Getting a good job these days is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Most of the job opportunities require an experience of at least 2-3 years. How is it possible to get work experience if the freshers aren't given an opportunity to prove their mettle?
This situation reminds me of an imaginary scenario between an interview and a potential candidate.
Interviewer: You have mentioned in your resume that you have 5 years of experience, but left out important details like the name of the organization that you worked for and your responsibilities. Would you care to elaborate on that?
Candidate: I have 5 years of experience in joblessness and I am not responsible for it. Most of the companies need only experienced candidates but are not willing to give an opportunity to the freshers for the fear of incurring expenditure on their training.
People have become so desperate for jobs that they have turned to Work from home jobs as their last resort.
While scrolling through Facebook posts, we come across many advertisements that promise job opportunities to people with little or no experience. They entice unsuspecting candidates to register on their respective websites and start doing the work assigned to them. They also assure that they ( the candidates) would earn 500-1000₹ per day and when a candidate is just about to click the "Submit" button, the link takes him or her to a one-time payment page without which a candidate can't proceed with his application.
We still fall prey to such work-from-home scams. As per an article published on April 17, 2023, in www.indiatoday.in, around 100 victims have lost a whopping amount of 2.5 crore rupees to these scammers.
There are instances where unsuspecting people have been taken for a ride. According to a report on www.livemint.com, a resident of Delhi lost around 9 lakh rupees in the month of March 2023.
How work-from-home scams operate:
Initially, the scammers pose as the HR representatives of the reputed companies and contact their likely victims. They ask the potential candidates to do simple tasks like answering surveys or liking YouTube videos. The scammers pay them some token amount to gain their trust and then start asking for bank details to deposit huge amounts of money. The hackers do the rest of the job and swindle the victims of their bank balance.
How to identify a possible work-from-home scam?
- Do not go ahead with registering on the website if there is any kind of fee payment. The scammers will misuse your banking information to swindle you.
- Check whether there's information available on the hiring company. If there's little or no information, it's better to avoid signing up for a job.
- Scammers also use lucrative monetary compensation to attract their victims. They propose to offer a huge sum of money for a simple task involving minimal effort.
I happened to receive an unbelievable job offer from a University in Dubai with emoluments beyond my imagination. I decided to verify the authenticity of the offer letter and contacted my relative in Dubai who confirmed my suspicion. It was a fake offer letter with the intention to extort money for processing a work permit and visa. - The employer would keep calling you frequently as if he's desperate to get his job done. I had two such experiences. I had registered for a Copy-paste job on a website. I started working but I kept receiving calls from different employees working for the same organization to join their company and badmouthed each other. I quit the job. They kept on calling for a couple of days. Finally, I blocked them.
A foreign-based company contacted me to watch YouTube videos and earn money. I watched the videos and the representative of the company called me persistently to receive my check from their HR after providing me a link which didn't work.
This is a warning sign for all those who want to go for work-from-home jobs. - Check out the authenticity of the website on a search engine and also go through the reviews. Poor online reviews warn you to search for a job elsewhere.
- If the employer doesn't conduct an interview, either in person or online, the company is probably not trustworthy.
- If you receive an unsolicited job offer, it's worth investigating because none of the employers would voluntarily call you unless you have registered on a job portal and submitted an application to the company. (Source: https://indeed.com)
Tips to avoid work-from-home scams:
- You should never disclose personal or financial details over the phone or website.
- Avoid clicking on suspicious web links.
- Check out the authenticity of the testimonials on the website.
- It's better to seek the help of someone who could check out whether the company is genuine or fraud.
- Exercise great caution while registering on the website.
- Try to get more information on the prospective employer.
Though there are fraudulent activities related to work-from-home jobs, we can't deny that there are some genuine companies too. Some of these websites are Freelancer.com, Upwork, Fiverr, Jooble, Simply Hired and Guru.
I have been a member of freelancer.com since 2012. I have received timely payment after the completion of my work. There are two payment options:
- Payment on reaching the milestone or;
- Full payment after the completion of the project. As mentioned earlier, it is better to find out more about the employer, his project, and whether it would be possible to accept the project.
But the biggest impediment in working from home is that there are too many interruptions like unexpected guests, sickness in the family, and lack of motivation to keep working which hinder our progress in the project. However, the greatest advantage of working from home is that we can choose our own working hours and take breaks as and when required. Besides, we can save money on translation.
I would like to conclude that the unemployed youths needn't lose their hopes and get discouraged. There are options like conducting online coaching classes, taking up content writing gigs, and engaging in digital and social media marketing until they find better employment opportunities.