Check an employer before you say yes

An interview runs both ways. The company is assessing you, and you are assessing the company. Almost nobody prepares for the second half — and it is the half that decides the next two years of your life.

On this continent the difficulty is real: the review sites that exist elsewhere cover employers here poorly, and many organisations leave no public trace at all. Here is how to find out anyway.

The rule that has no exceptions

A legitimate employer never asks you for money.

No application fee, no fee for mandatory pre-employment training, no “deposit” for equipment, no payment for a medical test at a clinic they insist on. The ILO’s general principles for fair recruitment are unambiguous: “No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers or jobseekers.”

This is not a grey area. The moment someone asks you to pay to obtain a job, end the conversation. It is the most common scam on the African labour market, and it targets new graduates and would-be migrants first.

Two variants worth knowing: the offer that arrives for a well-paid job abroad you never applied for; and the “recruiter” writing from a Gmail or Yahoo address while claiming to represent a large organisation. Check the company’s name on its official website and write to the address you find there — not the one that contacted you.

What employee reviews tell you, and what they don’t

Reviews are useful if you know how to read them.

Ignore the overall score. An average of 3.5 tells you nothing. Look for what recurs: if four people out of six mention salaries paid late, that is a fact, not a mood.

Check the dates. A review from 2021 describes a company that may have changed management since. Recent reviews carry more weight.

Distrust both extremes. Very short, glowing reviews are often solicited by the employer. Scorching ones sometimes follow a bitter exit. The information sits in between: the long, qualified reviews that cite something concrete.

Silence is data. A three-hundred-person company with no reviews at all, in a country where others have them, is telling you something — either nobody feels free to write, or it is very new. Raise it in the interview.

Warning signs in the advert itself

• No salary, no range, no indication. Common, but when it comes with a refusal to discuss pay at the first interview, that is a signal.
• The advert reappears every three months. Either the role will not fill, or it empties. Both are worth probing.
• Promises without substance. “Fast growth”, “dynamic team”, “like a family”, and not one line about the work, the reporting line or the conditions.
• A vague title attached to high pay. Especially in sales and in international roles.
• No physical address, no landline, no named person.

Questions that actually reveal something

General questions get general answers. Ask things that cannot be answered with a formula.

• “Why is this role vacant?” New position, resignation, dismissal — the answer, and any awkwardness around it, tells you a lot.
• “Who held this role before, and where are they now?” Promoted internally is an excellent sign. Gone after eight months, less so.
• “How many people have left this team in the last twelve months?” A number, not an impression.
• “How did the last salary review go?” You find out whether there is one.
• “Can you walk me through a typical week?” Improvisation in the answer reveals an undefined job.
• “Could I speak with someone on the team before I decide?” A refusal with no explanation is itself an answer.

The contract: four things to check before signing

Rules differ from country to country — check your national labour code. But these four deserve attention everywhere.

A written contract. Verbal, “we’ll formalise it later”, or a letter of engagement with no clauses: refuse. With nothing in writing, you have nothing to rely on the day a dispute starts.

Social contributions actually paid. Many employees discover at retirement that their employer declared a lower salary than the real one for years, or paid nothing at all. Ask how to check your declarations with the national fund, and check after three months.

The probation period. Its length, whether it can be renewed, and how it can be ended. It is the clause most often stretched beyond what the law allows.

What is written about pay. The fixed element, the variable part and what triggers it, bonuses, the currency of payment. A bonus promised verbally does not exist.

If something troubles you, ask for it to be changed before you sign. Afterwards you have no leverage.

Three sources candidates forget

The companies register. In most countries it is open to consultation and tells you whether the company legally exists, since when, and who runs it.

Former employees. Not the ones the company puts in front of you — the ones you find yourself on professional networks. A polite message to someone who left a year ago often gets an honest reply.

The Kaleta directory. Organisations are listed there with reviews from current and former employees. If the employer you are looking at is not listed, you can have them added.

Before you say yes

• Confirm the company exists on the companies register
• Read every available review, most recent first
• Contact a former employee I found on my own
• Ask why my predecessor left
• Have the written contract in front of me before committing
• Confirm that nobody is asking me to pay anything