Job openings are not created equal, and to say upfront, there are no rules to publishing job openings. Since companies have come out to say they purposely post “ghost jobs,” we realize we don’t like our job search, um, gamified.

People refer to the Bright.com survey indicating Monday and Tuesday as the best days to apply. But we have to separate how people use it. At least for many people today, the cliche is that the early bird catches the early job opening.

Yeah, but don’t be so sure.

Historically, when job ads were published in the Sunday paper, people were up early to receive the newspaper and would apply. The same principle applies if you know when the platform publishes jobs. I did it along with most Americans. You scoured the Sunday morning job section. If you’re hyper-focused on specific jobs, locations, and salary (many times, salary ranges were included back then), finding the right job may not be as long. Generalists spend up to half a day looking for anything remotely application- or fax-worthy. It’s not being a “generalist.” It’s time-consuming to find what box you’ll fit in.

Today, it would matter as much for some positions.

Companies post jobs on their websites, and if you visit a company you want to work for often, you can see the jobs when they are posted.

LinkedIn and Twitter users will watch their timelines for job postings if their industry connections regularly post. You can create a Twitter account for people and companies posting jobs regularly. The benefit is that you can see the posting in real time if you follow your list.

Many LinkedIn industry-specific groups have members who regularly post on non-specific days. The advantage of finding publications there is you can ask for additional information on the poster, who may have insider information about the job.

You can try “Google Alerts” or “Talkwalker” to assist in finding the jobs you desire. Use Google’s suggestions on search, and alerts can come to your Gmail once a day. Use different titles to fit your skill set, i.e., “salesperson,” “sales associate,” or “sales consultant.”

Last year, I was quoted in a GoBankingRates article about the “best day.” This is relevant because people revert to old-school tactics in a tough job market.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/jobs/best-day-of-the-week-to-apply-for-a-job

The professionals I know who are active in this job market are not getting strings of interviews because they applied early. The common thread among them is their strengths match the company’s needs, they have valuable intel about the company’s culture and how they work, they are well informed about company openings relevant to their skill set, and they are connected to many other professionals in the industry.

Today’s job search is challenging enough without the added worry of applying to a fake employer. Similarly, companies face the risk of hiring a fraudulent job seeker or an employee who might share the company’s private data with a deceitful coworker. Scammers are escalating their identity theft schemes to unprecedented levels. 

Scammers disguise themselves as fake employers, recruiters, career coaches, HR executives, employees, and job candidates. The news and social media are filled with stories of unsuspecting employees and job seekers falling victim to scams. It may only be a matter of time before scammers successfully convince real employers to hire a bogus employee. 

The latest job scams reveal new ways scammers obtain private data. Job scamming is a global problem, not just in the U.S. Incidents in other countries and smaller communities in the U.S. indicate layered and sophisticated threats to privacy:

• “ResumeLooters” recently breached job portals in Asia, accessing millions of private profiles. The information contained more than two million names, numbers, and other personally identifiable data. 
• College students have experienced job scams through school emails containing fake job offers. 
• A Hong Kong company employee unknowingly encountered deepfakes of U.K. coworkers in a fake video call, resulting in a 25-million-dollar company loss. 
• Singapore news outlets reported that there were thousands of victims of job scams in 2023. 

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Private data is the gold mine all scammers want.

Your private data is your identity; thieves will use it more than a used car. It gains value over time and is exploited repeatedly for current and future scams. These perpetrators are identity thieves aiming to exploit your information.

They engage in various activities, such as:

Spear Phishing: Scammers send enticing offers via email, luring victims to click on a link that leads to a deceptive but convincingly real employment site. This includes networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter posts, search engine listings, etc., making it appear as close to the actual company as possible. The Purdue email scam is a prime example of how they can infiltrate a server to disseminate a slew of counterfeit, yet genuine-looking, opportunities. The FTC has documented incidents in colleges and high schools. 

Identity Theft: Scammers use stolen data to impersonate individuals, attempting to deceive creditors, employers, employees, vendors, and others. They employ public profiles from various sources to present themselves as legitimate entities. Most victims may perform a cursory check if they are suspicious, but only a few investigate thoroughly enough to confirm the legitimacy of the transaction, often leading to negative outcomes.

Fake W-2 Scams: Scammers have discovered novel methods to defraud companies. Last year, Experian reported that scammers found employees in finance with access to company employee W-2s to send them. They use those forms to file fraudulent tax returns in the employees’ names. Conversely, scammers approached this person to convince her they found her through Google to transition their independent contract workers (probably fake) to W-2 employees.

Professionals need to control their careers from both the front and back end.

It underscores how every professional must be vigilant and proactive in managing their career by vetting all inquiries into potential employment opportunities, ruling out scammers, and avoiding recruiting imposters. Successful job seekers strategically add skills and apply to jobs where their skills fit across several industries. They research, target, and apply to companies where their skills are in demand. While this doesn’t exclude them from being approached by imposters claiming to recruit for fake positions, the more they vet, the more they learn to rule out scammers. 

Job scammers can negatively impact background checks when they steal employment data from job portals. Applicants can have their job search derailed without understanding why. Scammers could create a fake profile using the employment history of unsuspecting victims to apply to thousands of jobs and likely be blacklisted by companies without the victim knowing why they don’t get calls from employers. Job seekers must ensure their references are as relevant as their skills. Assuming your background check will be untouched by scammers is a risk. 

The problem doesn’t stop at the victims getting blacklisted:

• While a job portal may report a breach, the applicants may face a long period of not hearing from employers or needing to verify their employment history, possibly dealing with questions about potential fraud.
• Companies will spend extra hours vetting thousands of applicants, many false, and lose tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. This process could ruin a company’s reputation and cause it to lose credibility with qualified candidates and industry competitors. The company may hire someone (possibly a scammer) who falsified their employment history. 

Job seekers and companies have money and time at stake in stopping job scams globally. Each has their reputation to uphold and present to each other as they look to help each other and build a sound economy. Reporting and blocking scammers are onerous, but protecting employment data is critical. Job seekers must be proactive and reactive today because unknown factors can impede their future.

Employers must respond to the possibility of scammers affecting their brand, if not directly, then indirectly.

If you want to learn what you can about job scams, what to do when you’re confronted with one, and what to do next when you’re a victim, I got you! Join my Substack newsletter and community, “The Job Scam Report!” The cost of a cup of coffee per month provides complete access to all job scam resources, articles, and the Substack ONLY podcast.