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Top Tips for Candidates working with Recruitment Agencies

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:47:32 GMT

When choosing a recruitment agency to find you either temporary or permanent employment there are a number of things to consider. Will the agency work hard to find a position that suits your skills and listen to your requirements and not bog you down with offers that aren't relevant to you? But also are they trustworthy, will they keep your personal details safe and are they offering you jobs that are actually available?

Suggested rules to follow to ensure your experience is as safe as can be…

When choosing an agency

• If you are calling an agency, then request to meet them for an appointment at their office. If they are reluctant to meet your request then this could be an indication that they are not a legitimate agency and could be offering you fake job opportunities to get hold of your personal information for fraudulent purposes.

• Recommendations from others who have used a particular agency are usually the safest way of finding a good agency.

• Visit the Recruitment & Employment Confederation website www.rec.co.uk, which has a list of agencies that are committed to adhering to strict industry codes of practice.

When registering with an agency

• Do not part with any money when registering with a recruitment agency to guarantee work. Professional recruitment agencies will not ask for payment to find work for you.

• Don't give out any personal information or bank details to anyone than the reputable agency with whom you are registered with.

• Check that the agency will not send your CV to companies, therefore distributing your personal information, without letting you know. Do not include details such as your National Insurance number, passport number or bank details within your CV.

• Make sure to read any contract carefully before signing.

• If a position is suggested to you then make sure to ask for a detailed job specification including pay rates, so you know exactly what you are putting yourself forward for.

Top Tips for Companies working with Recruitment Agencies

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:47:23 GMT

Hiring a recruitment agency is generally a cost and time-saving option for recruiting staff. But how do you choose a reputable agency that will meet your business needs and adhere to your company policies and ethical terms of business?
What should you expect from your agency choice to ensure that your company is safe from the fraudulent activities of an employee or indeed the agency itself?

Suggested rules to follow……………………………………………………

When choosing the agency that is right for your business

• Visit the Recruitment & Employment Confederation website www.rec.co.uk and search their directory of members for a recruitment agency near your location. As an REC member this means that "an agency has signed up to the REC Code of Practice committed to operate ethically, lawfully and in line with industry best practice" (Source - www.rec.co.uk)

• Ask them if they can provide references or testimonials from other clients that have used their services

• Make sure that you understand the agency's terms of business and agency fees before entering into any contract with them

• Confirm with the agency their process of screening candidates that could be put forward as potential employees, before their CVs are submitted to your company. Has the candidate been checked for proof of identity and right to work, work history, references and their skills assessed? Such checks are standard practice for a reputable agency

Regular contact with your agency is advisable

• To ensure that the person who turns up to work for you is the person who was registered with the agency and given the assignment, check their ID and if there are any concerns then contact the agency

• To ensure that the hours of work the employee has claimed for on their timesheet are correct, to avoid being overcharged – one idea is to keep a record of timesheets you have signed to cross-reference when invoiced by the agency

Top Tips for avoiding online recruitment scams

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:21:42 GMT

Keep your money safe

• Never hand over money or give your bank details to a recruiter to try and secure employment. A professional recruitment company will not ask Job Seekers for money to process applications or to guarantee work

Make sure the employer is genuine

• Professional companies will use company email addresses and traceable contact numbers

• Check that the telephone number matches the location of the company's address

• Be cautious of job advertisements that have a foreign contact number. If you are uncertain whether an employer is genuine then give them a call, ask for references or use an online search engine to see if anything of concern comes up

Keep your identity safe

• Unless you are sure the company is reputable and the job advertisment is genuine, be protective of your National Insurance number, passport number and bank details. This is all someone needs to pretend to be you and make purchases or open accounts in your name

• If you are uploading your CV onto an online job board avoid including valuable identification details and definitely not financial details

• If when applying for a job online you are asked to send a form of identification for them to scan to check your identity – This is not a legitimate request

Be alert to fictitious email job offers

• If you have received an email advertising a job you have not applied for

• Look out for email job offers that claim they can make you rich quickly and offer incredibly high salaries for part-time hours, but require you to make an upfront payment to secure work. A professional recruitment company will not ask you for money to work for them

• Fraudulent individuals will often steal the reputation of a company and pretend to be advertising job opportunities in their name

If you are in any doubt then call the contact number and make any checks necessary to confirm the authenticity of the company

• You are entitled to ask for references. Request a list of clients and employees the company has worked with

• Use an Internet search engine to do background checks on the company

• Look at the sender's email address. Does it end in a company name? Is it in the same format as other email addresses from that particular company?

CV writing scams

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:25:02 GMT

On the face it using a CV writing service is a worthwhile option for the many thousands of candidates who need help, however since the advent of the internet the on line recruitment industry has been exposed to some dubious if not illegal activities relating to this type of offering.

The biggest problem has been bogus job advertisements posted on a job board which will attract many applications from candidates. The candidates who have forwarded their CVs are then approached by the bogus advertiser who explains to them that they have a very good background which is most suitable for the advertised role. They are then informed that they would stand more chance in being asked to attend an interview if their CV was more professionally written and recommends using a professional CV writing service. He then asks if the candidate knows of any companies offering this service and if not he can recommend one.

The candidate at this stage has a dilemma, does he let his CV go forward without any changes and risk the chance of not going forward to the next stage of the interview or does he use a CV writing service and increase his chances in the interview process. The candidate has no reason not to believe the bogus recruiter and therefore makes the decision to contact the CV writing company.

At this stage it is important to point out that there are many reputable CV writing services in the recruitment industry but in our case study the bogus advertiser will be recommending a company which they own. The candidate then contacts the recommended CV writing service and is informed that the cost to rewrite his CV will be £350 (approx) by an industry expert.

In truth what happens is that the CV writing service is the advertiser of the job and the object of the exercise is too dupe the candidate into purchasing the CV writing service. In most cases the CV will be re-written professionally. The candidate is then informed several weeks later that the employer has decided to employ within and the candidate is left with a well written CV at a cost of £350.

When approached regarding this practice the CV writing company denies all knowledge of the bogus company and claims that they were approached by the candidate and have performed a service which the candidate requested. The bogus recruiter will leave his website up for a month and then take it down and put up another website for a month and so on and so forth. On the website there is usually only an email and mobile phone contact and the offices are not real offices but the address of some serviced offices.

If a CV writing service is the type of service a candidate feels he wishes to use then our advice is to check out other CV writing services alongside the one being recommended and at the same time be "alarmed " if there is no office telephone number.

Launch of safer fraud forum

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:05:46 GMT

Safer fraud forum was today launched with the blessing of the metropolitan police

Interview with Nigel Evans

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:22:35 GMT

Interview with Nigel Evans

self preservation

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:33:24 GMT

Recession? What recession? It's certainly boom time for the two main species of recruitment fraudsters.
The recession has made agencies more vulnerable, permanent placements and temp billings have declined for nine and five consecutive months respectively. Unless they're exclusively focused on the few remaining buoyant sectors, such as medical care, many recruitment consultants are frantically trying to secure scarce vacancies. Even the most professional consultants are easier targets for determined fraudsters during a recession.

Vigilance first
It's difficult not to be tempted to take on a vacancy and fill it quickly to secure what could be a job-saving commission without proper screening of the client and candidate alike; and with compliance and security measures facing the same resource pressures, it's harder still to check who we're dealing with.
Fraudsters quickly find out who are the easiest victims and return in greater numbers. Indeed, KPMG's Fraud Triangle tells us that fraudsters look for a lack of controls. Worse still, when agencies are not properly checking applicants' ID documents, do we even know who are getting the jobs? I'm especially worried about some of the large-scale projects such as the 2012 Olympic Games and other employers of large workforces.
Tenacious consultants won't fare better just by working harder to secure and fill vacancies. They're unwittingly exposing their agencies and clients to additional risk. A single act of fraud can wipe out a business as surely as a drop off in business, but far quicker.
Managing this risk is, thankfully, far cheaper than the cost of recruitment. It's certainly cheaper than losses that, as in the fraud perpetrated against agencies by the so-called 'Lying Dutchman', can easily top £100,000. As an agency, or indeed any employer, I'd always ask two key questions: firstly, who are we dealing with, be they client or candidate and secondly who should check who we're dealing with?

Double check
Simply looking up new clients on a reliable register, such as Companies House, and corroborating addresses and credit histories with the credit reference agencies will go a long way to screening out bogus employers.
Even better is to visit the client's office, contact their associates and search for their company or director names alongside terms like 'fraud', or 'scam' on Google. In the time it takes to issue a new client's first invoice and chase payment, an agency could have made several weekly payments to temps before realising a loss. And, because it's so easy to repeat this across numerous branches and other agencies concurrently, it's vital to forewarn others.
Screening employees has to start with checking ID. Although statutory (and usually contractual) compliance might only suggest the most basic 'reasonable steps' to checking ID, clearly any agency supplying staff into sensitive work, especially where they're relying on a candidate's ID to check a criminal record disclosure, needs to go further. Failure to properly check an ID document renders any further check of, for example, criminal records and employment history less than worthless.

Screen wise
Many employers grapple with the debate about who should undertake background screening.
Paying the same person to recruit and to screen a candidate introduces an intolerable conflict of interest unless they're rigorously monitored by a sufficient number of proficient compliance officers.
But screening and even auditing by non-fee earning staff obviously adds cost.
Agencies should certainly be itemising these costs to highlight screening activities on their clients' invoices. After all, employers such as those responsible for building and delivering the Olympic Games would otherwise be checking their own direct hires… wouldn't they? Major staffing companies often have the ability to undertake more reliable staff and temp screening than many direct recruiters and background screening is one area of differentiation during the recession.
The best staffing businesses are already beginning to offer comprehensive, reliable and quick background screening services either based on their in-house capabilities with advice from screening experts or, more likely, on behalf of professional background screening companies.

Vulnerable targets
When someone loses their job through redundancy they're particularly vulnerable to scams, even more so if they're trying to maintain mortgage or rent payments, or servicing other loans.
Sadly, fraudsters know how desperate this job seeker is to find work and they also know that their former employer may have made a redundancy payment directly into the redundant employee's bank account.
It might seem obvious, but even the most astute can succumb to tempting employment offers during times of distress, that they'd otherwise consign to the too-good-to-be-true spam box.
The same rule applies to employers as to employees:
know who you're dealing with; candidates need to be more selective in choosing with whom to share their personal information, including bank details, even if the reason
sounds rational, for example to set up a payroll account.

Contact Us

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:23:30 GMT

If you would like to contact us please email your enquiry to saferjobs.fraud@gmail.com.

Please include the following information:-

· Name
· Position/Title
· Company or Organisation
· Address
· Phone number
· e-mail address

We will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.

Thank you.

The Metropolitan Police

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:11:30 GMT

.
The Metropolitan Police, Specialist & Economic Crime Unit, 'Operation ST£RLING' is the Metropolitan Police Service's strategy for combating economic crime in London.

The main emphasis of this strategy is to work together with partners in a proactive interventionist approach to solve the problem of economic crime which costs the UK economy billions of pounds a year.
The Forum initiative, as part of Operation ST£RLING, is bringing commerce together to work as a team, to share intelligence and best practice and to fight economic crime. The work that has been carried out is pioneering and is well supported by commerce. The strategic fraud forum group in each sector acts as the forward ears, eyes and radar for all fraud within their sector, promoting understanding of the commercial threats we face and combating fraud.

The Forum initiative was established and is run by Peter Burns a Detective within the Specialist Crime Directorate. Peter was tasked as an intelligence officer to go out to all of London's commerce and identify the key threats to industry. Once this was complete, he went into commerce to build up high level strategic fraud forums in each of the 15 sectors identified, aiming to bring companies around the table and to get them to 'open up' and share what fraud they suffered within their sector.
This fraud would then be analysed by the group, broken down to identify the 'enablers', and then to work as a group not only to design out that threat, but also to assess where the fraudsters could go next. This intelligence and best practice is then cross pollinated across to other sector forums that could be at risk.

'SAFER' has successfully been established, with the Recruitment industry coming together to combat fraud for the first time in their history.
Peter remains as an advisor, facilitator and 'honest broker', protecting commercial confidence, whilst co-ordinating and analysing fraud trends and threats. An important part of the forums role is to share the threats and designed controls within their sector, this is done by having trade associations as forum members in order that information including threats and control measures can be speedily disseminated to all at risk, also reaching the smaller businesses within the sectors.

An other example of a commerce fraud forum known as VSTAG [motor vehicle trade] can be found at www.vstag.edatasite.com. Other forums including Travel and Property are due to be launched in early 2009. Work that has been carried out with the airline industry can be found at www.travelweekly.co.uk

Vetting of jobseekers

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:29:53 GMT

There have been a number of widely reported cases of employees, who have been found out to be fraudulent, in many cases long after they had been employed. The implications for the employing organisations have at best been a 'serious inconvenience' and, at worst, 'extremely damaging' to their reputations and image. So it's worth spending some time on the vetting of jobseekers and employers for that matter. Below we try to outline best practice in this area.

Proof of ID/Eligibility
Follow Home Office Guidelines.
· Comprehensive Guidance for Employers:
· Summary Guidance for Employers:
Check and copy original documents only.

Referencing
Written only on pro-forma or company headed paper.
Telephone, landline phone only. Verify landline contact numbers on company website if appropriate.
Verify TWIMC refs.
Character referees – suitable professional persons only

Certificates of qualifications
Originals only, check membership with institute, check expiry dates
Refer international candidates to NACRO UK for verification of qualifications obtained oversees.
PurplePassport for verification of UK skills, experience and qualifications.

Proof of address
Utility bills, bank statements etc, no more than 6 months old.

Proof of permanency
NI, NINO Card, P45, P60 etc.

Unspent conviction disclosure
Declaration on registration/application form

CCJ check Where applicable
List 99/CRB check Where applicable
Terrorist checks/Security vetting Where applicable

Skills testing Where applicable
Trades tickets valid

Vetting of Clients
Proof of company registration number
Check Companies House website: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
Credit check
Visiting client premises
Not temporary office accommodation
Check company website information
Customer feedback, is it genuine?
Are telephones landlines or mobile numbers.
Does the information "check out" against your knowledge of the company?

Vetting of Internal Colleagues
See vetting of jobseekers.

Useful Links:
Comprehensive Guidance for Employers:
Summary Guidance for Employers:
Step by Step Guidance
UK Recognised Degrees
EU Issued documents

FAQ

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:18:03 GMT

What is SAFER?
The Recruitment Industry Counter-Fraud Forum, known as SAFER, (Safe Advice for Employment and Recruitment) is a non-profit making, industry wide, forum created to raise awareness about, and combating, criminal activities that may be attempted on those within the industry or through the services provided by the industry.

Why was it set up?
The purpose of SAFER is to help protect jobseekers, employers and service providers from crime during the process of communicating and fulfilling/acquiring employment opportunities by:
· Preparing and promoting advice to jobseekers, employers and service providers on how to avoid recruitment related crime
· Gathering and sharing intelligence between Members that could reduce recruitment related crime, including current scams, fraudulent practices and other criminal activities
· Liaising with appropriate law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities to assist them in the execution of their duties and in furtherance of the purposes of SAFER
· Developing national best practice guidelines for Members on recruitment related crime prevention, detection and investigation.

Who is involved in the SAFER initiative?
SAFER has been initially set up by several of the major players in the recruitment and on-line recruitment industry including, Kelly Services, Manpower, Reed, Adecco, Hays, Impellam Group, Monster, Fish4, Jobsite, Total Jobs, Guardian Media Group, Executivesontheweb, REC and On-Rec representing wider interests have also been involved from the start. The Metropolitan Police and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) have provided crucial links into the various investigative and enforcement bodies.

Looking ahead it is intended to include many more companies and public bodies either directly or indirectly through further links with trade associations etc.

What is the extent of identify fraud committed against the recruitment sector?
Because of the fragmented nature of the industry the extent of such fraud, and other such activities is not known. One of SAFER's key objectives is to provide a channel between the industry and the National Fraud Reporting Centre to assist in quantifying the scale of occurrence.

How is the crime committed? - What information do fraudsters use?
The recruitment industry can fall victim to a wide range of criminal activities itself and could be a vehicle through which both clients and jobseekers could be targeted. False identities, spurious services and false accounting are common frauds seen.

What makes individuals and organisations vulnerable to attack?
For individuals the risk often comes from giving too much personal information through careless or without challenging why it may be asked for. Similarly for organisations weaknesses in internal controls may be exploited.

What happens to victims of this fraud?
As with all frauds, the usual outcome is for the victim to loose, or part with, money without getting any benefit.

Does this mean uploading CVs onto job boards is unsafe?
Absolutely not – Reputable job boards have stringent security precautions in place to protect jobseekers and hirers. Simple precautions, such as not including personal details on the CV also offer significant protection to the individual.

What are recruiters planning to do to protect themselves and their customers?
All reputable recruiters and job boards already deploy stringent security precautions in place to protect jobseekers and hirers. The purpose of SAFER is to allow the communication of best practice, share common experiences and trends and work with the investigative and enforcement agencies to prevent and disrupt criminal activity.

Do you think the SAFER initiative will make a real difference?
Yes – whilst all companies in the industry have been active in reducing risks to their clients the combined forum will give much greater visibility to any threats encountered, making a rapid response much more effective.

Aren't the fraudsters always a step ahead?
It is correct that fraudsters are always looking for a new opportunity, but the majority of threats are repeats of what has been tried before. The widespread sharing of experiences will limit the opportunity for repeat actions and quickly disrupt any new attempts.

What are the plans for the future development of SAFER?
Having established its credentials with the industry it is intended to hold between 4 to 8 meetings during 2009, open to all who are associated with SAFER, to showcase topics of particular relevance, including mapping the various anti-fraud initiatives currently underway, identity fraud and false documentation, data security and best practices for job-seekers. These will be in addition to developing the website as an interactive communication and information portal.

How will job boards work together to prevent fraud?
They already do, by exchanging information about identified threats and attempted fraud or exploitation as they counter them. As more job–boards share this information, through SAFER, the more effective the disruption will be.

Are you certain rival firms can work constructively together?
By removing the confrontational element and building on the mutual benefits obtained through the cooperative action SAFER is promoting, it has already been shown that effective anti-fraud measures can be put in place quickly and without impacting non normal commercial competitiveness.

Are recruiters warning candidates about the dangers of ID fraud?
SAFER will provide jobseekers advice on what precautions to take when submitting CVs or otherwise interacting with recruiters and other service providers.

Reed

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:27:16 GMT

Is a specialist provider of permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced recruitment solutions, IT and HR consulting.

Assisting jobseekers and employers since 1960, Reed is international, independent and employs more than 4,000 people in 400 offices across more than 30 specialisms.

Our expertise in Australia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Qatar and Singapore, as well as in the UK, means we have the capability to deliver a world class service within all of the geographic locations we operate from.

Reed.co.uk is the UK's industry-leading jobs website and regularly receives over 1.2 million job applications per month. Reedjobs.com supports the company's international locations and currently enables jobseekers to search for opportunities in nine locations across multiple industry sectors.

During 2007, Reed won the Sustainable City Award for Resource Conservation and continues to maintain its Carbon Neutral (R) status and commitment to being Carbon Responsible.

Hays

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:23:48 GMT

Is the leading global specialist recruitment group and the market leader in the UK and Australia, placing professional candidates into permanent, temporary and interim positions.

Specialist recruitment is all about people. Over 8,872 people make up our worldwide team, including 5,798 recruitment consultants working out of over 390 offices in 27 countries; we share ideas, knowledge and experience across businesses and territories to deliver outstanding results.

Our people work with clients and candidates to place the right people in the right jobs; we invest heavily in equipping our staff with the skills to perform to the highest standards while developing their careers.

We serve over 17 specialisms, covering everything from accountancy & finance, to construction, IT, education and healthcare. Across many of these sectors, we also have further specialised teams dedicated to public services, not-for-profit, executive and international recruitment.

Providing excellent customer service underpins our business and is an area we monitor closely in order to maintain our position as market leader. Our customers benefit from the specialist sector knowledge of our consultants and our extensive office network and industry contacts.

To find out more about Hays please visit www.hays.com

Fish4jobs

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:41:26 GMT

Is the UK's largest classified website for jobs, homes and cars with over 4 million unique users per month*. The company was developed in 1999 and is run by two of the biggest regional press groups: Newsquest Media Group and Trinity Mirror. Collectively they account for over 60% of the UK's regional press. fish4 advertises in over 500 regional newspapers and distributes its classified search facility on over 220 regional websites. The Head office is based in Hammersmith, West London with a second office in Leeds. For more information visit: www.fish4.co.uk
* Source: ABCe (Jobs) HBX (Homes/Cars) October 2006

About fish4jobs
fish4jobs is the UK's most popular recruitment website with over 2.7 million unique visitors per month. The site features over 80,000 new jobs every month across a wide range of sectors from retail to banking.

With a user base spread evenly across the UK, fish4jobs' blue-chip client base includes the biggest high-street recruitment consultants: Adecco, Hays and Kelly, and direct recruiters including: RBS, Threshers, T-Mobile and Powergen. fish4jobs is the sponsor of Scrubs on Channel 4 . For more information visit: www.fish4jobs.co.uk

The National Online Recruitment Audience Survey 2007

Manpower

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:34:42 GMT

Is one of the largest and most innovative companies in the UK's employment services industry; creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. The company provides a wide range of services including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment, employee assessment and selection, training, outplacement, outsourcing and consulting.

Manpower was established in the UK in 1956, and today works with organisations in both the public and private sectors, ranging from small and medium-sized enterprises, to multi-national organisations such as BMW, BT, Hertfordshire County Council, IBM, Royal Mail and Xerox.

The focus of Manpower's work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction, enabling customers to concentrate on their core business. Manpower works across all industries finding people for every level of an organisation.

Manpower Professional, a division of Manpower UK, offers comprehensive, expert recruitment services in the accountancy and finance sectors, backed by award winning training, assessment and selection.

Manpower UK has a network of over 300 offices and is a subsidiary of Manpower Inc, a worldwide network of 4,400 offices in 80 countries and territories.

For more information, see www.manpower.co.uk.