Job Opening in the U.S. Fake?

[vitinho444]

Hey guys just received an email from some guy saying that there's a company hiring PHP Developers in Minnesota.

How can i spot if it's true or a scam?
They say all expenses from the moving are paid by the company so that's a big plus for my scam scanner ahaha

Here's the email:

Hi Vitor ,

Excuse the direct approach but I have been reviewing your Github profile and noticed you have made some code contributions in PHP and wanted to have a discussion with you regarding a US based start up that is looking to hire 4 senior PHP experts that would be willing to relocate to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2014!.

The company name is not a big secret There is a reason we cannot declare the name on this first message( I fully appreciate its frustrating not to receive the full details straight away) however if this is interesting for you please let me know and I will reveal the name straight back to you with further details.

To give you a brief overview they operate in a relatively new innovative sector offering 'reverse auctioneering' to traditional sites like ebay combining fun gaming mechanics with online retail and e-commerce.

Although still just a start up from 2009 the present growth experience is nothing short of phenomenal. In 2011 company revenue was just over 10 million dollars with 20 employees, in 2012, 25 employees, with 45 million dollar revenue and the current forecast is to finish 2013 with 50 employees generating 100 million dollar revenue- 2 million dollar per employee revenue!

From a technical perspective, of course this has also made things significantly more challenging as the company is now serving around 3,000 concurrent users and are expecting this to go close to 10,000 concurrent users over the holiday periods in December based on a 2.5 million+ user base. However the discussions that have been going on recently are suggesting very much that this really is just the start of the growth phase for the future.

For this reason there intention is to find a highly skilled PHP developer that really understands demanding scalability challenges, expert MySQL knowledge (exposure to some NoSQL databases would be great as well) modern web development standards, testing frameworks and complex data structures.

Could you see yourself living happy in the USA in 2014 ?

To stress once more all Visa costs and all associated moving costs are covered by the company

Would this be something that would be interesting for you to hear a little more about?

Be great to hear back from you!

What you guys think. Even if it was real i would need to decline since im at college... But its a good compliment on my skills.

[Chromeozone]

This is 100% fake.

Why would a company be so secretive of their name if they started up during 2009, have that much revenue coming in and also that big of a player-base?

Although its a tempting offer, this guy sounds like he's putting forward the position to you as a recommendation

From a technical perspective, of course this has also made things significantly more challenging as the company is now serving around 3,000 concurrent users and are expecting this to go close to 10,000 concurrent users over the holiday periods in December based on a 2.5 million+ user base. However the discussions that have been going on recently are suggesting very much that this really is just the start of the growth phase for the future.

For this reason there intention is to find a highly skilled PHP developer that really understands demanding scalability challenges, expert MySQL knowledge (exposure to some NoSQL databases would be great as well) modern web development standards, testing frameworks and complex data structures.

Thats the big that got me:)

[hallsofvallhalla]

Not sure if it is fake or not but I get at least 5 offer a week and 4 are from oversea recruiters with names I cannot pronounce trying to fill positions they were never really asked to fill here in the US. They spam everyone they can find even remotely close to the skills.

I will say this, if it is real they just spammed everyone with some kind of PHP project in Git and then they wait to see who all replies then go through the resumes. This would explain why they did not include their name. They do not want it as a part of that mass spam.

Who knows though. I would decline the offer and see what you get in return.

[vitinho444]

Yeah what gave them up was actually the part that i created a GIT account, but i don't remember adding anything to it If i did it was old files i guess.

I will reply

Thank you for the offer, but i can't accept it at the moment.
Kind regards, Vitor Pêgas

[Jackolantern]

It is possibly real, but that is definitely some questionable hiring practices if they are real. I wouldn't want to work for a company who approached me with a spam email.

But you will find if you do look into skilled US jobs (like technology, higher-end business, etc.) that paying relocation fees is fairly common. Its a big country over here with people spread far apart, and they don't want to lose qualified applicants because they can't afford to invest in a move. Now international relocation is quite different, and the typical way it works is companies have to specifically say they cover international relocation. Otherwise, they will just throw in the max relocation credit, which will only be a small portion of your moving fees (unless you essentially come with nothing).

[vitinho444]

If the job was not fake, i would consider moving to the US... Join a college there on a interchange maybe and work part-time if i could.

[Jackolantern]

If the job was not fake, i would consider moving to the US... Join a college there on a interchange maybe and work part-time if i could.

Well, as a rule of thumb, I would not deal with any companies who solicit jobs that you did not apply to.

[vitinho444]

I will follow that, thank you

[hallsofvallhalla]

A ton of large companies do this. Even Amazon! I received this yesterday. I have never applied with them before.

Hi Gene,
We found your profile in our database and your resume is impressive! The Amazon Media division will be hosting private interviews in Seattle on January 16th and 17th. We are looking for Software Engineers at all levels with 3+ years of experience developing highly scalable and robust code in either Java, C++, or C#. Service/ Object oriented design in addition to building highly-available distributed systems can be a major plus. In addition we have roles for Software Managers, Technical Program Managers, and UX Designers, where we offer a different interview process outside of this event.
Our interview process has been streamlined for this event. If you are interested, the first step will be to complete our three question coding challenge before Friday, December, 20th. If you need more time, let me know! After the hiring managers review your code, we will confirm your onsite interview where you will meet key stakeholders from the Amazon Media team.
All of these engineering positions are based in our Seattle headquarters and a full relocation package will be provided.
Please Click here for the coding challenge and include your full name and email address. There is no time limit on this test but if you do take breaks it counts against your time to complete it. Please expect this code test to take between 1-2 hours. Please note that you need to directly type your answers into the editor, do not cut and paste answers from a second editor or screen.

[vitinho444]

Yeah but you know you are a beast ... you have a beast resume. I'm just a kid ... i don't see myself as a programmer just yet. Maybe in the future.