Reply to: Indian recruitment consultancies operating in the UK

[rocktronAMP]

Crackly line, pause before picking up... "hellooooo?"

I don't know if even these have dried up or if I've blocked them all now

Today is Wednesday 26th April 2023, I thought it started well and phone calls were coming in.
Sadly it was eTeam with multiple 0203-XYZ / 0204-XYZ telephone numbers. Sigh.
Poor contact rates, a maximum £375 per day for a React Java fullstack software engineer got to be security cleared. Beyond a joke. 2 days Hybrid to Farnborough. What?! No. Of course not, I live 125 miles away. Maybe this should be in State of the Market thread.

[PerfectStorm]

Crackly line, pause before picking up... "hellooooo?"

I don't know if even these have dried up or if I've blocked them all now

[LadyPenelope]

Lancesoft appear to fit the profile. Spoofed London number, crackly line etc.

[NoTurningBack]

Hi, Has anyone found work through these Indian recruitment agents? Particularly interested in hyreU and LSA ?

[WTFH]

I have found that in interviews conducted from India the interviewers tend to ask questions incredibly specific to the language/framework/platform in question rather than try to determine the candidates level of competence and experience.

It leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling that the interviewers don't really know what they are talking about.

I was interviewed a couple of years ago by a person who clearly had a pre-printed question list that he read out. He'd very little idea what he was talking about.
After a couple of questions, he asked a very specific question that I recognised. I replied with "The answer on your sheet will be something like the following, but it's wrong. I then told him what was on his sheet. I started to tell him that it would only work in theory, never in practice. I went into a bit of detail as to why, but he said I had given the correct answer at first and didn't need to say anything else.

[PerfectStorm]

My current contract started on that basis several years ago, with some people I'd happily go for a beer with (and the feeling was mutual). Which was a refreshing change from previous contracts.

I do wonder if this social characteristic is still prized by interviewers for roles that are predominantly remote, or if the tendency these days is to select on a transactional basis.

If transactional, then that suggests we are moving closer to the Indian system integrator recruiting model.

The Beer Test is still king in my view as I have to sit on Teams calls with such people every day - and I'd rather sit on a call with someone I get on with on a personal level than a robot "head of BA" scrum master or similar.

And sure enough, when everyone met up after 2 years of remote, you knew exactly which ones you'd like to have a beer with.

[ladymuck]

I just bagged a contract predominantly remote (1 day a month in the office) and the first thing the interviewer said to me was how relieved he was that I was doing the zoom interview dressed in a t-shirt rather than the suit and tie of the folks he had interviewed until then. He was wearing a t-shirt as well so I guess that's your social connection right there.

Did you have trousers on?

At a previous client, one of the managers was a bit of an arse and would ask interviewees to prove they were fully dressed by standing up.

[PCTNN]

I do wonder if this social characteristic is still prized by interviewers for roles that are predominantly remote, or if the tendency these days is to select on a transactional basis.

I just bagged a contract predominantly remote (1 day a month in the office) and the first thing the interviewer said to me was how relieved he was that I was doing the zoom interview dressed in a t-shirt rather than the suit and tie of the folks he had interviewed until then. He was wearing a t-shirt as well so I guess that's your social connection right there.

[lecyclist]

...." and "would I sit next to you for a beer". I'd argue both of those are more important than knowing what artefacts go into a scrum ceremony.

My current contract started on that basis several years ago, with some people I'd happily go for a beer with (and the feeling was mutual). Which was a refreshing change from previous contracts.

I do wonder if this social characteristic is still prized by interviewers for roles that are predominantly remote, or if the tendency these days is to select on a transactional basis.

If transactional, then that suggests we are moving closer to the Indian system integrator recruiting model.

[PerfectStorm]

I have found that in interviews conducted from India the interviewers tend to ask questions incredibly specific to the language/framework/platform in question rather than try to determine the candidates level of competence and experience.

It leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling that the interviewers don't really know what they are talking about.

Yes - or try at all to get to know your sense of humour, how you come across, how honest you are, what makes you tick etc (something British interviewers are also bad at doing)

Basically "you may have such and such qualification, but can you get on your hands and knees and plug the cables back in if needed or will you just sit there?" and "would I sit next to you for a beer". I'd argue both of those are more important than knowing what artefacts go into a scrum ceremony.

[TheDude]

Recently encountered "Blackcode" which would appear to be a British recruitment front end for "Photon", an Indian services company.

Went along to an interview, it was only when I saw the time zones in the interview invite (well, and the names) that I figured out what was being arranged.

Got marked down in the interview for saying that I'd rather deliver something late but working, over on time but broken ("which is our company's philosophy")

I have found that in interviews conducted from India the interviewers tend to ask questions incredibly specific to the language/framework/platform in question rather than try to determine the candidates level of competence and experience.

It leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling that the interviewers don't really know what they are talking about.

[PCTNN]

On time, but with most of the requirements descoped to phase 2, 3 & 4 (which we're only telling you about now)

Yep, very typical: it's fun to see how they start with the best intentions, then descope tons of requirements to define the bare MVP, then descope some more, and then finally end up going live with a product that is de facto worse than what was there before.

[rocktronAMP]

Using Anglicise names is so .... trendy. not.
Anyway Hirextra - "Hirextra -World's First Staffing Aggregator; Find 10x more qualified candidates for jobs in just 1 day!"
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hirextra/
I'm getting John or Emily on LinkedIn with prospects for a ?Mobile Architect_ Permanent
Beware of "front" suspicious profiles, really check them out ...

[WTFH]

I would have said late and broken

On time, but with most of the requirements descoped to phase 2, 3 & 4 (which we're only telling you about now)

[cojak]

I would have said late and broken

Yep, lesson learned for the future PS.