Job Scam In Kenya. Beware Of Conmen.

By Florence Mukunya,

Several weeks ago Peris Kiama saw an online job advert which was very attractive, it was a customer care job that required no experience and was paying very well.

“I applied for the job and after two days I was invited for an interview but when I got to the interview venue I could tell something was not right, to begin with, the office was just two seats and a single table that the interviewer was using. I did not get why a company so promising to pay such a high amount of salary did not have a furnished office. Two weeks later after attending the interview, i was asked to send some money for a  test. I am confused and dont know what to do” she says in an Email.

With the high rate of unemployment in the country, unscrupulous individuals are now taking advantage of desperate job seekers by advertising fake jobs in the hope of making a quick money.

Speaking to Perminus Wainaina Recruitment Manager Corporate Staffing Services he agrees that such cases are on the rise and mostly target junior positions that have the a significant number of job seekers. Such positions will include assistant accounts ,customer services, NGOs among others.

In regards to that, here are 5 easy ways to spot a job scam.

How To Spot A Job Scam

1. If The Job Has An ‘abnormal’- exaggerated salary

A job with a very high salary while else the job description has very few duties should be the first thing to suspect.

Such positions may include  internships. While there are  companies that pay for internships very few pay such high amounts.

Most of the people who advertise for these fake jobs are not even qualified Human Resource officers, so you will find that their job descriptions do not make sense or do not even match the job they are hiring for.

2. If The Job Has A Dubious looking email address
Most hiring companies will use their company emails for job applications , but you find that people who run scam adverts will mostly use gmail and yahoo accounts. If you come across such a job, do not apply for it.
The source of the job should also help in determine whether the job is genuine or a scam. Such include recognized sources such as the local dailies, online job jobsites but if you get a job advertised on the bill board or a telephone post it raise a lot of questions.

“You will find scammers trying to use for example a co.ke for a genuine company which uses a .org”

5. If The Job Is from A Suspecting NGO Job
Not all NGO jobs are a scams but you will find that many scammers are aware that NGO jobs are the most sort after jobs, they therefore use these as a bait for desperate unsuspecting job seekers

Before you think of applying for such jobs, do a back ground check to find out whether such a NGOs exist. He adds that you can check if they have a website and if the email address of the job advert matches the web address.

As a careful job seeker, make Google your friend.  In case you are in doubt just Google the name of the hiring company and if they have a website then you will be able to see the job advert on the website too. If you also find that the company in question has never advertised for a job before think again before applying.

To all jobseekers not all that glitters is gold, tread wisely when looking for a job, be vigilant, there are a lot of people out there who want to make money out of your misery.