Fake Jobs listed on UK Government website

[Maccer_42]

http://www.channel4.com/news/why-is-government-website-carrying-fake-jobs

The Universal Jobmatch website, which is a Government website that all UK Job Seekers must register with and apply for jobs through or have their claim stopped has been found to have at least 11,000 fake jobs hosted.

The Channel 4 News investigation found that nine apparently unconnected recruitment websites, advertising thousands of positions across the UK, are all controlled by one man in Coventry - Mark Coward, a businessman and Baptist deacon who has posted thousands of jobs.

In recent months, Coward has received thousands of pounds for marketing job products at applicants. Jobseekers who answered any one of thousands of ads posted by Coward were encouraged to visit a legitimate recruitment business, CV-Library, using links that showed Coward had recommended them.

He then received £1 for every CV successfully submitted to CV library. Coward later told Channel 4 News that most of the original applications submitted to him for the jobs he posted were then simply deleted.

Three companies posted the ads: Thomas Reilly Associates, MF Training and Recruitment Solutions and Que Consultants.

All are controlled by Coward, and his business network has many other identities. Jobs Junction, Career Nationwide, Recruitment 4 Office, Retail Jobs 4U, Career In Caring, and Find My New Job are all controlled by him.

As someone who is currently unemployed learning this information is incredibly frustrating but not at all surprising. Having recently dealt with the Job Centre and registered with UJM, these "companies" Thomas Reilly Associates, MF Training and Recruitment Solutions and Que Consultants, appeared A LOT in my searches claiming jobs existed in my area which of course I applied for as I was required to, I now know why I never got a single response from any of them.

 

[Wiegert]

Well I suppose that does explain why no one received feedback from either of those three agencies, including myself when I was looking for work last year. Before I was eventually hired, I found the UJM was over-saturated with links to those sites which added to my suspicions that all three were closely connected and less than useful to job seekers.

Even though I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the site was nothing but a dead end for applicants, exploiting job seeker requirements by flooding the UJM with those fake vacancies with one guy profiting from it all - since job seekers have to apply for a certain number of vacancies each week - is still pretty frustrating to find out, and I hope JCP and county council training providers know those sites aren't reputable.

Glad I no longer have to deal with that though.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Given my current situation regarding work, this isn't really reassuring for me or anyone else applying for what might be a 'ghost vacancy'.