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Last year, I was asked to interview a man who was procured through a remote-staffing firm. He was based in Southeast Asia, and on his resume it looked like he
by jawns 4y ago
Last year, I was asked to interview a man who was procured through a remote-staffing firm.
He was based in Southeast Asia, and on his resume it looked like he met all of the competencies we needed -- including English proficiency.
But on the call, I noticed that whenever I asked him a question, he would turn off his camera, pause for 10-20 seconds, answer the question, then turn his video back on.
It turned out that the man was using a translator and really didn't speak any English whatsoever.
I have no idea how he expected to be able to do the job if he had been hired, but I guess he thought it was worth a shot.
In talking with the remote staffing firm, they were extremely apologetic. He had apparently pulled the same trick with them, but they didn't do video interviews, so it was harder to pick up on.
- Nextgrid 4y ago> I asked him a question, he would turn off his camera, pause for 10-20 seconds, answer the question Even without the camera, I'm not sure how he expected this to fly? Someone who claims to be proficient in English should not always pause for 10-20 seconds before answering a question.
- matai_kolila 4y agoIf you can get a job that's entirely async it might actually work out for a few weeks, and a few weeks of a western developer salary can last a year or more in some parts of the world.
- mmsnberbar66 4y agoDepends on the question. I wouldn't mind waiting 30s for a thoughtful answer.
- evan_ 4y agoyeah but if it's "How are you doing today" that might be kind of weird
- anotheracctfo 4y agoI mean, yeah? There are very few people who can go straight from my question to the answer. And pausing to collect your thoughts is much better than saying uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm uhhh I ... uhhhhhhhhhhhhh Camera fuckery notwithstanding
- nivertech 4y agoGC?
- SkipperCat 4y agoHe may not have even cared if he got fired after 2 weeks. 2 weeks of a US salary can go pretty far in some parts of SE Asia. If he can run this scam several times a year, it may provide a decent living.