Almost ****med

I am unemployed and like most individuals in South Africa, I am desperately looking for employment . Like everyone else, online is where to go when looking for a job. I am registered with LinkedIn and through answering an advert where my profile match what the recruiter/ company was looking for I was diverted to another website. Thinking nothing because this is the norm, I continued and app**** for a warehouse worker position on the 15 November 2023. On the same day I got a very well executed professional email informing me that they would like to have screening/ interview on the 16th November 2023. Desperate as I am I accepted the invite because the email looked legit. When I arrived at the address, I was immediately confused because the environment for interview did not fit the job description, however, I went into a boardroom and the presenter wanted my CV, and 300 rand. There and then my alert sensor activated. However, I was prepared, I know that we do not pay for an interview regardless of what the payment covered. This payment covered for a credit check and police clearance certificates. The first is free online with your ID number on Clear Score, any company HR person can do this task, quickly. The latter takes 30 days from any Police Station and it will cost you 115 rand, there are no short cuts. Fortunately, for me since I am actively looking for employment, I have learnt all of this. So, I had my CV, copies of my qualifications and a police clearance certificate and I showed the representative my clear score. The screening turned sour, the representative ignored me and ten minutes later left the boardroom with me and another person who did not pay alone. The point of my story is that there are so many unemployed South Africans who are being ****med with the little to no funds they have because they believe these kinds of "recruiters" who take 300 rand from citizens who have little or no knowledge of the process to finding a job. On that day more than 7 people were scanned out of 300rand, the owner of the property where these ****mers hired the boardroom was not paid for the day and her place of business now looks like they are part of this ****. Simply put such recruiters are giving genuine recruiters a bad image and hiring a boardroom under false pretenses gives legitimate business owners a poor reputation. Let more unemployed citizens understand you do not have to pay for a job........