Employment Offers and Training: Youth at the mercy of scammers

Many applicants are trapped by employment proposals posted on every street corner. After a year in unemployment, Laura, age 28, is desperately looking for work experience. Holder of a Bachelor degree in public law from the University of Yaoundé 2 Soa, she received no training during her studies.

Her diploma is not a professional degree and she has never faced the world of employment. So the former student searches for a holiday internship. For her, a proposal will be welcome; It will allow her to have a professional experience, and better prepare for the world of employment.

For almost a month, through public tenders posted on walls and Poles in her neighborhood, Laura gets a phone number. The poster said: "looking for interns, urgent! At the bottom of the poster, two telephone contacts are listed. The applicant had to see a certain Mrs Noah.

Convinced to have come across a real opportunity, Laura contacted the numbers on the poster. They gave her a venue in a building in downtown Yaoundé. Once at the venue, it was not a woman that Laura met, but two men who offer her the chance to work for a firm abroad involved in the sale of computer equipment.

The only problem was that, the company has no registered office, provides no guarantee to its employees, no contract of employment. In return, the company officials require from recruits to make at least 10 sales per day.

Until then, nothing was clear to the girl. Her two recruiters asked her to drop her documents quickly, consisting of a copy of her highest degree, a copy of her birth certificate, a letter of motivation and the cost of registration amounting to 10.000Fcfa.

Two days after, Laura walks through the streets of the city to offer to passers-by and those in enterprises internet gadgets. "The real problem we had was that the employers did not give samples so that potential customers can see what they will buy. And having no identification, there was no evidence that I was actually representing this company," she explained.

After a week, her employers were demanding more results. The salary fixed at the 25.000 F.Cfa, with added 20% monthly sales was reviewed at a discount because the seller recorded only two sales.

At the end of the three weeks, tasks accumulated and working hours are getting longer. From six hours a day, we go to eight hours from Monday to Saturday, besides calls from the boss at any time to send her potential customers.

Exhausted by the timetables imposed, Laura filed her resignation, requiring compensation for efforts provided during that time which she never received. At the moment, the Soa graduate never looks at posters of offers of employment or holiday internship in the street.

She preferred to resume her search by visiting companies instead, or law firms in Yaoundé. In approaching companies, an appointment was offered her and at the location, she found herself in a dilapidated building, without no sign of electrical connection. The lady who serves as receptionist for each call was absent during the interview.

The two responsible gentlemen from the office demonstrate gullibility to questions relating to their activity. They respond to questions in a dry tone: "here we are the ones who are asking the questions, if you are not interested in our proposal, the door is wide open."

Experiences like that of Laura prevent youth and even adults to jump on the first occasion when proposed an employment in the street. Job placards invade the alleys every day. And "current economic conditions are helping scammers behind this system to continue to get victims," pitied Laura.