Watchdog deep-sixes job ad that was actually pay-to-play training course

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has slapped IT Career Change Ltd on the wrist over a September 2024 ad promoting a career in Health & Safety.

The listing appeared on a job vacancy website and was headed "Trainee Health & Safety Advisor." Beneath the headline, the text read: "Are you looking to kick-start a new career in health & safety? We are recruiting for companies who are looking to employ our Health & Safety Traineeship graduates to keep up their growth. The best part is you will not need any previous experience as full training will be provided. You will also have the reassurance of a job guarantee within 20 miles of your location upon completion."

At the bottom, the listing stated: "Please note that this is a training course and fees apply."

The complaint, which the ASA upheld, was that it wasn't sufficiently clear that the listing was actually for a training course and career placement program rather than a genuine trainee job role.

According to IT Career Change Ltd, since 2019, its ads have had more than 750,000 views, and it has received over 30,000 applications as a result. It was only aware of two people who had complained about its ads and pointed out that the body of the ad included the training costs and the promise of a refund if applicants weren't offered a role by the end of the training.

The company added that the text at the bottom was directly above the "Apply" button, reinforcing that this was indeed a training course.

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However, the ad was on a job vacancy website and, as far as the ASA was concerned, needed to be as upfront as possible so that "any initial information made it clear that they [the users] were clicking through to view a training course rather than a job vacancy."

While the ASA acknowledged that the body of the ad explained that what was being promoted was a training course and career placement program and that fees applied, the heading and accompanying text at the top of the ad made it appear that "the ad was for a genuine employment vacancy," according to the watchdog.

The ASA said: "We considered that the text in the body of the ad contradicted rather than qualified the headline and accompanying initial text. Also, we noted that this text would not have been visible in the search result and would only have become visible by clicking into the full listing."

The ASA concluded that the ad was misleading and "breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Qualification) and 20.2 (Employment)." It also stated that the ad must not appear again in the form complained of. ®