How To Avoid LinkedIn Job Scams
Plus: Free Online Career Quizzes
Job scammers are clever. They know that you’re more likely to trust job listings, private messages, and emails that appear to originate from trusted sources. But although venerable job sites like LinkedIn go to great lengths to weed out frauds, job scammers still slip through the cracks.
Further, there’s a lot they can do without even posting on the site. If you’ve ever received a phishing email that appears to come from a site you know and trust, you’ve seen how easy it is to spoof email addresses.
Fake job ads and emails like these can cost you time and money, and even result in ID theft. To outwit the scammers, use these techniques:
Look for Scammy Keywords
Scammers may be growing more sophisticated, but their tricks are often new variations on an old theme. You can identify many LinkedIn job scams by looking for telltale keywords, such as:
Accept payment
Enrollment fee
Package processing/shipping/reshipping
Rebate
Mystery shopper
Wire transfer
Legitimate employers will never ask you for money or personal information upfront. Nor will they promise you a high salary for entry-level work. You will never be asked to forward a package, write a check, or cover the costs of training or equipment. Any job listing that mentions these things is almost certainly fake.
Research Appropriate Pay Ranges
One of the top job scam warning signs is pay that’s wildly out of line with the market. Employers don’t pay more for positions than they have to. So, if you see a LinkedIn job listing that offers a salary that’s much higher than typical for the role, it’s probably a fake.
Of course, if you’re just starting out in your career, moving to a new area, or changing careers, you might have no idea what’s going on with pay in the industry. To get a sense of a reasonable pay range, research salaries on free online salary calculators like Salary.com, Glassdoor, and Payscale.
Beware Remote Job Scams
Remote work has become part of the employment landscape, probably for good. A Gallup survey showed that only 20% of workers in remote-capable jobs worked entirely on-site in June 2022. However, as teleworking surged, so did remote job scams.
How can you tell that a remote job listing is fake? FlexJobs, an online database of remote and flexible job listings, offers a few signs of remote job scams including:
Higher-than-typical pay
Spelling and grammatical errors in the job listing
Personal email addresses (e.g., Gmail or Yahoo) instead of a corporate email address
Fees or payments from job seekers
Requests for direct deposit information, e.g., your Social Security number, prior to an interview process
Match Email Addresses and URLs
Some fraudsters are smart enough not to use a Gmail address. Instead, they might use a legitimate-looking address that’s just slightly off, e.g., recruiter@Amazoncompany.com. They’ll pull similar tricks with URLs, using .co instead of .com (or vice versa) or tweaking the company name just slightly.
To avoid falling for these listings, Google the company before you apply. You’ll quickly see whether the real URL matches the one in the listing and may be able to get a sense of the email conventions in use at the company.
Check Recruiters’ Profiles
Legitimate recruiters will have a professional LinkedIn profile with activity updates over several months or years, plus experience including previous jobs as a recruiter or HR professional. They may also have endorsements, recommendations, and certifications (e.g., SHRM-Certified Professional). Beware recruiters who are new to LinkedIn or have sparsely populated profiles.
Never Click Links in Messages or Emails
As a general practice, avoid clicking links within LinkedIn messages or personal emails. Go directly to the LinkedIn site or app to read InMail or apply for jobs. This will protect you from clicking on fraudulent links and falling victim to phishing emails targeting your login credentials, Social Security number, or financial information.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
To further secure your account, LinkedIn recommends enabling two-factor authentication. This security measure adds another step to the sign-in process, which makes it harder for fraudsters to access your LinkedIn account and impersonate you or steal your information. If you sign up for two-factor authentication, you can either opt to receive a code via text message or use an authenticator app on your phone.
Free Online Career Quizzes
When you’re not sure what you want to do for your next job or you’re thinking about a career change, a career assessment or career quiz can help you find options to explore.
These types of career tests are a terrific (and even fun) way to learn about jobs that you may not have considered. At the least, you’ll get some ideas to think about. If you’re still stuck after trying a few, a career coach is a way to get professional guidance. Another option is your college career services office if you’re a student or graduate. Many offer lifetime career advising services.
There are free online career quizzes that are quick and easy to do. They may not all be scientific, but they will help you generate ideas about career possibilities—and where your career path might go from here.
Here’s a sampling of free career assessments, quizzes, and tests to try:
CareerOneStopToolkit
CareerOneStop has a wealth of resources to help you explore options, get training, and find employment. Their Job Search Toolkit includes several tools you can use to assess your options and to find occupations that match your skills, interests, and values.
CareerOneStop Interest Assessment
The Interest Assessment only takes about five minutes. You’ll answer 30 questions about what you like (and don’t like to do) by reviewing a list of activities and selecting whether you like, dislike, or are unsure about it. When you’re done, it will generate a list of occupations that may be a good fit for you, the education requirements to get your career started, and the job outlook. You will also be able to learn more about the occupations you’re interested in and how to get your career started.
CareerOneStop Values Matcher
The Work Values Matcher is a tool that will help you find career options that are a fit for your values. You’ll respond to questions about different aspects of a job or workplace to help you find jobs and employers that are a match for your personal values. For each question, you’ll think about how important the quality is to your ideal job and rate it on a range from to least important.
CareerOneStop Skills Matcher
Use Skills Matcher to assess the skills they want to use in your job and career by rating basic and more specialized skills to find careers that are a good match. You’ll answer 40 questions to rate your level in a range of skills. Then you can review a list of suggested careers that are a good match for your skills. You will also be able to learn more about the career, the education requirements, the salary, and the job outlook.
Truity Career Tests
Truity offers a variety of personality and career tests that you can use to assess your interests when you’re considering the next phase of your career.
More Career Tests
123 Career Aptitude Test
The 123 Career Aptitude Test is designed to give you insight into careers that match your personality. To take the test, you will view pictures that show work activities. Select the activities that appeal to you the most and those you aren’t interested in by liking or disliking each picture. The test only takes five to 10 minutes to take.
CareerFitter
Take CareerFitter’s career quiz by selecting which option you prefer to generate information on your work personality strengths, optimal work environment, income potential, and best-fitting careers. The summary is free and there’s a fee to receive the premium report.
O*NET Interests Profiler
O*NET Interest Profiler is a 60-question interest inventory that generates a cluster of career options based on your responses. You can view a list of careers related to each cluster, and review detailed career information on careers of interest.
The Princeton Review Career Quiz
The Princeton Review Career Quiz is another quick quiz you can use to get some ideas. You’ll answer questions, such as “I would rather be an artist or I would rather be a salesperson,” as well as questions about the way you work and your work style.
Truity Career Personality Profiler
The Career Personality Profiler evaluates your interests and your personality so you can explore career alternatives. This is a quick 10-15 minute test and, after you answer a series of questions, you will be able to learn about college majors, occupations, and industries that are a match. There is a fee to receive a comprehensive report, but a summary of your results is free.
Truity Photo Career Quiz
The Photo Career Quiz is a fun career quiz that only takes a few minutes. All you need to do is look at a series of two photographs and click on which one you like best. When you’re done, you’ll get a free profile of your career interests.