Source: Beiqing Net
Some employment consulting agencies have set up accounts on social media platforms and sent relevant tweets and comments, using gimmicks such as "internal promotion of work in state-owned enterprises and central enterprises", "settlement and resettlement" and "high-end employment", suggesting that job seekers can solve the problem of employment settlement through informal channels. The picture shows a screenshot of the intermediary account and homepage.
"To help you solve the problem of work and settlement, different enterprises and different welfare benefits, the cost ranges from 900,000 to 1.2 million yuan. ”
It is the spring recruitment season of "Golden Three, Silver and Fourth", and on some social platforms, many job seekers post job searches, exchange information, and share experiences. However, in the comment area below these posts, there are often a large number of swiping messages, such as "I go to the internal channels of central enterprises" and "see here for the number of settlements", and the commenters are usually some individuals or companies under the banner of "job placement of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises" and "career consultants", hinting to job seekers that they can solve the problem of work settlement through abnormal channels.
How do these so-called "paid internal referrals" work? What are the hidden tricks in them? What are the pitfalls of "one-on-one job search coaching"?
Can you buy a job with money?
The reporter contacted several job search agencies as fresh graduates. In the plans they provide, the "intermediary" is only the "outer packaging", and the inside is the "employment and settlement quota" with a clearly marked price - the cost is usually hundreds of thousands of yuan, and some even as high as millions of yuan.
Most companies refuse to disclose information such as job positions and contract details in online communication, and usually require job seekers to provide their resumes and conduct offline interviews.
In mid-March, after contacting a salesperson who claimed to be "a human resource management company in Beijing", the reporter came to the company's office location in an office building in Beijing. The office area is less than 20 square meters and there are five or six employees.
During the interview in the conference room, the name of the company on the brochure handed by the salesperson changed to "Beijing Education Technology Co., Ltd.": "We have a number of companies that are doing 'employment consulting', education and training services are education companies, and human resources services are human resources companies. The person in charge of the company, Li, explained.
It is understood that in addition to education and consulting, the business scope of the above two companies also involves labor dispatch, electronic product sales, cleaning and greening, literary and artistic creation, hardware product sales and other fields.
When talking about how to solve the problem of employment and settlement in Beijing, the other party gave two operational plans: one is to solve the problem of employment and settlement, according to the background of the job seeker to arrange to enter a state-owned enterprise with a settlement index, and settle down in one and a half years; the other is to only solve the settlement without actually participating in the work, and the enterprise is basically not self-choosing, "you transfer a sum of money to this company every month, and they will return it to you in the form of wages after deducting social security, and there is no need to work, and the settlement index will be relatively fast."
The service quotation given by the other party ranges from 900,000 to 1.2 million yuan, and the payment is made in stages. The down payment of 50% is used as a "dotting fee", and the payment will be proportional at different stages in the later stage, and the final payment will be made based on the successful settlement of the unit. If it is not done, a full refund will be given, but if the job seeker gives up due to personal reasons, no refund will be given.
Li claimed to be "very familiar" with the chairmen of the second- and third-level subsidiaries of a number of central enterprises, and was able to "directly approve and push internally, exempt the online application and written examination", and "pass the interview". As for private enterprises, you can take the channel of talent introduction, when asked whether the introduction of talent requires special talents and outstanding contributions, Li confidently said: "We package you, you are the outstanding contributor to this enterprise." ”
Li also said that he could help job seekers enter public institutions, and provided a recruitment announcement for state organs and institutions copied from the official website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Seeing that the reporter was "interested" in a certain unit, Li waved his hand and said that "it can be arranged", but said that he had to "rely on his own efforts" in the online registration and written test link, "at most he can ask for 30% of the exam question bank in the written test link, but the interview can be guaranteed to pass, and if there is a problem in the physical examination, he can also find a way to solve it".
After verification, the recruitment and registration of college graduates in this unit ended on March 20.
In early April, when asked about the company's sales staff, the other party still said that "it can be arranged". When it was pointed out that the recruitment application had ended, the other party was silent for a while and said, "I want to confirm and communicate with the company about this matter again." He also added that if there is a supplementary recording in the unit later, it can be guaranteed to be arranged.
When it comes to the details of the job search process, different salespeople have different and inconsistent statements. In the front, it was said that the written test for online application was "on your own", and in the latter it was called "guaranteeing" for online application; in the front, it was said that the written test could only provide 30% of the question bank, and in the back, it was said that you could get 70%, and "we will give you the operation in the top 5 for you." The previous said that the overall probability of the success of the arrangement of public institutions was 50%, and then changed the statement.
Although they claimed to keep the contract and customer information confidential throughout the process, during the offline communication, the other party not only showed the detailed resumes of previous customers on their mobile phones, but also showed the chat records that instructed the job seekers on how to get promoted and raised.
"This is a good thing to accumulate virtue and blessings, I let you get a good job, and you will definitely remember me in the future. Li said. In the communication with the job search agency, such "words" appear from time to time.
On April 3, the Ministry of Education issued a document reminding graduates to raise their awareness of prevention and avoid falling into recruitment traps. The first reminder is to be wary of "paid internal referrals". "Paid referrals" refer to the promise of high-paying jobs to job seekers by certain agencies, subject to the payment of related service fees. "Paid internal referrals" are suspected of unfair competition and fraud, and it is difficult for relevant job seekers to claim their own rights and interests.
Unreliable "one-on-one job search coaching"
In the second half of 2023, Ruina Liu, who is looking for a marketing position in Shanghai, feels that she is in urgent need of job search guidance because she has been out of the workplace for more than a year. On the recommendation of a friend, she found a job search agency that claimed to be able to "solve the problem of finding a job in the whole process".
In the preliminary communication, the company's sales told Liu Ruina that she only needs to pay a "membership fee" of 498 yuan, which can get up to half a year of job search companion services, including "interview skills class" and "resume revision class" based on personal circumstances, as well as "accurate job push" with a number of cooperative companies. After successfully signing the employment contract through the company's channels, she needs to pay 75% of her pre-tax salary for the first month of work, "The 'salary' here includes not only the basic salary, but also bonuses, commissions, etc." ”
"Sales reassured me and showed a lot of success stories saying that they have many 'internal channels' for well-known businesses that were able to speed up my onboarding process. After Liu Ruina paid the fee, the company's "mentor" in charge of job search guidance got in touch with her, and after understanding the basic situation, asked her for an electronic version of her resume, saying that she would make detailed "one-on-one modifications".
The "mentor" also promised her that she didn't have to submit her resume herself, "We will revise your resume for you and go directly to the right corporate recruiter, waiting for the company to interview." ”
A few days later, Liu Ruina received a revised resume, which she was disappointed to see, "just using their company's template and adjusting the format" without any substantive changes.
"Maybe it's because the previous resume is perfect. With this in mind, Liu Ruina still actively communicates with the "mentor".
In the first two weeks after purchasing the service, the company did recommend several positions for her, "Many positions do not match my own abilities, and some companies I spent a lot of energy on the written test and interview, but was told that I could not be admitted because I had no relevant work experience, and the 'mentor' clearly said that this position is acceptable without work experience." ”
After several failures, Liu Ruina hoped that the "mentor" could recommend a more reliable position, but the other party became cold, and finally did not reply to the message at all.
Tao Le, who just graduated from a university in Shanghai, also encountered an unreliable job search "mentor".
In November 2023, after spending tens of thousands of yuan to purchase a company's "one-on-one job search coaching" service, Tao Le's "mentor" did not regularly recommend high-paying positions in the legal industry for him as stated in the advertisement, but forwarded the recruitment brochures of major companies on the circle of friends every day, "In fact, all of them are public information on the recruitment app."
At the beginning, the company's sales staff promised "internal recommendation channel" and "resume direct to personnel", but in Tao Le's view, "it is not as fast as I can directly chat with personnel on the recruitment app".
Now, Liu Ruina and Tao Le have both found jobs. For the "one-on-one job search coaching" of those previous companies, they applied for a refund, "after all, it is completely different from what was promised at the beginning, and they can't spend 'unjust money'." Liu Ruina said. The two companies did not agree to their request for a refund on the grounds that the contract had been fulfilled.
Traps often fall from the sky
In early February, the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing announced a fraud case involving job applicants. In this case, the defendant Wang defrauded Zhai of a total of 338,000 yuan on several occasions on the pretext of helping Zhai's son find a formal establishment job, fabricating the need to give gifts and pay deposits. After receiving the money, Wang used the funds to repay personal arrears and daily expenses. When Zhai canceled the commission and asked Wang for a refund, Wang shirked it for various reasons. Zhai realized that he had been deceived and reported the case to the public security organs.
During the trial, the defendant and his defender did not object to the facts and evidence of the crime, but argued that part of the amount of the money obtained by fraud should be deducted for gifts.
After trial, the court held that the defendant Wang had defrauded others of their property for the purpose of illegal possession, and the amount was huge, and his conduct had constituted the crime of fraud. The defendant and the defender's claim that part of the expenses used for the gift was not substantiated and therefore was not admissible. The court sentenced the defendant Wang to 6 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 yuan for the crime of fraud, and ordered the defendant Wang to return 338,000 yuan of the stolen money and return it to Zhai.
The judge said that in practice, some criminals take advantage of parents' desire to seek stable jobs for their children, defraud money in the form of charging "dotting fees" and "referral fees", and constantly release signals that "it can be done", "easy to do" and "hurry up" in the process of communication. The judge reminded job seekers to keep their eyes open when looking for a job and not to be blinded by "shortcuts".
The Ministry of Education reminds that in job hunting, do not believe in recruitment information without any requirements and with unusually high salary, after all, pie will not fall from the sky, and it is often a trap that falls. The Ministry of Education recommends the use of formal job search channels, through official websites such as the National College Student Employment Service Platform, the National Recruitment Platform, and the University Employment Website, or by participating in various recruitment activities organized by the university to obtain job search information.
Text: Jiang Jixuan, Liu Yinheng, Huang Chong
Editor/Ni Jianing