How To Avoid Recruiting Scams

Be alert to recruiting scams: Learn the official process West recruiters ALWAYS follow with candidates 

As if the search for a new job isn’t already challenging enough, we are aware of recruitment scams impacting job seekers across many industries, including ours. In one, scammers posing as West Pharmaceutical Services recruiters are inviting job seekers to interview for nonexistent jobs to steal their personal data. The elaborate scam uses emails issued from a fake company email address, misdirection to a fake company website, and even fake job offer letters.  

Unfortunately, recruiting scams aren’t new or unique to West—these scammers use many different company names in their schemes. We wanted to alert anyone who may be contacted by these scammers to protect themselves. Here’s what all jobseekers should know about our official recruiting process. 

For any official West recruitment opportunities, these are the steps West recruiters will follow: 

  • Candidates will be asked to apply through West’s official website: https://careers.westpharma.com.  
  • Any West team member who contacts any candidate for any reason will use an e-mail address with our company’s e-mail domain (westpharma.com). It will look like this: FirstName.LastName@westpharma.com (or FirstName.LastNameEXTERNAL@westpharma.com if they are a West-employed contractor).   
  • West recruiters will complete a formal interview process over the phone, and then arrange an in-person interview for candidates continuing in the interview process. West does not conduct interviews through texts, or through apps like RingCentral. West recruiters in the Asia Pacific region use WeChat to share the monthly list of HotJobs, but still direct all candidates to West’s official website: https://careers.westpharma.com
  • Candidates will never be asked to provide personal information including address, social security number, date of birth or bank information, until they have been offered an official job from West in writing. 

Watch for these red flags: 

  • Request for fees: West never seeks fees from job applicants under any circumstances. Be wary if you are asked to pay equipment fees, travel fees, or make a payment of any other kind – even if reimbursement is promised. 
  • A “Recruiter” uses a personal email address: West recruiters will always use their West e-mail address (FirstName.LastName@westpharma.com). Look closely at the email address of anyone claiming to be a West employee. If the email is from a free e-mail account like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail – disregard it. 
  • Contact through chat rooms: West does not use chat rooms or chat applications for recruiting purposes. If you were contacted in a chat room (e.g., Google Hangouts), do not proceed with the conversation. West recruiters in the Asia Pacific region use WeChat to share the monthly list of HotJobs, but still direct all candidates to apply on West’s official website: https://careers.westpharma.com.

West recruiters do reach out to potential candidates on LinkedIn, however, they will use their Firstname.Lastname@Westpharma.com email address.  

If you have questions about our hiring process, contact us at our Exton office at (610) 594-2900 or email us at Talent@westpharma.com.  

If you believe that you have been scammed in a job recruitment, it is recommended that you report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You may also report it to your state attorney general. If someone has contacted you via Google Hangout asking you for money to work at West, we encourage you to report it. File a formal scam report with Google here.