Support and Resources for Your Search

The St. Cloud State Career Center offers proven strategies and practical tips to help you focus your search, craft strong application materials, and confidently present your experience. From refining your resume and LinkedIn profile to building your network, preparing for interviews, and leveraging Handshake and employer connections, this guide brings together the essentials you need to take the next step. Whether you're exploring options or ready to apply, you'll find actionable advice you can use today.

Don't get caught up in an employment scam. Jump down and check out our guide on how to identify and avoid scams.

Identify and Avoid Scams

Scam "job opportunities" often take the form of "personal or office assistants" and frequently ask an individual to purchase items for their business, deposit checks for the business, or negotiate sales between a vendor and a business. What the scam is attempting to do is get the individual to deposit a fraudulent check (that will bounce in a few days/weeks) and purchase items or send personal checks with their own money. They are also attempting to collect personal information that could be used in future identity theft (address, SS#, bank information, etc.).

If you are a current student and believe you have been contacted by a job scam, please forward all email correspondence to the Career Center or call 320-308-2151 to discuss the situation. The Career Center is available to talk with students about any job posting prior to responding to an inquiry. Please talk with a trusted advisor before responding to any job posting.  Additionally, you can research the company on the Better Business Bureau.

We encourage you to:

1. Never provide any personal information by email to an employer.
2. Use a different strong password for each online account.
3. Change passwords more frequently for accounts with access to confidential data.
4. Never share passwords with others.
5. Whenever suspicious or just plain curious, Google everything, website addresses, names used, companies mentioned, phone numbers given, all email addresses, even sentences from the emails as you might be unpleasantly surprised at what you find already posted online.
6. Consult the Career Center or a trusted advisor if you have questions about any job posting that seems “fishy” or too good to be true.

Job Posting Guidelines and Common Job Scams to Avoid:

Email Phishing Scams

Online scammers are becoming much more sophisticated in their attempts to lure victims, especially using email links to false websites. It is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between legitimate and counterfeit online sites. There has been a recent uptick in phishing attacks at institutions across the country.

Over Payment Scams

Over payment scams are designed to entice you with quick money in advance of doing any work. They are typically advertised as personal assistant, administrative assistant, or book-keeping positions needed to assist with processing checks and orders for supplies, or mystery/secret shopping. The new employee is instructed to deposit the check into the bank, take out their salary and wire the remaining money to their agents. These fraudulent checks will quickly bounce and leave the new employee out thousands of dollars and facing criminal charges.

Use Caution When the Email or Job Posting:

• Does not list a company name or the job advertisement is vague about the position and requirements.
• Comes from an email address that doesn't match the company name (most legitimate companies will use the company domain instead of a Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail account).
• The job posting says “no experience required”, or the employer is not interested in your work history or skills.
• Information about a job is not on company letterhead or uses bad grammar or punctuation in communications. The company sends multiple recruitment letters and are sometimes identical letters from people with different names but the same job title.
• Offers to pay a large amount of money for almost no work.
• A job is offered without the submission of a resume, or after a brief or no interview.
• Asks you to pay an application fee.
• Up-front payment is requested to get the job. For example: a software program needed to work from home, or training materials, credit or background check fees, a work visa, or travel expenses.
• Wants you to transfer money from one account to another.
• Offers to send you a check before you do any work.
• Asks you to give your credit card or bank account numbers.
• A request is made by phone, text, or e-mail for personal information (social security number, date of birth, driver’s license number, credit card information, or bank account information) so that paychecks can be directly deposited.
• Says you must send payment by wire service or courier.
• Offers you a large payment for allowing the use of your bank account – often for depositing checks or transferring money.
• Sends you an unexpectedly large check.
• The recruiter requests you to recruit others for the same position.
• The recruiter pressures you to accept the job.
• A person high up the corporate ladder (CEO, company owner, or HR Director) is recruiting you.
• A company approaches you about a job for which you didn't apply.
• The job opportunity looks too good to be true. Examples of this are easy work with high pay, high starting salary for an entry-level job, or wages way above the typical pay for a similar job.

No legitimate employer will send payment in advance and ask the employee to send a portion of it back. DO NOT provide any personal information especially social security numbers or financial information.

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