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How to know whether to apply for that job

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Applying for jobs should be a simple enough process. There’s a job, you want it, so you apply for it and wait to see whether you’ll get the chance to prove in an interview that you should get it. However, the world of online recruitment is much more complicated than that, with unscrupulous recruitment agencies posting fake jobs to harvest your data, companies not being truthful with the reality of the roles they’re taking on and some adverts that are just outright scams. All of these make it very difficult for job hunters to be sure whether to trust that they are actually worth applying for or too much of a risk. Luckily, there’s a useful new flow-chart that’s been created to take you through the process of whether to apply for that job or whether to swerve it.

One of the first potential red flags is how long the posting has been online, which you should be able to see easily on most reputable jobs boards. If it’s been there for a few months, it may well have already been filled, so at the very least you’d have wasted your time applying. If it’s still available, you should probably have concerns about why, whether it’s overly-picky hiring managers or candidates being put off during the interview process.

Other things to be wary of are any jobs that seem too good to be true. Are they offering you a lot of money for what seems to be not much responsibility? Are they asking you to call a premium number or take part in an interview over instant messaging? Is it hard to find out any information about the company on Google or sites like Glassdoor (obviously you need to avoid any companies with only negative scores on here)? Any of these could be warning signs that this is a scam.

There’s other things that should probably you off a job, even if it’s with a legitimate company. After all, a job doesn’t have to be a scam to ruin your life, sometimes it can just be a bad job. So any description that talks about you needing to be “flexible”, enjoy working in a “high stress” environment or – even worse – have a “good sense of humour” implies that it’s a role that won’t be to everyone’s tastes.

Finally, you need to think hard about whether any job you’re considering will fit your lifestyle and values. Will you need to commute too long to get there? Are the hours too unsociable? Can you see yourself doing it for a long time without being unhappy? There’s no surefire way to know if a job is worth applying for, but every time you see a potential opportunity, load up this flow-chart and you’ll be able to weed out the ones that just aren’t worth your time or energy.

Whether to apply for that job infographic

Whether to apply for that job infographic

Any extra tips on knowing whether to apply for that job? Leave your advice in the comments below.

Sian ElvinHow to know whether to apply for that job

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