Tag: Job

The Dark Side of Job Hunting: Are You Being Tricked by Fake Interviews?

Paul
Job search by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

The Rise of Fake Jobs Listing!

There is a rise of fake jobs and even companies who have no intention of hiring anyone.   CBS news did a talk about this on their website but I’m certain people still don’t know about this.   It’s where companies.   I am sure it isn’t being done all the time but i do think it’s something companies are doing that  I have seen in the past.   I’ve seen companies who do the interview but can’t find that one perfect candidate because they don’t want to have to train the potential employee.

I’ve heard all the excuses why the company wouldn’t do this but I suspect that companies are doing for one reason or another and are using potential interviewers as a way to gather data and also to try to find that one special candidate.

Job Interviews and red flags!

The real issue is understanding the red flags that are being done to tell you that it might not be an actual interview.   They will do this for reasons like they want to learn from the interviewer on what it is like.    I’ve had this one job where they reposted the job on LinkedIn before they even had a chance to interview me.    If this happened to you then it is likely going to be like this, but it isn’t the only way to identify a company that might not be actually hiring anyone but doing this for other reason.   Another way to identify if the company is having issues with employee retention is to check out the company careers page and see how many jobs are open in the company.  This won’t tell you if this is a red flag but it will help you understand the chances of this interview being a real or if they are just going through the motions.

Impact to Job Seekers!

The real problem is that it impacts the job seeker by having them hope they get the job and it might be a real job but it really takes a lot out of the job seeker by doing all these interviews.   If the job seeker sees a job that was reposted even before the job seeker goes through the interview process this can curb the enthusiasm and make the potential job seeker not to show the energy they are looking for in an interview.  This is just a few things that will impact a job seeker from finding a job by them having too many interviews.

I could go into details about the job interviews, I’ve done that seemed like they were just going through the motions and that is one way to identify that it might not be a real job interview.

It’s really important to bring this to their attention if you think they are just going through the motions because you should make them consider that your time is valuable just like their time and maybe that will show them how interested you are to getting the job.

Have you had a job interview that you thought went really well and you got a denial letter?  Why not comment and tell me your story.  I’d love to her your experience on the subject matter.

The Shocking Link Between Rising Unemployment and Fake Job Listings!

Paul
Unemployment is on the rise
Unemployment is 4.1%!

Unemployment is on the Rise!

As you can see this is the current unemployment rate from the BLS reports.  If you want to dig deeper, you can but the real concern is that it has jumped from 3.5%( Last June 2023) to 4.1 This year.  That’s a .6% rise in a year and it’s not going down.  Unemployment is going up and if we look at the unemployment rates from 2006 you can see once it started to rise, it went fast upward.   This seems to be the something that will happen again.   We might not get up to 10% but we will get past the 6% to 7% rate and it might even stay there for some time.  I’d say maybe a 1 or two years.  The Feds might have to do something soon to prevent this from going higher than that this year by introducing rate cuts in the coming months.

Fake Jobs and Scams are on the Rise!

Ghost Jobs, and Fake Jobs are being posted on every job board around just to bolster the companies moral and keep employees happy.  I’m even seeing more job scams getting into my email box and I even documented some of the ones that I have seen in the past few weeks.  Here’s a small list of them:

I’ve talked about some of these are more in the past and I’m really concerned with where the job market is right now and what companies are doing to the job seekers and potential new employees.  Is it morally right to go through the process of interviewing candidates if they aren’t going to hire you and is it even right to put up those jobs if you aren’t really hiring.   I’d says it is but I am sure others would disagree with me.  I understand the concept.

Job Interviews

I’ve got a job interview with a company in the next two weeks and they have reposted the job on Linked-in.   That seems more than smells of something rotten but I will patiently wait and see what they do when I go through the interview.   I am dubious that they aren’t going to hire me but I have to make an effort to do that.  Another company which is local is interviewing me and wants me to come back in for an “IT Support Analyst” position, which I don’t understand but I will go and do the interview with someone else for one reason or another.   Is the job market so bad that companies are being ultra picky on who they will hire and who they want to join their team?  I would say most likely yes and it’s really one of those things we will have to see in the coming months.   The pendulum has swung to the employers side and we are just going to go through the motions of trying to find a job and go through more excessive interviews to get that one job we are looking for to being able to survive the impending recession, which we may already be in.

Have you had any fake job stories you want to talk about, why not leave a comment and tell us your story.  I’d love to hear your experiences on the subject matter and maybe it will help others avoid the same mistakes.

The Surprising Advantage of Being Talkative in Job Interviews!

Paul

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Be Yourself in an Interview!

Understanding is the best solution to being good talker in the interview.   There are many who are saying you shouldn’t talk that much in an interview.  I tend to think this isn’t really a good approach unless you want to come off as one who doesn’t want to be engage with the interviewer(s).   Some would say, that you should just be yourself and I think that is good because if you are comfortable with the interviewers than it comes off as good fit for the job.   If you come off as nervous or uncomfortable then you may come off as not the right fit.   You might not know it or not but having the secret to keep quite maybe is the one thing that didn’t get you that one job.   You should be actively listening but you should also be engaging and be ready to show them that you are the right fit for the job.

Showcase your Knowledge, Passion and Expertise

One of the biggest advantages of being talkative is that you show your passion and experience in during the interview.   Some manager’s will like it and others will not, It just varies from one person to another.   Some managers will want you to be concise and to the point because they are way busier and maybe don’t have the time to do the interviews.  Read the room and understand when they are ready to go.  Showing you have a passion will in one way or another provide them the assurance that are the right fit for the job because they don’t want to hire someone who will hate their job and just do the bare minium.   Building Rapport is also good because they will want to know that you can do the job and put the customer first.   Also let’s not forget that if you have the ability to build a connection with the interviewers because they will get to know you even more and They may see that you have a lot to bring to the company, which could lead you to having a job offer come your way.

Authenticity and Positivity

Both words are nouns but they have some great advantages as you are interviewing.   You being authentic can help them see your personality and even see your values while at the same time measuring if you will be someone that people will come to acknowledge and being personable with.   It’s only human nature to want to create connections and be social, so there isn’t anything wrong with being authentic and personable towards the interviewer(s).    The real aim is that you shouldn’t talk way to long and you should keep your answers short as possible but you should also actively listen and respond to questions or show them you are the right candidate in one way or another.  Just remember to address the potential concerns that the interviewers might have and by doing that you are also showing that you are concerned with their feelings.

Stories help make it memorable

Remember to be authentic but also come up with stories that will showcase why you are a good fit for the job.   Understanding the job description and knowing what they are looking for can go a long way into being memorable.  They created the job description for a reason and we should be mindful of that while interviewing with them.  It’s definitely a two way street when it comes to job interviews, You get to know the people and make a connection with them and also learn more about them and see if the boss is someone you would like to work with in projects and other ways.  Ultimately you will be working with this manager and you’d have to decide if they will be a good influence on you and vice versa.   No manager is the same and as such you can tell from the interview if the manager does a lot of micromanagement or if they are more free spirited which can be a great plus in any work environment.

Have you had experiences where being talkative helped you in an interview? Share your stories in the comments below! And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more career tips and advice.

 

Job Essentials: Searching for real Jobs!

Paul

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Find real Jobs isn’t easy

How you find a real Job?  It can be very frustrating that all these jobs available but are they real?  As of today, I am thinking some of those jobs aren’t real.  I’ve seen jobs come by and I applied for them and then they come back up in the next month or a few weeks.   I thought it would be a good idea to talk about this even more.   I know I’ve talked about Job Hunting 101: Mastering the Art of Applying for Positions.  However, I thought we should deep dive into what most people are a calling Ghost jobs.  It seems that these ghost jobs or companies are trying to suggest that they are looking for work but are just trying to farm applicants.   Some of these companies are just trying to fool their workers that they are looking for people to help with their work.  I have thought more and more that Jobs in 2024 will be harder to find and It seems that will continue through this recession that we are most likely going to have.

Finding Real Jobs

Are there real jobs in the job Market?  Most of the people are looking for jobs right now than ever before in the past.   I’m seeing more people being laid off, and that can be a real problem in looking for a real job online.  Here are some of my tips to know if the job is real or not, and you can possibly save yourself some time and effort:

  • Use Indeed’s company reviews – If the company in question is really below 3 or 2.5 you can probably guess they aren’t going to be   Here is some points to make though.  If you see people making comments that the work life balance isn’t good that is probably an employer or is trying to fool their employees and keep them there.
  • Vague job postings – This seems to be another tactic that is being talked about by everyone around that companies are just posting jobs to crowd source when they do begin to hire.  You might just get a bite a few months down the line if you applied to jobs like that.
  • Listings are closed – Here’s another tactic for employers they will intentionally keep the listing active just in case the job applicant quits while being trained or something like that.  They also may be overwork and just forgets to remove the listing.   Either way this one can be quite frustrating.

Job hunting fatigue is real thing and most people don’t understand it.   The truth of the matter is that you can find a job even right now if you really go a different route.   Connect with recruiters on LinkedIn and create content to highlight what you’re good at is one way to find those jobs that companies are wanting to fill.   Create Google Alerts for keywords for jobs that you are looking for new jobs.   However this will occasionally bring in those Ghost Jobs because companies will re-post the same job and Google will see these as new jobs and not old jobs.  So you should be cautious about which ones to apply to.  Networking is the best way I can tell you to finding a job, because it is something that has been proven in the past to land a job even in my case.  If you know someone who works at Microsoft, they can probably put in a good word for you to get that job you are wanting.

Remember, you’re not alone in this more and more are finding my job asking the same questions.  Don’t forget to check out Strategic Job Applications: How AI Can Be Your Secret Weapon to help you craft that cover letter and make sure your getting past the filters that is setup to be seen by a recruiter or hiring manager.

Job Hunting 103 : Navigating pre-employment assessments and tests

Paul

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Submitting Online Applications: Dos and Don’ts

How do I submits Job applications online?   Is always the first question I usually get when I am trying to find a job.   I want to make sure I apply in the right to get some kind of response and maybe a good interview possibilities.  This will be me telling you how I apply and making sure I get the right response and possibly invitations to apply type of jobs.   Each person will have different results depending on how they complete the process.

  • Do find the jobs that you want to do.
  • Do follow up with recruiters or HR after the interview.
  • Do write the applications as if you are the best fit.
  • Do create a resume that fits that job.

And

  • Don’t Just apply to any job you can.
  • Don’t be in a hurry to fill out the application
  • Don’t send a generic Resume.

Each employer will vary depending on what they may require you to do to get an interview, so you must read the job description and try to figure what they may need.  You can also start filling out certain job assessments online by using the Indeed assessment portal.  Like everything else this helps the employer know if you have the right qualifications and skills that they might be looking for.   You can also do some more self assessments are something that you can do to prepare for some of this and this could ultimately help you identify what you might be good at if you haven’t already done that.   Knowing what you are good at will help you get the job,  Even though I said that in the other blog posts.  This is how you can get a job that you might be good at.

Following the Job applications requirements will be something that no one can truly master because the employers sometimes makes it harder than it typically needs to be.   They want to make sure you want the job and that can make it even harder to get the job.   However once you have the job the satisfaction of saying you’ve got a job far out ways the hardship of getting the job.

Customizing Applications for Various Job Types

Why would you need to customize an applications?  That is the first questions you might have, when you think about the whole purpose of the application.   Some more interesting aspects of customizing the application is that makes it harder to any employer to track from employer to employer.   Most of the time, they aren’t tracking people but if you have already applied to that company before it makes it a bit harder to look back at the other applications and associate it with the same person.  After you decide which job you want to apply to, customize the applications or resume to make them see your the best possible fit for the job.  If you do this right, you might get an interview with company and be offered a job.

Understanding Pre-employment Assessments

Knowing what the employer might want you to do like an assessments from your local state unemployment office or some other places.  Knowing that you may need to be able to type a certain amount of speed or that you know how to handle customers.  This tells the employer that your skills match what they might be looking for so this can be great way to show off your skills in the application process.  You should do a background check on yourself, and even tell your references you are using them to apply for the job, that way they know to expect a possible phone call.   Sometimes employers will call or just they asks for the references for one reason or another.  I will say there is an good blog post from Indeed of what you might need to do for the pre-employment checks that you might need to do.   Some other good places to look:

As you can see, there is so many things that must be done before you get hired that it is almost impossible to go through the whole process of talking about the pre-employment tests and assessments but this is generally just to help you understand what you might need to do to get that job offer either before the interview process or after the interview process and they want you to do the pre employment testing to make sure you are the right candidate for the job.  So i can’t possibly talk about all the process.  You’re going to have to do the research before you get through the whole process.   However this is just a small bit of what you might need to do accomplish getting a job.

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