Chris has a MPA from USC, served in the US Peace Corps in Georgia and taught ESL at ORT College before joining IRIS in January, 2013.
As employment professionals, what is our ultimate responsibility when clients accept a job that proves to be a scam?
If a client asks for advice before accepting a job offer, what can we tell them? Are there techniques you have tried to verify the legitimacy of an employer, on-line opportunity or job offer with an unfamiliar company?
Christopher Rhodes is a Job Developer for the Refugee Employment Program (REP) and Cultural Orientation Coordinator in the R&P Program with Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS) in Los Angeles. He often faces this situation and wants advice from others in the field.
Here’s a bit of context. A high percentage of the refugee client base in LA are family reunifications from Iran and Iraq. Strong family and community networks offer trusted job search advice and computer access. Many clients live with their families throughout the LA area and public transportation can be difficult. As a result, independent job search is common and Chris is seeking guidance and information on how to know whether an employer can be trusted.
If you are willing to share your agency’s approach and your experience verifying job offers and advising clients accordingly, please put it in a comment on this post or send it to [email protected]. Thanks.
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I have had this happen in Richmond, Virginia with some of my higher level (professional/highly educated) clients. These clients tend not to want to have to take entry level jobs, so they choose to do their own job search with my support. However, they aren’t skilled at spotting scams. Usually I ask clients who use online job search sites to send me a copy of any emails they get that present a job offer or interview request and I help them spot the suspicious looking items.
I also would advise other job developers to explain carefully to clients (using an interpreter if needed), the process of a job search and how any legitimate job would require submitting a resume or application, then going to an interview, then possibly another interview, and would result in a set time, date, and location for orientation or the first day. Most scams do not offer this process, and that’s a really easy way to teach them that so they can vet most scams themselves. I usually cover this material in cultural orientation.