27
Chapter 2 Protecting Your Online Identity
Recognizing Employment Scams
It is easy to become distracted when fi nding
the perfect job advertisement on a website. Before
you start submitting personal information, slow
down and investigate the site. A legitimate
website will list a physical address and additional
information about the business. If you are unfamiliar
with the organization, search for its name online.
Evaluate what you fi nd. Sometimes, conducting
a search for the name of the business plus the
word “scam” can reveal whether the business
is legitimate.
Check the e-mail address for the company.
For example, if the ad claims to be from a
corporation but the contact e-mail address is a
Yahoo address, something is wrong. Companies
typically have their own URL that is a part of the
e-mail address.
Another way to identify fraudulent
employment advertising is to look for misspelled
words and grammatical errors in the listings.
Reputable companies sometimes make errors,
but fraudulent advertisements are known for
poorly written content.
One common type of employment fraud
happens when criminals create phony employment
ads and contact people using information they
fi nd online in résumés. After contact has been made
with a potential applicant, the applicant is
informed that in order to proceed with employment,
the company needs to set up a direct deposit
account. Unfortunately, many unsuspecting
potential employees provide bank or PayPal™
account numbers, convinced they are dealing
with a legitimate company. Criminals use many
variations in payment-forwarding swindles.
Never provide any bank account or payment
information in preparation to obtain a job.
Career Portfolio
Objective
Before you begin collecting information, you should write an
objective for your portfolio. An objective is one or two complete
sentences stating what you want to accomplish. The language
should be clear and specific. It should contain enough detail so
that you can easily judge when it is accomplished. Consider this
statement: “I will try to get a job when I graduate.” Such an objective
is too general. A better, more detailed one might read, “I will have a
job by June 1 of this year.” Creating a clear objective is a good
starting point for creating your portfolio. Consider your strengths and
weaknesses as a job candidate. Ask yourself the following questions:
• Who is my audience? What do I want them to know about me?
• What is my message?
• What unique skills or experiences have I had? How can I
demonstrate them?
1. Conduct research on the Internet to find articles about writing
objectives. Also, look for articles that contain sample objectives
for creating a portfolio.
2. Write an objective for creating your portfolio.
arek_malang/Shutterstock.com