I have been searching for jobs for a few weeks now, specifically a move within the IT industry, which I understand are in short supply.

I was approached by a recruiter after I applied for a role and we have had various phone calls and 1 interview prep video call.

A bit about the role: the role is basically entry level ie. They are looking for someone with basic IT skills but the pay is around the 32k mark, this is an increase for me of 9k. This makes me slightly cautious as I would say it is above market and in an area with less than average cost of living. I would be employed by a consultancy firm, however sub contractored out to a government organisation. This role is very procedure oriented so this is why they require an entry level person as everything must be done the right way so this role does not require the applicant to make decisions about how to complete tasks.

I had teams “interview” on Friday, which basically just involved a very casual chat with the contractors. I didn’t speak about technical knowledge at all, mainly just my hobbies and interests. The interviewer basically said they would be happy to put my name through if I was interested so it looks very promising that I will get put through. I have also been told that I may get a 2nd interview with the consultant firm however this is likely just to be a formality and out of process.

My concern to be honest is that this role is essentially my dream role within 2 subjects that I am deeply interested in and with a huge salary increase for my age and the lack of experience required, and the interview being so relaxed. In my experience if it’s too good to be true it probably is.

I spent some time researching both the recruiter and recruiting company on LinkedIn and it all seems legitimate, and I also researched the hiring manager on LinkedIn ( it’s also worth noting that he connected with me during the interview). From this perspective I can’t see anything which should be worrying but I can’t help but feel doubt.

I know the general consensus on recruiters is poor. What are your thoughts on applying via a recruiter?

Are there any additional steps I can take to make sure everything is okay?

Are employment/ recruitment scams a thing?

I think I am genuinely being paranoid but would like some external input. Thank you.