Excited to get an offer letter from a Canadian Employer? Be careful!
Scammers pose as employers, recruiters, company executives or as immigration consultants (unlicensed, of course) and employ attractive methods to lure people who are desperate to get a job in Canada.
How do we identify these scammers?
Cost & Fees – Employers are not allowed to charge any fees for offering jobs as per Canadian rules. Similarly, recruiters are not allowed to take a fee from the job seeker for their services. Watch out for those who ask for a payment to give you a job. Never part with your money.
LMIA – A positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment is mandatory for most jobs and is required to apply for the work permit. The cost of the LMIA, again, has to be borne by the employer and should not be collected from the prospective employee. Watch out for those who ask you money for the LMIA.
Work Experience – Almost all jobs will require some experience, and if the advertisement states “No experience required,” think twice. Remember, If the employer is willing to hire someone internationally, with no experience and train them, they can do the same with fresh graduates in Canada too. Why would they come to you?
High Salary – If the salary is unusually high for that job compared to the experience required and the average wages, watch out. That’s a clear warning sign.
Hiring process – Think, why would someone hire you without an interview? Conventional interviews are often held through phone or video conferencing to ensure the employee is a good fit for the organization. If you did not have one and just got the job, then something is seriously wrong.
Email id – Any recruiter or company that corresponds with a free email account like google or yahoo could be a scammer. Most legitimate companies have corporate email accounts.
Research – Do your research, visit the company website. If they do not have a website, or if they have one but don’t have any contact information, beware. Compare the contact information on the website with the offer letter you received – mostly they would be different, as scammers would want you to speak to them and list their contact number on the job offer whereas it would be an entirely different number on the website.
Ask – When in doubt ask for help. Contact people you know in Canada and seek assistance.
It is your hard-earned money. Don’t fall for scammers. I am regularly approached by job seekers who have lost amounts varying from $500 to $10,000 to these scammers, by when it is too late. There are many immigration programs that do not require a job offer for permanent immigration. Contact us to know more.