Choose your career

Apply for vacancies

Application letter & CV template

Attending the interview

Most frequently asked questions at the interview

Follow up and evaluation after interview

Beware of Employment Traps

Rogues, seeing through the eagerness of job-seekers in finding jobs, defraud money or other benefits from job-seekers by various tactics. To prevent loss, job-seekers should always stay calm and cautious to these employment traps.

Tactics commonly used by rogues

Irregular transfer of posts
Some rogues offer good money to recruit clerks, transcribers, cleaners etc. for their "foreign exchange investment companies" or "sales companies". They then encourage their staff to invest or to transfer to investment posts. After the staff give out money for investment, the rogues claim that there are losses in the investment and take the money.

Big spending on purchasing goods
Beware of sales jobs with good salary and high commission. If you do not wish to be a sales representative, don't be persuaded to purchase goods blindly. While you want to be a direct dealer or agent, you should first find out the structure of the company and acquaint yourself with the goods for sale. If you find that the job involves hierarchical sharing of commission (i.e. pyramid selling) or that the prices of the goods are higher than the market prices, you should refuse to accept the job.

Illegal work
There were cases where job-seekers are engaged in illegal work like unlawful fund-raising, loan-sharking activities and selling of pirated goods. The job-seekers are then made scapegoats by the lawbreakers during prosecution of the Police.

Charging additional fees
Some modeling agencies or dubbing companies, claiming that they can refer job applicants to be models in commercials, singers or film stars, etc., induce applicants to pay fees for training courses, beauty service or audition, or to pay recommendation fees or deposits. They probably do not refer any jobs to them and pocket all the fees afterwards.

Some Rogues will induce job seekers to pay unreasonable fee such as registration fee, data processing fee, administration fee and work pass fee by claiming they are recruiting some posts.

Vice traps
Many entertainment establishments are in fact vice operations. Job-seekers are often attracted by the good salary and sign the contracts before they get to know the real job nature.

Detecting Employment Traps

• Be realistic and sensible
  When you search for jobs, always remember to be pragmatic. Don't believe in job advertisements requiring barely any experience or qualifications but offering a good sum of money. Neither should you believe in things like "quick money". You should have general knowledge of the company background, scope of duties and the trade or industry concerned before applying for a job.
  
  
• Be vigilant during interview
  Ensure your personal safety during an interview. If the interview process is too simple and scamp, such as offer jobs immediately after interviews; some even offer jobs by simply requesting, you should pay double caution to this. Job seekers should not readily produce personal information and important documents to others, especially those documents which is not related to the job. Beware of employers who persuade you to transfer to other jobs which you are not familiar with.
  
  
• Do not make payments or produce important documents readily
  Ask for the purpose if you are required to pay fees. In normal practice, companies do not require their employees to pay anything. Moreover, you should not readily produce important documents such as your Identity Card, bank cards and cheques, etc.
  
  
• Examine the contract terms and additional conditions carefully
  While you sign the contract, read carefully all the terms, including those stipulated in the staff handbooks. Don't sign contracts immediately if there are terms that you are not clear about or those that are unfavourable to you, in which case you should request to take away the contract for detailed study. Companies generally allow job applicants to take away the contracts for consideration.
  
  
• Check whether the scope of duties matches the descriptions in the advertisement or interview
  If you are offered a job, check whether your duties are consistent with the descriptions set out in the job advertisement or discussed during interviews. Moreover, be alert if your boss persuades you to transfer to other jobs relating to investment, buying and selling. Refuse such unreasonable demands and never perform illegal duties. If you commit any duties against the law, you may bear a criminal record that will ruin your whole life.
  
  
• Seek assistance
  Acquaint yourself with the rights and benefits of an employee. If you have any doubts, consult your family or friends. Seek advice or assistance from related bodies such as the Police or the Labour Department when necessary.

(For more information, please refer to Beware of Job Traps)