering A Less Paying Job Position

Once the employer has ignored everything that you have told them and skimmed through your resume like it is a first grade coloring book, they will suggest a job position which pays less than their initial job posting. The job will often pay below the national or local average salary for that field or position. If the employer already knows you are least likely to accept the job position, they may introduce it as a training program where you can move up within 6-9 months — but don’t count on it.

5. Requiring You To Attend A Job Fair To Get Answers To Simple Questions

If you see a job position on a job site and the same position is not listed on the company’s website, be careful and don’t get your hopes up. If you send an email inquiring about the job listing and they respond back to you with an invitation to a job fair in order see what job positions are available, chances are that specific job position isn’t available. But, there are plenty of other positions in which they will try to encourage you to apply for, whether you have experience or not — whether you are interested or not.

6. Making The Job Seem Unattainable

If you are at an interview and the job seems to sound much harder than the job you applied for, after reading all of the requirements and duties, chances are the recruiter wants to lower your confidence in your own abilities or they really don’t want you to work for them.

7. Not Posting Full Job Requirements Online

This is very common and it is aligned with the making the job seem unattainable. You may look at the job description and you meet all of the requirements, but during the interview, the requirements seem to continuously change.

A promising job position starts to sound like a modern-day sweat shop. They are more than likely looking for someone to use for something other than what they are listing. But, on the other hand, they can’t list all of the duties they are seeking someone to perform because they will dramatically reduce their pool of qualified applicants ripe for the picking.

8. Promising More Pay Once Company Is Better Established

Many small businesses or startups are lacking funds, so they take to online classifieds to look for job seekers. You can find really good jobs in classified ads, but many of these employers are often seeking someone who will work for far less pay than they would normally get from another employer.

9. Requesting Personal Information Over The Phone

If you receive a phone call from someone with a lot of static on their phone line, proceed with caution. If they ask for ANY part of your social security number, kindly hang up. If they do not have a page on their website where you can submit an application, kindly hang up. The phone interviewer has not met you and unless you’ve applied for the opportunity of a lifetime, giving away too much of your personal information over the phone is risky business.

10. Attempt To Evoke Fear

Believe it or not, there are employers who want to let you know they run a tight ship during the interview process — even if the company’s turnover rate looks like a mass exodus. If they have to tell you that they get rid of employees who are slackers, chances are they had many employees who didn’t see themselves progressing in any way — it was just another day.