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I had been desperately looking for a job for the past few months and I landed up being "recruited" by an Indian owned IT Consultancy Firm in New Jersey. It sounded too good to be true. 100% Job Placement, accommodation, training, and the best part $60k salary even without prior experience. So, of course, I signed up. They did tell me after the training, they would enhance my resume with the new knowledge and skills I acquired during the training period. The first thing they asked me was to delete all of my social media account and anything that had to do with my name on the web. I was not to be found on web if anyone searched me. I took the training, it was basically a crash course on how to be a good Business Analyst. And when I got my "enhanced" resume, I thought they must be kidding, because the resume said I had 8 years of BA experience. Now my question was how can I pretend to have 8 years of experience when I have only a month worth of training? My trainer reassured me that more than 70% of people in IT have been through the same process. I don't know how true is that, but if it is then it is quite messed up. And here people blame Mexicans for taking the good American jobs. Anyways, after my training the company started to market me to potential employers. The daily protocol was I would be submitted to more than 20 vendors in a day, and the vendors would call me to screen the initial interview, who would then submit my "enhanced" resume to the end client. The majority of the vendors were Indians, and I think they knew My resume was fake but still they would go ahead and ask me questions and submit me. One vendor even trained me how to answer and what to answer when the End Client called me. They would email me the requirement for the job and ask if I am comfortable and can answer any questions on the requirement. Some even asked me if I could confidently back up my resume. so THEY knew what was going on.
I got five interviews with End Client who were big insurance and retail companies. I did fake and lie to them about my experience and what I did. When they asked me for reference, the company had already prepared some fake references as well. After few failed interviews, I was asked if I wanted someone else to take my interview, for which I agreed. Yes, I got the job after someone interviewed on behalf of me. Now, I was supposed to go to the work and start working like a person with 8 years of experience when I had no clue of what the job place even looks like to being with.
I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing because I frequently started questioning my integrity and ethics. I wanted to quit in the middle but I had signed a contract with them for four months. I could not leave the company during the marketing phase.
When I got the job, the company asked me to sign another contract, for 2 years and if I left the company in between, I was liable to pay the company the money that they would have made from me while working with them. For example, if I quit in 15 months, then I had to pay them 9 months worth of what they would be making off me. And that is a lot of money. They charge the end client around $60- $65 per hr.
For some right reason, I did not sign the contract or take the job. I don't think I could have survived. Few others who trained with me got the job the same way and are working in some big insurance companies, and they are doing fine.
I know I am also responsible for not thinking of how this would turn out at the end. But it has been a learning process of how workforce in US work. If this is the only way people can land good jobs then something has to be done, because a lot of us who want to get jobs the right way are not even noticed. The fake resumes are so convincing that the real resumes do not even pass through the hiring manager it seems.
Since I walked out before being placed in the job, the company is threatening me that they will take me to court for breaching the initial contract and asking me to pay them. I do not want to pay. Can someone force you to take a job you do not want to in the US? Most importantly, can a consultancy company take me to court when in first place what they are doing is totally wrong?
Has anyone here been in the similar situation and know how to deal with it?
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/4iqs1r/it_consultancy_and_placement_company_trained_me/