Why this matters more in healthcare than most sectors
International healthcare recruitment involves people making a decision with enormous personal stakes, often from a country where they cannot easily verify claims about employers thousands of miles away, and frequently under financial pressure. That combination attracts bad actors.
The consequences are not abstract. Professionals have arrived to find the role different from what was described, the salary lower, or the employer unaware of commitments made on their behalf. Others have paid substantial sums for introductions that never materialised.
The questions worth asking every recruiter
You are entitled to clear answers to all of the following before you commit to anything. A recruiter who deflects, delays or treats these as unreasonable is telling you something important.
- Who pays you, and for what? A recruiter's income should never depend on a payment from the candidate.
- What is the company registration number? Verify it on the public register yourself, do not accept a screenshot.
- Which employer is this, by name? Vagueness about the employer's identity this late in a conversation is a warning sign.
- What exactly is the role, the location and the salary? Get it in writing before you decide anything.
- What happens if I withdraw? A legitimate process has no penalty for changing your mind.
- Will you hold any of my original documents? The answer should be no.
Specific warning signs
Some patterns recur often enough to be worth naming directly.
- Any request for payment in exchange for a job introduction, placement, or 'processing' of an opportunity.
- Pressure to decide quickly, or a deadline that appears without explanation.
- A request to hand over your passport or original certificates for safekeeping.
- Reluctance to name the employer until after you have signed something.
- Terms that change between conversation and contract.
- Communication only through personal messaging accounts, with no verifiable company presence.
Verify independently, always
The single most useful habit is checking claims yourself rather than accepting documentation provided to you. Company registration numbers can be verified on the public register for the relevant jurisdiction. Regulator registration can be checked directly with the regulator. Employers can usually be contacted through their own published channels.
This is not cynicism. It is the ordinary due diligence any significant decision deserves. A legitimate recruiter expects it and will make verification easy.
What to do if something feels wrong
Raise it directly and in writing, as early as you can. Keep a record of what you were told and when. If the answers do not resolve your concern, step back. The cost of pausing is almost always lower than the cost of proceeding on terms you do not fully understand.
An ethical process depends on candidates feeling able to challenge it. If asking a reasonable question changes how you are treated, you have learned what you needed to know.