How to Avoid Scam When Finding Remote Jobs With No Experience
Remote work has become a popular and accessible model of employment in recent years, transforming the professional landscape. When the world was hit by a pandemic, all the changes were at its peak. People were looking for a way to work away from home because they were restricted by quarantine during the pandemic. Some unfortunate people were fired, and they were unable to find work until the self-quarantine was lifted. Since offices were still closed at that period, they were forced to look for jobs online.
Remote work has been increasing over time and combined with pressure from all over the world demanding flexibility and work-life balance, has sparked the exponential growth of remote work opportunities. For business owners, working outside the office has been shown to be more efficient in some cases. As a result, they are open to hiring candidates for remote positions such as social media admins, customer service representatives, or content creators.
Aside from understanding the benefits of remote collaboration, having increasingly adopted decentralized working models provides ideas for other employers about the possibilities of remote work. This transformation has not only transformed traditional work structures, but it also provides equal access to employment for anyone. This allows people to grow professionally by providing them with a bunch of opportunities.
Challenges for Individuals with No Experience in Remote Jobs
While the rise of remote work is promising, individuals without job experience face a challenge in putting themselves in the market. The reason for this is that the remote work environment is full of uncertainty about where and how to start. This is also why remote jobs appear to be a scam in the first place, especially when applying for small or new businesses.
Employers may pass you if you don’t have an online portfolio since you can’t demonstrate your ability to success in virtual environments. As a result, finding one that matches your abilities could be difficult as well as time consuming. Furthermore, the absence of direct interaction requires a high level of self-discipline when communicating with your superior or customers. People who can’t handle constant chat notification might find this working model to be inconvenient.
The Importance of Avoiding Scams in Remote Job Search
When looking for remote jobs, the internet offers both opportunities and traps at the same time. The market is more vulnerable to scams or illegal activities that target inexperienced workers.
Being aware of the difference between a real job and a fake job is important because not only will it save you money, but it also shows other people that real remote jobs exist. Those who are looking for jobs should be equipped with better knowledge to avoid malicious frauds in order to make sure safe and profitable remote employment. This awareness also serves as a foundation approach for remote job searching, which can be repeated as long as you are still looking for the job you like.
The Remote Job Landscape
We have discussed how remote jobs benefit not only employees but also employers. The remote job environment is like a massive field with plenty of opportunities. Companies are recognizing that work doesn’t always have to take place in a specific location. As a result, the concept of remote work has exploded, providing job seekers with an entirely new set of options outside of the traditional office desk.
The Current State of Remote Work and Its Popularity
A lot of business areas are beginning to accept the possibility of working remotely as long as it is productive. Of course, not all jobs are suitable for this working model. That is why you should determine whether your skill is required and suitable for this type of job.
Another thing to consider is that remote work is not limited in terms of geographical area. It means that you need to communicate with people of different cultures and be more open-minded. Otherwise, you are already on your way to fail because you are a part of the virtual circle. While it may seem to be a difficult task, you simply just need to be professional and friendly to those who work with you. Since you can’t express yourself with your face and sound when communicating with text, you need to know how to write in a good manner.
Types of Remote Jobs Available for Individuals with No Experience
If you are new to the job market, you should not be too concerned. Remote work is not just for experienced professionals. There are also positions available to those just starting out in their career as well.
Customer service and data entry positions, as well as virtual assistants and content creators, are all available. Remote opportunities are available in a lot of industries, and you can apply for one that matches your skill set. Companies are increasingly recognizing the value of hiring talents regardless of their location, creating entry-level positions that can be performed away from the office.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Remote Work for New Comers
Choosing a remote job has its ups and downs, just like anything else in life. You probably like the idea of it since this job allows you to avoid the daily commute. People who live in cities with poor transportation systems prefer working this way because they can avoid spending hours stuck in traffic.
Working from home and having a more flexible schedule is a great way to make money. However, it is not all just about the positives. Since you will not be in an office setting, remote work requires a different set of skills, such as self-discipline and effective communication.
This type of job can be isolating and making you feel lonely. If you are an extrovert person then it will be very challenging for you. You are likely to get depressed if you have no one to talk to. In addition, making the balance between work and home may take some getting used to for some people. When you work from home, you probably spend time lying on the bed or couch, whether it is for a long or just a brief period of time. However, with the right mindset and strategies, the benefits of remote working can outweigh the challenges, making it an attractive option for those who never tried working with the system.
Common Scams in Remote Job Searches
While the remote job market is full of opportunities and attractive pay, it is also an ideal environment for scammers who are preying on innocent job seekers. Recognizing these scams is vital for staying safe in the online job market. Scammers are skilled at taking advantage of the excitement of people who are looking for a job and they are often implementing misleading methods that are difficult to spot whether they are offering real jobs or luring you into their trap.
One of the most common types of scams is fake job postings. They advertise interesting opportunities to deceive unsuspecting applicants. Phishing schemes and pyramid schemes are just another two other examples of scams. Scammers frequently use the anonymity of the internet to create a sense of legitimacy, leading job seekers to provide information or anything they need.
Examples of Scams and How They Operate
Fake job postings typically offer convenient ways to earn money with unrealistic pay. They start demanding fees once they have your identification. The payment fee might not be bothering you too much, stating that the funds will be used for application fees, training materials, background checks, and other possible reasons. However, those are just lies to get you into sending them your money.
Another type is known as a pyramid scheme, which promises high returns after recruiting others and keeps on going, which is basically just time wasting, plus you need to pay for the registration fee at the beginning of the time you join their business. This is a very common scam, and it is almost impossible to get a profit from it unless you are at the top of the pyramid.
The last most common scam is phishing emails. This trick is typically used by a scammer impersonating a well-known company such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, or any other big names. They ask for your email and password to login to their website using social media, a Google account, and your phone number after you send them documents for a job application. However, you don’t realize that those details are stored in their database and would be used against you to hack into your account. They might also use your email to spread malware.
Red Flags to Look Out For
Browsing in the remote job market needs you to keep an eye out for potential red flags that could indicate scamming activity. You can significantly reduce the risk of being a victim to scams by staying alerted and recognizing early indications. Here are some key red flags to look out for.
- Too Good to Be True Offers
Everyone will be overjoyed if a company gives them an offer. Be wary of job postings that offer excessive pay for just a little effort that can be done without skills. If an offer appears to be too good to be true, it is most likely a scam.
You should understand that every company’s goal is to make a profit. Imagine if they paid excessive salaries for employees, how do they make a profit if all of their money is going to people who work remotely and with just a little to no effort? If they offer that much money, you should take it with caution as there is something fishy going on.
- Upfront Payment Requests
Imagine looking for a job online, and then you are asked to pay money upfront for them to proceed with your application. This is one of the biggest red flags since most companies have their budget for hiring new people. Otherwise, there is no point for them to do it if they are not prepared for the additional expenses of the new staff salary.
Medical checkup is usually the reason why the scammers need you to pay. Again, companies don’t need you to pay a single penny for it. Some starter companies might need you to perform a medical checkup with your own money, but they will never ask you to send them money to arrange it for you.
Therefore, you should be aware and careful when you are asked for an advance payment request since legitimate companies have allocated budgets for hiring new staff and everything related to the expense.
- Unprofessional Communication
The way they communicate with you is the next red flag that you can notice. Most of them lack professionalism in the manner in which they deliver messages to you. Of course, not all of them are unprofessional in the way they email or communicate to you, but if you found one this way, it is almost sure that it is a scam.
To begin with, emails are usually written with spelling errors. These typos happen due to lack of appropriate board reviewer. Those scammers are most likely regular people without having a proper educational background. They usually don’t know what is right or wrong in their writing. Some of them might realize this mistake but tend to ignore it since they are only concerned with the results. This is the reason why you should be more educated than them to understand what they want before you take further process.
The next thing scammers do when they make a fake job offer is provide an unclear job description. When applying for a real job, you should be aware of the requirements, the salary range, and the specific position you will be assigned for. Fake jobs, on the other hand, normally only provide partial, non-essential information, put in a very attractive salary range and simple job assignments which can be done for most inexperienced people.
Finally, it is the way they write the job listing and respond to your message in an unprofessional manner. Scammers typically use casual language that is common in daily conversation. However, in the professional world, most email replies tend to use formal words in order to keep their professionalism. No wonder, the use of abbreviations, slang, and excessive punctuation could be the sign of a scam.
Scammers communicate in an unprofessional manner. You should be able to recognize this by getting used to businesses communication. When looking for work, it is always a good idea to start with big companies. However, even when you are applying for jobs there, you might find things like this that which you need to be alerted of.
- Rapid Hiring Process
Employers normally have comprehensive hiring procedures in place before choosing one as the best candidate. If a job offers immediate employment without an interview or detailed observation, you need to question their legality. Why does the hiring process take a long time to get the final words?
To begin with, companies typically only hire one or two candidates at a time, unless they are starter companies that need new people on board to run the business. If they receive hundreds of applicants, the process takes longer as they need to sort them out by filtering candidate profiles that fit in the position and narrowing down into a certain number of candidates left.
Once they have identified the best candidates, they conduct interviews to get deeper information about their candidate’s personality and skills. This process is necessary in order to find the best fit for both the company and the employees. Most employers typically look for the best candidates who have the best skill sets for the job while still within the budget. Whereas employees expect the best possible offer with their experience. This whole process might take days or even weeks for the company to make the decision, which is why you should question yourself whether you are applying for a real job or not if the hiring process takes only hours.
Fake jobs, however, take a quick process because they need to take as many victims as possible. The more victims they get, the more money they make. As a result, you may hear news from them even quicker than you expected. When you have no experience in the field and you still get the job, you probably have no idea why they chose you over others. The reason is simple, you are essentially an asset to them. All your personal information or anything you submitted to them might lead to something you don’t want to happen in the future.
In the end, if you find a job where the company gives you the opportunity without hesitation, you need to be suspicious, especially if they don’t have an official website to support their existence in the business.
- Lack of Company Information
It is sad to see people applying for jobs and are willing to give up everything just to get a job, not knowing that the company could be fake because they have no official information. If you hear about or see a job opportunity, you should always do your research on the company first before putting your hope too much on it.
Even if the company is well known in their business area, finding out their information is still important. Human Resource generally will ask you about your contribution, salary expectations, and your knowledge about the company, even when you are not their employee yet. If you know about their vision, you might be able to answer the questions more confidently, which may lead you to securing the job you applied for.
It is even more important to get the company information beforehand if you receive an offer from a new, untrusted company. When you are expecting to work remotely, you should at the very least know whether they have an official website or not. In addition to the website, you should learn about the products or services they offer. That way, you would get a general idea of what they are working on. Finally, you can get information about the company from other sources like Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn, or even social media to find out other people’s reviews of whether the company is legal or fake.
Basically, if Google is unable to help you to find all the information you need about the company, you should be aware of them that they might not even exist. If you see any red flag, remember all of the steps above and keep in the loop of what the company to which you are applying is up to. However, not all legal companies have official websites, so even if you need to be cautious, you should not think that all who don’t have this info are scammers.
- Requests for Personal Information
All companies will ask for your personal information. However, the real ones only request your personal information with caution. Legal companies request sensitive information such as social security numbers or bank account information only when you are hired. Without any contract paper signed, you should never give your personal data to anyone.
Furthermore, scammers generally demand specific information from you in order to keep you loyal to them. How do they do this? This happens not only to remote jobs, but also office jobs as well. Many people have been trapped in a scamming online betting website office and are unable to escape because they received a murder threat if they flee or don’t complete the job properly. They are also penalized for leaving the job by paying a ridiculous amount of money. In the end, they either ended up being a slave or risking their lives for leaving the job.
When it comes to remote jobs, they don’t have anything to hold you until they do. Most of the time, they demand your phone number or force you to download an app on your phone. The application allows the scammer to read and access everything on your phone without your permission, including contacts, notes, the gallery, and many other personal stuffs.
If you fall into this trap, the threat to share your personal data online is a very common practice for these people. They might also send edited images to your contacts to create fake content that humiliates or harms you personally. These scammers have all the power to keep you under their control. As a result, it is strongly advised to avoid disclosing sensitive information unless it is necessary or safe to do.
What Needs to Do to Avoid Scams
- Research the Company
Good companies want to stand out. They want to be seen by the public of what they do in the industry. As a result, they establish a visible online presence. Basically, a simple Google search should provide enough information about the company. If you can’t find any information about the company, you are probably dealing with scammers.
Unfortunately, creating fake official websites and online presence is now simple and affordable to do for individuals. Scammers who are aware of this condition might invest their money to set up a seemingly legitimate company to avoid suspicion in public. How do you tell the difference between the real and the fake ones? Let’s find out another step below.
- Check for Contact Information
Employers who are legitimate provide clear and verifiable contact information. You need to always be skeptical if email is the only means of communication, especially if it is a generic one. If you find a contact person on the website, you can follow them on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Check on their profile to see if the person is genuine or not. This could be one of the parameters whether they are real or not based on their representatives. Check on the date of the account being created. In general, scams are only a short-run effort, meaning everything is set and run in a short period of time. Therefore, if you see any of their social media accounts created recently, it is a red flag for you to notice.
- Look for Reviews and Testimonials
When you are unsure about the company you will be working for, you should definitely read the reviews and testimonials of them. People might post something on Google review to describe the overall quality of the company. For your own goodness, always focus on the negative comments instead of the positive ones. Once you see multiple comments about the job being fake, it is time for you to stop and find other options.
For those who don’t know, testimonials and reviews can also be faked. There are a lot of freelancers working for a commission by writing good reviews about everything at all. Those who are ethical would probably reject the offer, but not all people would reject easy money for something simple to do with no effort. When you find balanced comments, which both of the positives and negatives are dominating the reviews, those are probably scammers using other people’s services to create good feedback.
- Trust Your Instinct
After you have done everything and all seems alright, does it mean you are safe from being scammed? Most likely yes, but not all the time. There are times when you need to follow your instinct of you have a bad feeling about something, including when you are applying jobs online for either office or remote jobs.
When you see their first impression, the way they speak and the overall atmosphere of the interview could be a trigger for you to walk away from the opportunity, even when everything seems normal as it should be. This might not be the best advice, but when you don’t feel confident with your choice, this could bring you regrets.
Conclusion
Working remotely has increased the opportunities for those seeking professional development. Even if you have no experience at all, the opportunity to get a job remotely is always open. However, it requires discipline and effort to reach the level you want.
If you want to apply for remote jobs from specific companies, you need to perform your own research by finding out whether the company is legal and real, or just a made up by a bunch of scammers. Furthermore, you need to be aware of red flags in order to avoid scams that will financially and psychologically harm you. Never accept an offer that makes no sense at all, including the lucrative offer for a junior position which doesn’t require specific skills or big effort to perform.
There is also another scamming model in which you are offered into a comfortable zone by earning a small sum of money for completing certain tasks. However, once you feel at ease, they start charging you money for additional tasks as deposit. Initially, you will notice that your earning increases significantly with the more tasks you complete. When you collect the money you earned, the application refuses by displaying error, maintenance mode, violation code, or any ridiculous messages to keep you away from withdrawing it. When you call the developer or the company, they will probably not respond to your call. This is how they scam you after you put your money in their pocket as a deposit. There are many other ways to get scammed when looking for jobs online. You simply just need to avoid disclosing sensitive personal information and stay aware at all times.
Furthermore, there are some platforms for remote jobs that you can bid on them. However, it requires an initial setup for building a portfolio so that potential customers might notice and hire you. After all, working in a virtual world requires you to have a strong online profile, whether through active communication or by displaying a portfolio. You can do this through a freelance platform or through your personal social media page.
