Dubious recruitment firms fleece hopefuls

Dubious recruitment consultants are taking job seekers for a ride by offering jobs with mind-boggling salaries and benefits that fail to materialise once they have paid ‘processing’ fees.

These recruitment agents lure hundreds of candidates through classified advertisements in leading newspapers and through websites.

Sharjah Police sources said they have received several complaints about such recruitment companies and forwarded them to the public prosecution.

There are ‘management’ or ‘marketing’ consultants advertising jobs ranging from office boys, drivers, dental surgeons, nurses and teachers to finance managers.

They charge Dh100 to Dh1,000 or more depending on the position offered as fees for registration, processing and forwarding the CV. But once these payments are made, there are no more calls or interviews.

A dentist, on a visit visa, said: “I saw a classified advertisement in a leading English daily seeking 10 dental doctors. When I called up the number, a lady told me to come to their office with my CV and passport copy. She said there are good openings in multinational hospitals in the UAE.

When I crosschecked the recruitment agency, I found that it had duped several job seekers.”

Even if the advertisements say there will be no charges, once the candidate calls in there is always the Dh100 registration fee.

One such recruitment company has several insertions in the classified of an English daily for almost all categories of jobs.

“Junior Marketing Manager required for a chain of hotels… Dh8,000 plus family apartment, car and visa provided… No charges from candidates,” reads an advertisement.

Some of the agencies contacted by Emirates 24|7 said they have hundreds of job listings and the candidate must come to their offices for interviews.

Sadiq, a job-seeker’s husband, said: “On August 5 my wife received a call from an agent in Sharjah for an interview for the position of an art teacher at a British school. There she was told about a new British school that has various job openings.

“The agency claimed it is the authorised recruitment firm for staffing the unnamed school. She was asked to pay Dh500 for registration and other procedures. The next day the same agent called my wife advising her that the agency needs another Dh400 for forwarding her CV to the school.

“An internet search revealed many complaints about this company. On August 8, I accompanied my wife to the firm and found a lot of disgruntled job seekers waiting there.”

Sadiq went to the Al Buhaira Police Station where the officers said his complaint had to be referred to the public prosecution.

The recruitment agencies lure candidates by offering salaries higher than their expectations and employ female staff to conduct interviews and answer phone calls.

In a couple of cases, some troublesome candidates were detained for “harassing” the female staff of the recruitment company.

This happened when furious clients went to the agency to claim their money back. They were called into the office of the female senior manager for a one-on-one meeting. Later she lodged a false police complaint that the man tried to sexually harass her, some victims claimed.

In most cases, job seekers on a visit visa, forego the money they have paid to avoid such problems.

When contacted, some of the agencies accused of cheating claimed they are doing normal business.

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