How can I avoid getting scammed at the first job application?

Community Careers, Journeys, and Stories
1

Greetings, Codecademy Community

I’ve finished the Computer Science Path and I’m halfway through the Data Scientist path and now I’m excited that soon I will eventually finish the course and start looking for work but I am wary of getting exploited or not getting what I should be getting.

I discovered a youtuber who always posts about corporate exploitation of coders and one of the things he said was that even as an entry-level job you shouldn’t accept jobs that don’t pay correctly and there are different red flags to watch out for.

Also, I have a family member who does graphic design online. She told me that I should look not only at job postings but also at freelancer postings, the ones where freelancers are offering their services and what they charge, but that I should not treat as a relevant comparison for myself the postings of white males since those people will get payed more than the rest. I am a guy living in the Philippines and I believe my written and spoken English is fluent.

Is it true that there are a lot of exploitative job postings and what are your opinions on what the red flags are? What rate should I definitely not settle for? And is the fact that I am a FIlipino male and not a white male a definitive factor?

P.S. My plan though is to initially do a little free work for portfolio-building purposes
PPS. I have a 5-year undergraduate engineering college degree from my country and I dont know if that possibly can influence my rate in the online job market

2 Likes
3

Look at sites like Glassdoor where current and former employees review companies they work at/worked for. You can view salary & benefits info as well as interview info, etc.

As for scammy job posts–this rule holds: if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Stick with credible sites like LinkedIn, remote.co, FlexJobs, WorkingNomads, AngelList, etc, etc.

I would also ask before you start applying for jobs—do you have a GitHub account & portfolio/website of your work? Are they linked on your resume? Potential employers want to see what you can do, not just read words on a resume. That said, do you have a decent resume? Do some research how to write an effective and clear resume or have a professional service re-write your resume for you. There are several out there and they might cost a little bit of money but it’s worth it.

4 Likes
4

I have a github account but I don’t have a portfolio or a website. Before I start looking for work, I do plan to build up some kind of a portfolio/website and proper branding/marketing of myself. Also even make a youtube channel.

I’m planning to use LaTex to make my own professional looking resume template rather than shelling out money for one. That way the resume becomes a demonstration of my skills using LaTex.