3.6 Gies Grad Career Weekly

[Targeting grad students seeking industry-related internships/full-time roles in the US and global locations]
 

Job Scams

What are job scams?

Job scams are quite difficult to spot (and these scammers have gotten more sophisticated!) Many scammers use real companies to post their jobs but they’re actually not! If you feel that the job posting or the interview process doesn’t feel quite right, then it's probably not right. 

Examples of job scams:

1. You receive an email from a company claiming to be hiring for a remote data entry position. The job offers high pay with little experience required. After a quick email exchange, they ask you to purchase office equipment using a check they send you. The check later bounces, leaving you responsible for the lost money. This is a classic job scam tactic!
2. A recruiter reaches out via social media, claiming they found your resume and offering a well-paying job at a reputable company. However, they insist that you provide personal details, such as your Social Security number and bank account information, before conducting an official interview. Later, you discover the company had no knowledge of the recruiter, and your personal information has been compromised.

Here’s how to protect yourself:

• Verify the Employer: Research the company and check for an official website and contact information.
• Beware of Upfront Fees: Legitimate employers will never ask for payment to secure a job.
• Watch for Red Flags: Poor grammar, generic job offers, and unprofessional communication are warning signs.
• Job Offer Seems Too Good to Be True: Extremely high salaries for minimal work or qualifications can indicate a scam.
• Unclear Job Descriptions: Scammers often provide vague or generic job descriptions with no real details about responsibilities.
• Pressure to Act Quickly: Scammers may create a sense of urgency to prevent you from researching the opportunity.
• Requests for Confidential Information Early On: Be cautious if asked for personal details like Social Security numbers or banking details before an official job offer.
• Unprofessional Email Addresses: Legitimate companies will use official domains, not free email services like Gmail or Yahoo.

If you have any questions related to job scam, join our roundtable event to learn more. If you have any additional questions after our event today or if something feels off, please come to the Office of Career and Professional Development and we are here to help. 

Table Of Contents

1. Highlighted Opportunities
2. Highlighted Events
3. Career Resources

HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS

CFA Institute Global Career Week
Date/Time: March 18-March 20
Event information and registration link : https://global.cfainstituteevents.org/event/28e37e16-219b-4d6c-b2c4-94c7efa82ed7/overview?RefId=MF

Event Description:
Join us for an enriching experience where you can invest in your future and gain invaluable insights from our signature sessions featuring the CFA® Program and career sharing from CFA® charterholders. 

Discover recent hiring trends, explore careers in sustainability, delve into the latest in private markets, and learn how to thrive in the evolving finance and investment industry.

This is your chance to connect with industry leaders, gain knowledge, and be inspired to take your career to new heights. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to shape your future in finance!

HIGHLIGHTED OPPORTUNITIES

HANDSHAKE OPPORTUNITIES
Please log onto your Handshake account to browse through more opportunities. We also provide easy access to Handshake opportunities on our Gies Groups website (categorized by full-time, internship, OPT/CPT) so visit our page here: https://giesgroups.illinois.edu/bcs/handshake--job-search-board/

CAREERNOMICS OPPORTUNITIES
If you are interested in global opportunities, Careernomics is a global job board fully dedicated to business school students. From this website you can search jobs on every continent, learn about development programs, and conduct company research. Explore job opportunities on Careernomics via this link: https://www.careernomics.com/ 
 

CAREER RESOURCES

Gies Office of Career and Professional Development created a site to house all of our career resources, so feel free to bookmark our website on Gies Groups. The page houses our job search guide and resources and more!

For international studnets, are you interested in learning more about OPT and CPT? Please check out ISSS' online OPT workshop here and the online CPT workshop here.

We compiled a list of highlighted companies' official WeChat ID. If you want to stay updated on China/Asia-Pacific job opportunities, we strongly encourage you to follow your targeted companies. Access the list here: WeChat ID list

Final Thoughts

· The above opportunities is only a highlighted list. There are more opportunities out there so feel free to conduct your own research and utilize a mix of job search channels (e.g. personal and professional connections, company websites, job boards, 3^rd party search firms, etc.) to discover opportunities.

· Many companies we work with, including multi-national companies share feedback with our team. To summarize, they mention that our business students’ profile is strong, however communication skills is something that can always be improved. In addition, communication/people skills are essential across different industries.
 

o With this in mind, we strongly encourage students to meet with a career advisor to practice their communication skills. This will help when you chat with recruiters, when you are being interviewed and when you enter the workplace after you graduate. Communication/people skills takes time to develop and in order to have a competitive advantage in the global job market, you will need to focus on the soft skills, not only the hard (technical skills).

o Please feel free to schedule an appointment on Handshake to practice and learn more about developing your communication skills. Click here to make an appointment.

· Conduct research on all opportunities that these companies offer. Not all companies are recruiting for one specific role now but if you are interested in the company, then it’s worth browsing through their site and connecting with them because you never know when they may have opportunities that fit your career interest in the future.

· If you are interested in a specific employer’s roles and they are hosting an event/information session, it’s strongly encouraged that you attend because you can learn more about the recruiting process, what skillset/experience they value and you can build connections with recruiters/industry executives!

Thanks and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Have a great weekend!

Susie Li,
Assistant Director, Office of Career and Professional Development
Gies College of Business

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