Simply Hired Blog

Job search the safe way

[UPDATE 04/21/2009] View the Simply Hired Job Scam Tip Sheet

During your job search, you’ve probably come across job listings that ask you to wire money or promise high amounts of pay for little work. Seem too good to be true? They probably are. Unfortunately, there are people online who leech off unsuspecting job seekers, trying to take advantage of them for money or other personal information.

Because Simply Hired aggregates job listings from a variety of sources, job scams can sometimes end up in the search results. That said, out of the 3 million job postings in the Simply Hired network, less than 1 tenth of 1 percent turn out to be fake postings. However, we have no tolerance for scam or spam jobs, and permanently remove them when we become aware of their presence. Simply Hired is continually working on tools and procedures to protect users from online job scams and will soon be rolling out a new feature to address this problem.

Simply Hired recommends that job seekers be diligent in vetting potential employment opportunities, at the same time it also encourages employers and other job resources to be vigilant in protecting the integrity of their job listings and corporate brand.

To keep yourself safe during your job search, watch out for these red flags in job postings:

• Ask for your SSN too early in the process 
• Ask for your bank account number or to wire funds to an employer
• Include misspellings and grammatical errors in job title/description
• Request to scan your ID

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has published a fact sheet with more information about avoiding job scams online.

Please notify us on the contact us page if you notice a job posting that looks scam-like or fraudulent in nature. We will investigate the listing and remove it.

In addition, you can block job sources that are scam-ridden using the "Hide" feature.

Help friends find jobs

Chances are that whether you’re in the middle of a job search or not, you know somebody looking for a job. So if you’ve ever had that “Ah-ha” moment on Simply Hired when you’re browsing through job listings and suddenly you see one that would be a perfect fit for you or a friend, now you can send it right to their email inbox (or your own, for a nice little reminder to apply).

Just click on the “More Tools” link at the bottom of every job listing and click “Send-to-a-friend.”

A box will pop up prompting you to fill out the name and email information for yourself and your friend. Click Send and it will be on its way!

So remember kids, friends help friends find jobs.

Covering employment gaps on a resume

Especially during economic climates where unemployment is up and job searches are drawn out, many people look for ways to cover up or explain employment gaps on their resumes. While sometimes a quick formatting change can downplay these lapses, other times it is best to explain them outright. Here are a couple tips on how to de-emphasize those months—or years—without work.

Include Unpaid Work & Continuing Education
Is that gap really a gap? Even if you weren’t a paid employee, you can include positions that you held and activities you were involved in such as volunteer, freelance or consulting work during your employment break on your resume. You may have gained great skills and experience from them that will put you ahead of the pack when vying for a new position.

Many people go back to school to keep updated on latest practices or technologies during their job search. If you took classes in your time off, you can include these in the education section of your resume.

List Years of Employment
If a gap in your employment history will not affect your ability to perform in a certain position well, and especially if you have been spending your “down-time” in resume-boosting activities, a change of formatting can take attention away off months spent out of work. If you’ve spent over a year at past companies, it is perfectly acceptable to list dates of employment by year instead of month/year. By doing so, you won’t accentuate those lapses between jobs and send a red-flag to potential employers. Plus, many hiring managers may appreciate the streamlined look of your resume.

Tell the Truth
If there is an obvious break in your employment (such as time off to care for a sick relative, to raise children, medical reasons, etc.), you can use your cover letter to explain your situation.

Whatever you do, don’t lie about it!