How AI Prevents You from Falling for Scams During the Job Search
We all know looking for work is work. You spend hours perfecting your resume, cover letters, and networking. You reach out to everyone to make introductions, share your resume, and get recommendations. You make sure your information is posted on all the job boards, then you pray and wait.
The Search
We’ve all been through it time and time again. In the old days you mailed your resume, then you faxed, and now you email or text. I remember searching ads in the job section in Sunday’s The New York Times. It seems the same roles I applied to in the early 90s are still featured as open on today’s job boards – Be it Glassdoor, Indeed, or LinkedIn.
The Scammers
Most of the time recruiters email you using the address on your resume. They might reach out to you via LinkedIn. Some still call. But thanks to today’s social media and scammers, many of the people reaching out have nothing to do with the company you applied to. I have received far more fake requests than I can count. Many say they are recruiters who’ve found the perfect job opportunity that matches my experience. They coax you into supplying your resume and other data. Then they tell you they need to rewrite your resume and ask for your credit card. I have never fallen for this. Those who do never get a perfect AI-sourced resume. But they get plenty of stuff from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and high-end fashion designers. Only they never get the merchandise. Bills appear on their credit card statements.
Some recruiters impersonate real recruiters. They spell Apple, “Aple.” Most people don’t carefully look at the emails, and they write their recruitment emails “Hollywood style.” They also say they want to do interviews via chat on Microsoft Teams and ask you to download and become their friend. Many people, even me, fell for this. You do an interview, and most of the time they schedule follow-ups. Sometimes they happen. Usually not. All a scam.
How AI Helps
How does AI help you? It helps you quite a bit. All you need to do is take the ad and the email it was sent from, then input them into an AI search. It will think for a few seconds. Then it will tell you if it is legitimate. Most of the time, it notes red flags with the email addresses and URLs. Often the recruiters make minor changes to the URL. Sometimes they direct you to the company they claim to represent. Most often it goes nowhere. But they may implant malware into your computer to track your credit card and which sites you buy from. AI will note inconsistencies with the job description and the recruiter’s LinkedIn or other social media profiles.
AI will also search the job sites of the companies the recruiters allege they work for. It will give you an outlook on what is really going on. It often tells you to write to the actual recruiter to see whether they really contacted you and to express your interest.
AI is making great strides in helping people in their searches. Now the search needs to end with the role that is right.
Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc. 