The year 2020 has taught us that even without an office structure, we can fulfill our career.
With the learning experiences of 2020, there has been a rising growth of work from home opportunities.
But with the rising demand for home based jobs, there is a rise of scammers looking for vulnerable targets.
Here are a few ways you can identify fake online work from home opportunities and ensure genuine home based jobs.
Let’s begin!
Signs of fake home based jobs
You must first learn to identify to safeguard yourself against fake online work from home opportunities.
Here are a few red flags you need to be aware of while looking for online home based jobs.
The recruiter is not being clear about the hiring company
A recruiter offering a legitimate job offer will always be clear about the hiring company and what they deal with.
Whereas a scammer will be unwilling to divulge much information on the matter.
Whether part-time or full-time work from home opportunities or any job offer for the matter, make sure to ask questions about the hiring company.
Also, keep an eye out for the mode of communication.
If it’s a genuine home based job, the recruiter will communicate with you via email followed by telephonic or video interview or both to discuss your work.
The recruiter seems overly enthusiastic to hire
This is one of the most common red flags that a job offer might be problematic.
Even if it’s an offer for home based jobs genuine recruiters will ask for your work samples and even provide tests to check your talent.
Anyone who is rushing you to join without allowing you to think through is a sign that it’s not genuine home based jobs.
Even in a regular job offer, the recruiter provides a minimum of 24 hours to accept.
So, if the recruiter pressurizes you to take an instant decision, it is wise to stop responding and walk away as it is clear trouble.
Also, check for their email ID and the tone of the email.
- Does the email ID resemble the pattern of other recruiters?
- Is the tone of the mail informative and formal?
- Are there any grammar mistakes or misspellings?
Although these might seem minuscule but can help you avoid fake work from home opportunities.
Recruiters are extremely careful in their emails as they know the company’s reputation will be affected otherwise.
The recruiter is asking personal questions about your finances
Recruiters offering genuine home based jobs will never ask you about your finances.
Another factor to be aware of is if the recruiter is asking for a handsome amount to get started. If there are any training programmes, generally the company bears the cost.
So, walk away without hesitation if the recruiters ask for money or ask you about your finances while offering home based jobs.
The money seems too attractive for the job
Money has been used as an age-old honey trap by scammers. Even in jobs.
Money or extremely lucrative perks for work from home opportunities are always signals of something being off.
Check if your qualities match the position offered or whether the salary offered is over the top for the job. If the answers don’t fit logically, then it’s time to be skeptical.
As tempting as a high salary and lucrative perks might seem, there’s always some hidden facts.
How to avoid fake online work from home opportunities
Now that you know the warning signs of fake online work from home opportunities, here are a few things you can do to confirm genuine home based jobs.
Ask questions about the company
Over time interview processes have evolved. However, one thing that has remained constant is the recruiter’s question “Do you have any questions for us?”
Be it genuine home based jobs or regular, recruiters will always allow the candidate to get their clarity about the job profile, the company, etc.
So, be sure to ask all the necessary questions about the companies if you find yourself doubting the authenticity of the job offer.
If a recruiting company offers you a job on behalf of another company be sure to ask to gather as much information about both the companies from the caller.
Make a list of questions like,
- Who are you recruiting for?
- How many companies do you have onboard?
- How long have you been operating?
This along with your research will help you to decide whether it's a genuine home based job offer or not.
Do your research
Once you have the name of the company offering work from home opportunities, search it up on search engines like Google.
With the advancement of technology, digitization can be a boon and curse if not used right.
Check if they are registered with legitimate job portals such as Naukri, AmbitionBox, etc.
The job portals usually have a thorough check on the authentication of the companies they endorse on their website.
Read the reviews as well as check their official websites.
Ask a second party already working in the company
After doing your research, use sites like LinkedIn to find employees of the company or even people who have been offered home based jobs from the same recruiting company.
Try to connect with them and find out their experience working with either company. This will also help you understand whether they offer genuine home based jobs or not.
Also, make sure to ask whether the payments are made on time or not since it is one of the many major concerns of home based jobs.
Reach out to the company directly
Now, you might not be able to reach out to a person who’s been recruited by the same recruiting company for work from home opportunities.
In which case, you can try to reach out to an HR of the company whose name the recruiter had taken.
You can inform them about the situation and that you are just trying to ensure that you don’t fall into a trap of fake work from home opportunities.
You can also ring up the number provided on the company’s official website to get in touch with the recruitment team for better knowledge and cross-check the details provided by the caller.
Hopefully, these tips will help you avoid fake work from home opportunities and help you identify genuine home based jobs.
All the best!
