In Nigeria, there is evidently an unemployment epidemic. What does unemployment denote? Economic issues; the lack of sustainable income leads to poverty, a decline in living standards, spending power and falling into debt.
There are also health issues which include tension, low self-esteem, anxiety, stress and strain on the body and depression. Unemployment is extremely agonizing and exhausting. Now, what is the solution to unemployment? Employment right? Pretty easy. You don’t have a job, then go out and get a job.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, it is not so easy especially if you do not know the top-shots or your daddy doesn’t know somebody who knows somebody. Getting a job could be extremely trying, gruelling and frustrating. You have paid your dues, gotten educated, studied hard, graduated and now you cannot even land a decent job? How nice.
The icing on the cake is even worse, when you eventually enter the job market, you are met with a lot of societal ills and vices. Top of the list is getting defrauded in the job search process. This connotes illegally obtaining money from people through deceptive processes. People also refer to it as job scams, these fraudsters involve people who leverage on the inability of people to get jobs and the unemployment rigmarole to extort it exploit them. They usually ask people to pay them money in exchange for jobs, at the extreme, a lot of these individuals are kidnappers.
How Can this be Avoided?
Always do a background check on recruitment agencies and companies when you are approached for a job role, check their social media handle, their website, check the emails you have been sent and do an intense inquiry into the entirety of the job before proceeding for an interview. Also share the interview location with family and friends, check the location out to see if it looks credible and never ignore your instinct.
Don’t be desperate, I understand it is not easy, a graduate and no job. But when you reek of desperation, it is very easy to find yourself trapped in terrible situations.
Look intricately at how the job invitations are drafted, does this ‘organisation’ have a credible online presence? Just stay sensitive and aware.
You have a job offer but… you never applied, you have never interacted with the company, but right there in your email or texts there’s a job offer. It’s a bit questionable and you have to look into it.
Google the company name and add scam at the end eg ‘telephone organisation scam’.
Recruiters may contact you saying they have employers with positions that you could be qualified for, although they don’t have current openings. However, they are also offer training sessions you should enrol for to enhance your candidacy. They’re just trying to recruit you for training classes.
Avoid job offers that guarantee you instant wealth, financial success, or that will help you get rich fast. Stay clear of listings that offer you high salaries for part-time hours or a little work. Doesn’t that sound tad bit shady?
If it sounds too good to be true, most likely is. Also, read any “offers” you get very carefully. A friend of mine got a very detailed job offer from an employer. The only issue was that she hadn’t applied for the job and buried deep within the lines was a request for her bank account information so that the employer could pay her. It was a scam, of course, but with some of the well-written ones, it can be hard to tell, you have to be very careful.
Feel free to add ways in which you feel people fall into job scam traps and how it can be averted.