weird IT job interview; a great lesson.

taktsoi

I just had a weird job interview. i need people advice.

first of all, i got a phone call regarding an available network support position. The guy basically asked me whether or not I know about active directory, firewall, email, cabling, xp, hardware, and my current job conditions. Based on the " phone interview", he would ask me if I could meet him in the office for furthermore. I replied him yes.

When I headed to his office few days later, I was asked to fill out the form, about my personal info, interesting position, etc. I waited like 15-20 mins. Then the guy came out. After greetings, he invited me to his office.

In the office, he asked me what kind of job roles I m working, what type of works I am doing there, salary, and benefits, etc. Then he evaluated me about my IT knowledges, from program, hardware, to networking. I was graded by answering like this, " do you know about active directory, can u describe it?". after I answered him for 30 questions, he asked me to wait. He went out for a while.

When he came back, I was told that my knowledge still has a gap. However, that company offered a sponsorship so that I could further attain more cerfications for my career advancement. He asked me if I was interested. I replied him yes because I thought he offered a free training. At that time, I was like, "with a free training and more salary for my career advancement, why not?" After my reply, he went out again and came out a couple of minutes later.

When he came back, he gave me a list of details about a loan application, career advancement (course materials), plus a bunch of papers about his company rating that they definitely get u a job, etc. I was told that a bunch of courses cost for total $xxxxx (5 digitals), and by their grant sponsorship, you get 50% discounts, so you only have to pay $xxxx. You could choose to pay $xx a month for xx years or full balance. Within 3 months, you are guaranteed that you will become xxxx certified. After you become xxxx certified, our company then would get you a job. Because our companies' rating is good like this, more than 90% of jobs landed, you are worried-free about getting a job, and when you are landed a job, you need to take 20% of your annual salary for companie's commission, both the new job and this company.

I told him that I don't need that training courses because I am working on myself and asked him if he could land me a job first. Then he attempted to justify. "By our certified trainers, you are guaranteed that you learn a real world hands-on experience. They have their real world skills plus the labs for you to practice. On the other hands, you are studying yourself. Hence this is a PAPER CERTIFIED. Will you want to become paper cert? No, right? So if you participate this training courses, you would become different in the world". I was like "full of bullshit".

Then I justified. "NO, sorry, even tho I study on myself. That doesn't imply that I am paper cert. Based on my job currently, I install, manage, administer windows xp, 2000 and 2003 domain environment. I started using computers since DOS. By reading the book myself, it means that I would like my knowledges to become more constant in a professional way. You may say my skills are not that advanced. However, you can't say I am a paper certified. Sorry, I don't need that training right now. I really need to think about it."

Then he said, "Oh well, this is your decision. You may take our materials home and read over the weekend. If you are interested afterward, you may give me a call. But I remind you one more time, our training courses are far more advanced with our certified trainers and its materials. And your studying may not learn what we offer you.

After this job interview and greetings, I got out the company. Then I called my friends about it. They all said "FULL OF BULLSHIT" because I am looking for job. They suppose to focus on the job's roles, the salary, benefits, etc. However, it is obvious that they ASK YOU for YOUR $$$$$ than the job availability. So don't fall into a trap.

Sorry people, this is a long story. But I would like all of our people here know how dark our outside world is. What happens is that you are looking for a job, but you have to pay x amount of money before you will be landed to a job in x% of rating. This is bullshit. Please remind, people.

Steely

Sounds more like a scam to me. Glad you didn't fall for it. Let us know something about this place so people don't get trap into it.

mikej412

taktsoi wrote:

Then I called my friends about it. They all said "FULL OF BULLSHIT"

You have smart friends!

Scam -- under the guise of a "job interview" they try to sell you "training." I won't even get into the quality of the supposed training....

EdTheLad

If that happened to me i think i would have exploded in the guys face! Wasting your time and money.I would have demanded cash for transport and the time wasted under false pretenses.I like the way he tried to turn the whole paper cert thing to his advantage, a paper cert holder is someone who has the cert and not the knowledge,if you understand everything and have never touched the equipment you are not a paper cert.

royal

I would have been pretty pissed as well if that happened to me. As stated, he just wasted your time and money under false pretenses for what definitely seems as a scam.

JDMurray

Have you Googled for other people with a similar story about this same company? If it is a tech training company that is recruiting students by posting phony, bait-and-switch job offers, they are probably doing other unethical things as well, and people will be publicly complaining about them. Did you do any online research about the company before going in for your interview?

SRTMCSE

Had the same thing happen with a phone interview. 20 minute "interview" and then he calls back telling me that I'm not totally qualified but they offer training for $craploadofmoney and then I MAY qualify for a job. Bullcrap, told him so. I knew it was even more bullshit afterwards b/c for like 5 months i got e-mail offers for "discounted" training. Finally e-mailed them and told them if I so much as receive one more e-mail i'll do all i can to report them for spam b/c they got my e-mail address for use with a job interview, not with offers.

BryanM67

Any company that does this deserves to be blacklisted and humiliated. Its hard enough to get an IT job from a legit employer and now you have to worry about wasting time, effort, transportation, and possibly a day off from your current job to deal with these scammers. Don't be afraid to post who they are so I know not to bother.

blargoe

I've heard of crap like this before. Probably a scam

Plantwiz

jdmurray wrote:

Have you Googled for other people with a similar story about this same company? If it is a tech training company that is recruiting students by posting phony, bait-and-switch job offers, they are probably doing other unethical things as well, and people will be publicly complaining about them. Did you do any online research about the company before going in for your interview?

Not a new method and certainly not a 'scam', sleezy! More importantly a reminder that before you interview with a company....it is your responsiblity to find out all you can about THEM BEFORE you meet with them. At one time, companies used to rate the job applicants ability to come to an interview prepared and knowing the history of the company, products, etc.. as a mark of dedication, so not knowing some background about the company might be a very short interview.

Keep yourself educated about these things and if you ever run into again either 1. walk out (best option) 2. Have a little fun with them

Glad you didn't get taken for a ride!

bighusker

That doesn't sound like a job interview...it sounds like some shady recruiter or training center that tried to scam you into taking unneccessary classes. I really doubt there was an actual position available.

Please post the name of this company, because I think everyone should know this information to watch out for them!

sprkymrk

bighusker wrote:

That doesn't sound like a job interview...it sounds like some shady recruiter or training center that tried to scam you into taking unneccessary classes. I really doubt there was an actual position available.

Please post the name of this company, because I think everyone should know this information to watch out for them!

I agree. I have heard of this same scam in these forums at least once before - advertising for a job but really trying to sign you up for expensive classes. I would like to know the name of the company that uses deceptive techniques like this so everyone can avoid them.

5no-yt

That makes me mad just reading about it...

determinedgerman

You can go to any job posting site like monster.com and jobs like that will pop up. When I last checked for jobs on monster.com there were jobs at New Horizons Training Center. They are trying to tell you that you are getting a paid internship position working in their center but when you call them they are going to try to sell you training. Its just another method of marketing for them. They are trying to get you to pay for the training and then they'll turn around and give you some brain **** to help you get certified....I have seen it before....but hey it gets them some applicants and as long as some people take the bait they won't stop.

Kaminsky

It is a sad fact that you really have to be careful when looking for a job and putting your personal details into the public domain. Some people have become very skilled at scanning sites like monster and trying to hit them up for training and/or contacts from previous companys you have worked for that they will later approach.

Be carefull about your personal contact details that you are putting into the public domain.

Never put your referees contact details on your CV if you don't want them hit up later to see if they have any availabilities for work - most embarrassing and will lose you referees fast!

Watch out for fishing jobs - Job sounds great but doesn't actually exist and is just used to get job seekers on a company's books. "oh sorry that one is no longer available but we will keep your details... blah blah!" - This one really annoys me!

Use the usual golden rule - too good to be true, it probably is.

famosbrown

germangiant wrote:

You can go to any job posting site like monster.com and jobs like that will pop up. When I last checked for jobs on monster.com there were jobs at New Horizons Training Center. They are trying to tell you that you are getting a paid internship position working in their center but when you call them they are going to try to sell you training. Its just another method of marketing for them. They are trying to get you to pay for the training and then they'll turn around and give you some brain **** to help you get certified....I have seen it before....but hey it gets them some applicants and as long as some people take the bait they won't stop.

Hmmm...why has New Horizon kept the braindumps away from me then . Not all computer learning centers are home for braindumps and paper certs. I can say much for any others, but many government agencies, businesses, etc. use New Horizons for training their personnel. Some get sent to learn web development, and some get sent to learn how to manage a Windows Server. I have attended New Horizons for over a year now, and I can honestly say that the clsses are great, the instructors are knowledgeable, and tey will ADMIT that you will not be able to pass any of the exams just by sitting through the class. For some odd reason, MS doesn't like to throw ALL of the information into the course and require you to study, read technet, and their other White Papers. I love instructor led courses, in classroom labs, and class discussions when trying to learn. Oh yeah...I'm not paying for it either .

To the OP...if I was in the same situation where a training company tricked me and wasted my time, I would have played along. I would have went through the process like everything was fine, got them emotionally involved due to anticipation of a commision, then killed them right there. I would have been asking if they have anything free like pens, software, mouse pads, mugs, etc...although I wouldn't want any of it, but just to tick them off even more when I say naahhh, not interested. I have many more ideas of things I would have done too. LOL!!

taktsoi

Thank you for everyone's suggestion and support. I appreciate so much. This is why I love this forum. This forum is A+. Great Jobs.

After I spoke to the moderator and webmaster plus my friends as well, I decided not to expose the companie's name because I do not want to hurt this forum. As this is the forum where we find buddies, suggestions, help and motivation, plus more and more for our career advancement, i don't want all scammers take advantage of this forum. However, I am not saying that I accept this unethical behavior. The more advantages the scammers have, the more people get fallen into traps. Therefore, we gotta be alert, wise, cut them out if they find you.

Unfortunately, I found more people in OUR FORUM involved with the scammers. Please buddies, don't make those scammers stand for a chance. It is not worth it. This is our IT, where we gotta work hard, make efforts, learn new technologies, plus more for our future.

I refer this link to my message. Hope this helps.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13506

The OP who has had that incident has happened in New York.

I also live in NEW YORK.

Thank you guys. Thank you for all supports and helps.

Tak

garv221

That has happened to me twice in a 6 month stretch in 2001. One guy interviewed me for "networking position"--networking with people that is. He wanted me to sell Amway..Met at a coffee shop, I asked him for the 10 minutes of my life back that he just wasted.

I got a call back for a sys admin job. Drove 45 minutes and found out it was herbal life! Was very angry, made a scene and left.

To tell the truth and depending on the day I am having, there is a good chance I might have kicked the **** out that guy who asked you for money.

IT really seems to have alot of scams attached to it.

Jammywanks

I fell victim to this before. It was for New Horizons, and they posted on Yahoo hotjobs for "paid apprenticeship, $10-$12 /hr". Ok so I go there, its a class room, I already have an odd feeling about it. They had a projector screen going on about IT training, New Horizons has been the #1 IT trainer in the world, etc etc. I'm thinking, "what, am I applying for a job to be a teacher???" so you know this speaker comes in, saying "Oh when I was 22 I was on wall street, taking a helicopter to and from work, but its all over cause the market crashed". After more time wasted out of my life, eventually, he takes all our resume's because he requested a copy before the "interview".

Next day on another scheduled meeting he meets me one on one. He says my resume looks like ****, and that you need a CCNA to get the job, its very bad to say that you're working on one or pursuing on on your resume. I ask him how much these courses are, he goes "I'll get on that in a bit" and I said "how much??" and he quickly flips to the page of pricing but back so I couldn't see it. Well I eventually find out its 18 grand to take all his courses just for the CCNA class.

I told him I didn't have time or the money for his stuff, and I was so mad after I left, I wrote emails to his secretary to give me his personal email but she wouldn't, so I was like "WTF gimmie his email where the f is he?". Next day while at work (cause I was already working a job at the time), he calls me up, saying why I was cursing etc. etc. I was like "FU" and hung up LOL!

Too bad I didn't smack the **** out of him during the one on one session.

New Horizons has a big problem with their advertising campaign, you do not advertise your school on a place where people are looking for work. If we're looking for school and IT training we'll get to it ourselfs. This is almost as bad as a scam! Watch out for New Horizons. Oh and one more place is doing the same style of advertising, they are called BANKERS LIFE AND CASUALTY. In a job posting they said "CCNA NETWORKING, BLAH BLAH BLAH IT" and when I got there, it was a classroom, I walked out, and said I didn't have time for this to the speaker, and he asked me what I was looking for , I said "Cisco network related fields" and he didn't have a clue what that was. So now they are getting even more careless by posting in job areas that they don't even have positions for!

And $12/hr is an insult for a CCNA. Hell, I got paid way more than that without ANY certs.

Jammywanks

A quick google search that I did for "New Horizons sucks" came up with this interesting site: http://www.newhorizonssucks.net/

I made a match word for word. Guess we're not the only ones thinking the same lines