| Be wary of some online job offers With positions scarce and competition fierce, most experts agree that posting a resume online is a critical step for many job hunters. M. gave American Income Life and Liberty National Life Insurance Co. Best Co. A or superior ratings. Other job seekers confirmed that the same thing had happened to them. Central Ave. Experts say one of the most common types of online scams in Arizona involves work-at-home offers. Work-at-home scams can involve everything from envelope stuffing and processing medical bills to selling products through websites. The Arizona Attorney General's Office reported that a brand new twist in the work-at-home scam involves consumers who are contacted via e-mail by an offshore business to collect checks for a small business, cash them and then forward a percentage of the money through bank or wire transfers. And then there are online businesses that promise jobs for a fee. , saying owners marketed false government job opportunities through its website. CareerBuilder also offered regular links to job postings and provided e-mail alerts for jobs directly related to skills listed on the resume. Jennifer Sullivan Grasz, vice president of corporate communications, said in an e-mail that CareerBuilder takes the issue of fraudulent activity very seriously and has taken steps to protect both job seekers and corporate clients. Complaints about American Income from job seekers posting resumes on CareerBuilder. com led Call 12 for Action to contact the insurer's Phoenix office. On message boards and consumer-protection websites, job hunters said that their resumes were used to target them for interviews that they weren't interested in and for jobs that weren't appropriate given their skills and interests. "I received a high-pressure call from (a representative) who claims to be from American Income . Representatives of career-networking companies acknowledge the potential for abuse. An unexpected pitch for a commission-sales position is not the only potential pitfall when hunting for work online. , they did not have an individual interview on that day; they actually attended a group presentation that focused on commission sales. The ratings reflect the insurers' ability to pay claims and other financial obligations, not whether policies issued are good values. A series of consumer complaints about online job offers prompted Call 12 for Action to post a reporter's resume online through employment website CareerBuilder. Job seekers in Arizona recently were contacted, in some cases within hours of their posting resumes online, by two companies promising job interviews. 7 post by a woman who identified herself as Jamie on 800notes, a directory that tracks unknown callers. The representative would not give any info about the jobs she would be interviewing for, Jamie wrote. "There was all this fast talk about my coming to this address in downtown Phoenix and the interviewer would give me information. After arriving at the insurer's Phoenix office at 3800 N. He received his Arizona insurance license in December 2011. Cooley would not answer all of your questions related to his past. com, opened consumers to questionable employment offers and job interviews that appeared to have little to do with qualifications or career interests. "It's about being aware of your surroundings," said Theresa Maher, vice president of Jobing. com in Phoenix. "Unfortunately, the environment we are in today is more prone to (scams)," she said, adding that the weak economy has boosted both the number of job seekers and the number of predators looking to make use of them. Authorities said company owners guaranteed applicants jobs so long as they paid $119 for study materials needed to pass required federal exams. Employment experts say there are several red flags consumers should be familiar with when searching for work, and paying up-front fees is a big one. "Ask yourself . A Call 12 For Action investigation found that posting resumes on some of the nation's largest career networking sites, such as CareerBuilder. Representatives of American Income and Liberty National refused to reply to repeated interview requests seeking information about how job candidates are selected. Both companies, headquartered in Texas, receive top marks from financial rating agencies. Representatives of both companies indicated they were hiring for multiple positions, including top management. Call 12 for Action discovered that the two companies, with rare exceptions, offered commission-sales positions at some of the very lowest rungs of company Despite claims that candidates were selected based on resumes, no company representative referred to individual qualifications during follow-up phone calls or interviews. The jobs, which involve selling insurance products, would in most cases require applicants to become insurance agents, buy educational material, go through training seminars and pay for a license. That is far different from what was described by American Income representatives arranging job interviews. "We're hiring at every level, all of the way through management," an American Income official at the Phoenix office said. |
Monday 14 May 2012
Be wary of some online job offers
