The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

Surprisingly, Scammers Will Leverage Who You Know Against You

SurSuprisingly, Scammers Will Leverage Who You Know Against You by Mark Anthony Dyson

Scammers vary their online attacks and schemes to access your data. One such scheme, known as ‘jobfishing,’ is a form of catfishing in which scammers use fake job postings to lure unsuspecting victims. This is why I created “The Job Scam Report!” 

They may use various platforms, including social media sites like LinkedIn or text messaging. There are few places online today where you can relax without remaining vigilant of scammers that masquerade as answers to your problems. As we do everything on my blog, this discussion is about jobs.

For this article, I will focus on text messages because of a recent attempt to scam me using a company I’ve worked with to lure me into a scheme. My clients are usually job sites or companies who hire me to produce job search, career, or workplace content for them.

I was recently sent a text by a scammer who pretended to be the company’s founder and texted me first to verify the number was associated with me. I thought this was plausible, but I was miffed they wanted to text me when, in the past, we communicated via email or Zoom. They tried to get your boy (me) but to no avail. They failed this time. I am self-aware enough to know I’ll be tested occasionally.

“I’m currently in a conference call meeting and need you to complete a quick task. Are you available?”

I responded, “I can be in 10 minutes.”

This was a mistake, but the more I communicated with the scammer, the more I realized it wasn’t the founder because of the request. I also confirmed it was my number (which I had never done before), and it could open me up for future scams (even if I block the number).

They directed me like an employee:

“I need you to provide a client with some gift cards for e-thank cards. Can you confirm if you can get Apple gift cards from Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Walgreens, 7-11, CVS, or any local grocery store nearby?” This is a common scam tactic where the scammer asks the victim to purchase gift cards, usually for popular retailers like Apple, and provide the card details to them. The scammer then uses these gift cards for their purchases, leaving the victim with a loss.

My thoughts were:

Wait, I’m not an employee. But, the request was completely uncharacteristic of the individual.

I sent a message to the actual person via LinkedIn and emailed an employee, asking them to authenticate the message. I never responded to the scammer again, but the founder and employee confirmed it was not the founder.

I suspect most people received at least one text prompting a potential victim to check out an opportunity. Here are a few of the ways scammers are using text to tempt you to buy into their scam job offer:

  1. Jobfishing (catfish for jobs or even phishing).

Scammers know they can get personal data this way, and cell phone numbers are easy to obtain. They masquerade as a company, and its victims are intrigued enough to apply and give some personal data. You’ll almost always get a fake job offer.

2. Payment scams.

The fake company will want you to purchase equipment with one of their counterfeit checks. They get job seekers to play the “transfer fund” game, which gives them access to personal account information, social security numbers, and other financial assets.

3. Training or certification scams.

We see many of these on LinkedIn where someone claims to have a certification from somewhere that needs to be accredited. People have a right to create their school of thought. There’s a grey line between a popular industry in an unregulated space and someone who claims success in the same industry.

What do you see in the methodology, published work in credible publications and organizations, and results from their collective clients as validation? Anybody who applies the same methods with a portion of the best practices achieves the desired result.  

4. Premium services.

Resume writing, interview coaching, or exclusive job listings are a slippery slope. While legitimate services exist, scammers often overcharge or provide poor-quality services that need to meet expectations.

When someone with deep knowledge solves complex problems, people can demand higher costs. It is credible if someone does it and has a team behind them with more knowledge and experience. The problem is with the unsolved problem they claim the ability to solve. If people are publishing proof, you can verify and vet them. If not, pass. 

Scams are typical, but their delivery and sophistication take victims for a ride. If you haven’t already, I have a checklist you should see on “The Job Scam Report” on Substack. Go and subscribe so you can keep up with the quickly changing schemes dominating our timelines and news.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Job Search?

The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Job Search?
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The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Job Search? by Mark Anthony Dyson

I watched the Buccaneers go 0-14 in a season when I lived in Tampa. It was brutal, but by no means was it as brutal as being rejected for a position after several rounds of interviews.

Sure, some of us can disengage our personal feelings from the process. Some of us handle rejection pretty well.

But many of us don’t. After a job search — especially a long one, especially when you’ve made it far in the interview process — any bit of rejection can feel personal and, possibly, devastating.

Applying and not hearing back. Taking an assessment and never getting the results. Interview and never receiving a call. It all feels terrible.

You can’t control every aspect of the job search. Pain is part of the process. But that doesn’t mean you have to be hard on yourself. You can learn how to handle rejection more gracefully.

There is nothing romantic about today’s interview process, but we are encouraged to act like there is. “Finding a job is like dating,” people say. Hiring managers expect to see a certain amount of passion from candidates about the job, the company, and the company’s values. But it’s unfair: The more invested you get, the more crushing rejection becomes.

There is a song, “The Worst That Could Happen” by Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge, about a heartbroken man who fell in love with a girl who married another man. The marriage was good for her, but for him, it was devastating. I’m being honest when I say I’ve experienced similar emotional lacerations when I’ve been passed up by peers for a promotion or a job. At the time, these things truly felt like the worst things that could happen.

But eventually, I came to terms with it. Eventually, I did get the promotion I wanted, the job I wanted. Not the same ones, but still.

Each of us is resilient. Each of us crafts our own life story. Employers only care about the chapter of that story in which we overcome the obstacles and achieve. That’s okay: When you talk to Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, they remember winning the Super Bowl, not the winless season.

You may sometimes have during your job search that feel like winless seasons — but you’ll have your Super Bowl wins, too. As a Bucs fan watching them go 0-14, I often felt like the team would never win again. That was the wrong lesson to draw from the experience. You may feel the same about your own career when you are rejected, but trust me: You have won and will win more than you think.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

Job Search Stories I’m Watching

Job Search Stories I’m Watching by Mark Anthony Dyson

Whether you would want to emulate or avoid strategies in these job search and career stories, they’re worth tracking and watching developments as they happen. I’ve written about some recently, and others I am watching from different sources. There are no promises of how I’ll keep up with these angles, but they’re exciting, and you should know about them.

#JobFishing

If you’re not familiar with the term “job fished” or “job fishing,” it is “catfished” but with jobs. Scammers will portray well-known brands to lure victims away from employment and solicit money from them or give private data from them. Many victims have left legitimate jobs to onboard these seemingly actual companies, see scams coming and stop pursuing them immediately.
A viral Tik-Tok video showed how a job seeker applied to a well-known name company, but it wasn’t the actual company. The site, run by scammers, tried to legitimatize the company by staging a LinkedIn page with employee pictures (not existing employees). The victim in the video initially saw signs the fake company wasn’t real, but it wasn’t until she received an invoice for work computers the scammers promised to reimburse her.
I’ve learned over the years that when the job market is overwhelmed with confusion and uncertainty, it exploits opportunities to scam vulnerable people. Last month, I wrote an article for Lensa about scammers using advertisements masquerading as actual companies to lead them to fake jobs and how to avoid them. I expect scams will trend upwards to play on the uncertainty of rising gas prices, hiring freezes, and widely implemented wage freezes. Just as easy as creating scams today, excluding false companies is, too.
I’ve advocated for years to research companies deeply, ask questions to and about the company and its employees, and if there is doubt, walk away. Scammers pretending to be employers have one goal to either get your money or private data.

Overemployment

I talked with Alex Levit three years ago about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will affect business. In our discussion, we discussed how contract workers would forge forward with multiple contract full-time jobs. She said, “And yes, many will find it difficult to balance new business development with existing work and other obligations.” There are YouTube videos with people sharing how they managed to have two or more full-time jobs simultaneously.
To be clear, we’re not talking about two jobs to survive. Overemployed workers are tech or six-figure workers (many are tech) who make more than $250,000f yearly.
If you check #overemployment today, there are less than 100 videos exclusive sharing how they managed it. I like one of them because he’s transparent about his experience, thought process, and lifestyle while working two tech development jobs. While he was able to manage both jobs (each at 100K+ salary), he told us one of his employers caught him but didn’t make a big deal out of it.
Three things I learned about over employment after watching several videos:
  1. Make sure you don’t intermingle computer and software usage between companies.
  2. My suggestion (not mentioned in the video) is to obtain two IP addresses dedicated to each company. There will likely be a little pricey. It would make things a little easier for required uploads.
  3. Some companies have a “moonlighting” clause. More companies will be more conscious in the future. Make sure you understand each company’s policies before engaging them.
Want to know more about the “over employment” movement? Go here.

Normalizing the boomerang employees

I wrote an article recently about boomerang employees and their successful move back to employers they left. While many quit during the height of “The Great Resignation” last year, some companies rehired them. Most companies move on from those leaving in the past, especially when it’s tough.
It’s also a reminder to employees to have options as they leave companies, and the best way to remain employed is to keep former employers close as an additional option for your job search. Please read the article. Let me know if these trends are recognized and resonate with you.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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I moderated a panel on Wealth Management for executives by Black Enterprise Magazine in October 2023 in Miami.

I was interviewed on Scripps News show, “The Why!” 4/13/2023

I talked with John Tarnoff and Kerry Hannon of “The Second Act” podcast about job searching after 50 in October 2022.

I was on “The Career Confidante” podcast to talk about “boomerang employees” and “job fishing” in June 2022.

Making Job Search a Lifestyle With “Dr. Dawn Graham on Careers,” SiriusXM Ch. 132, Wharton School of Business May 2021

In May 2020, I talked with LinkedIn’s Senior News Editor Andrew Seaman on “#GetHired” Live.”

Beverly Jones, host of the NPR podcast “Jazzed About Work,” invited me back to talk job scams, job search trends, and AI tools in April 2024

WOUB Digital · Episode 183 : Job search expert Mark Dyson says beware of scams, know AI & keep learning

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