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5. The job description says, "no skills or experience necessary!"
Really? Why not just have their kids do the job for 50 cents an hour?
Managing remote employees is extremely challenging. Employers who hire
and supervise telecommuters want highly skilled, experienced employees
that they can trust. They have to be confident that they can perform their jobs
with little or no supervision. This is why most telecommuters are required to
work on-site for a certain period of time before they're allowed to work from
home.
6. Vague or non-existing job description.
The more vague a job listing is, the more likely it is to be a scam. There's
nothing more aggravating to a recruiter than getting bombarded by resumes
from unqualified candidates. This is why most legitimate job listings read
like a novel. They want to be sure that only the ones that meet their criteria
respond.
This leads me to an important bit of advice for telecommute job seekers.
Never, ever respond to a job listings that you are not fully qualified for. I
spend a lot of time recruiting companies that have telecommute policies to
post at my site. Many of them are reluctant to post their listings online
because they are inundated with responses from people who aren't
remotely qualified. It gives all of us a bad reputation and cuts down on the
number of jobs that are advertised. I just can't stress enough how important
this is.
7. Vague contact information
If you can't reach someone to ask a question, or ask for a reference, then
there's something wrong. A real employer wants to get the position filled,
and if you are qualified, they want to convince you to work for them. You
should be able to reach them (or someone in their company at least) directly.
Also, a PO box or an 800 number doesn't really count. Anyone can open a
PO box or an 800 number. Look for a physical address. Most legit
companies don't conduct business though PO boxes.
8. Advertisements for Envelope stuffing, home assembly, home typists,
mail processors
These are always scams. I have never come across a legitimate job for an
envelope stuffer. Nor have I ever, in my life, met someone who was an
envelope stuffer. (And could you really say with any measure of pride that you
are a professional envelope stuffer?)
These advertisements are always the same. They charge you a certain
amount of money so that they can send you detailed instructions of how to
advertise for envelope stuffers. You're selling the very same packet that you
just paid 30 bucks for, but you only get $3. There's no product, just their
self-perpetuating ads to sell more $30 packets.
Home Typists? What company needs 5,000 home typists? If a company
needs some typing done, they're not going to advertise it on the internet
where they're going to get 10,000 replies. They're going to hire an
administrative assistant who can type a report and hand it to them- while
greeting clients and answering the phones.
That's not to say that there aren't legitimate Data Entry jobs available.
Companies often find a need for specialized skills that can be done by a
freelancer on a contract basis. Some examples would be database work,
research projects and seasonal billing needs. But the key is that they involve
a specialized skill that their existing employees don't have.
Next: Five warning signs of an internet scam Page 1
