When you really need to find work or are desperate to leave your current position, it seems like every job you see advertised becomes a ‘maybe’ – even if you would normally never look at it twice.When you really need to find work or are desperate to leave your current position, it seems like every job you see advertised becomes a ‘maybe’ – even if you would normally never look at it twice.

But applying for jobs is time-consuming, and a job search pursued in the wrong spirit can be energy-draining, too. Wasting your personal resources on vacancies that are out of your league, below your skill level, poorly compensated, or even ‘fake,’ leaves you just where you started – but with your confidence knocked and the clock ticking.

While choosing a job you’ll enjoy over a job that pays well is not a luxury that’s always available, it will likely leave you feeling more satisfied and accomplished at the end of the day. In fact, twice as many professionals say a job you enjoy is a better sign of success than a job with a high salary. But job adverts that are too good to be true very often aren’t true. Either they’re scams or they’re hiding the bad news behind carefully disguised language.

These are some of the questions you should ask yourself when you spot an appealing job:

• Was the job posted a long time ago? Companies almost always recruit within four months of advertising, so don’t waste your time applying for a job that somebody forgot to remove from the classifieds.
• Is there something fishy about the employer? An advertiser that doesn’t include a business name or doesn’t show up in Google results may be a scammer. Just don’t go there.
• Does the job promise good conditions 'for students or stay-at-home parents’? That’s often a synonym for ‘insultingly low pay.’ Call up to check the rates before you waste your ink on the application form.

These are just some of the unpleasant directions a job listing with poor prospects may take you. To put future opportunities to the test, try using this new job assessment flowchart to see how they fare. You could save a lot of time and effort better spent on finding that dream job!