www.sharongraham.ca

As the holiday season approaches, we have seen an escalation in job search scams targeting six-figure Canadians. Job seekers need to be extra diligent these days. As an advocate for ethics and integrity in the Canadian labour market, I have been monitoring some organizations, specifically within the Greater Toronto Area that are using disturbing tactics in selling career services to six-figure professionals.

If you are a job seeker, watch out for these “red flags” which some of my clients and colleagues have encountered:

• FAKE JOB POSTINGS – If you type in a job title on a job board, looking for postings and the result turns out to be a sales pitch to buy career services, beware! It is clear that any company that would do this to job seekers has little integrity from the outset.
• FAKE HEAD-HUNTER – If a “recruiter” e-mails or calls you and asks you for money in return for a job interview, something fishy is probably going on. Good employers and search firms never require you to pay in order to start a job.
• FAKE JOB BOARD PARTNER – Tread carefully if a company sends you an unsolicited e-mail indicating something like this: “While conducting an online search, we reviewed your resume and were concerned that you were not getting the results that you deserve. Our professional resume writing partner will fix your resume…” Nobody should be targeting you if you have not specifically requested help from them.

In the last month, I have received inquiries and concerns from a number of job seekers and career practitioners. They have provided me with information and documentation regarding three organizations in the Greater Toronto Area with one or all of the “red flags” above.

All of these companies have posted fake postings on CareerBuilders.ca and other job boards. I have contacted CareerBuilders.ca and requested removal of the fake job postings. To date, I have received no action or comment from the organization. All the same I am compelled to share this information so that jobseekers can make informed decision as consumers.

There are many ethical, professional, and knowledgeable career service providers in Canada. This regular onslaught of unethical, immoral, and dishonest business practices is quite disconcerting. Not only does it take advantage of job seekers, but also tarnishes the complete Canadian career industry, including those who operate with integrity.

I am currently investigating these and other Canadian job search scams. Please do let me know if you or your clients have experienced similar or other forms of  job search scams from Canadian organizations. Feel free to post your comments here or email me directly.

If you would like to learn more about performing an effective job search while protecting yourself from unethical practices, please read Job seekers: Beware of spammers, scammers, and schemers.

Thank you for reading my blog! Please email me if you spot any errors in this post.

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