[ale] Should I worry about this...

[Crawford Rainwater]

----- Original Message -----
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 21:16:09 -0400
> From: Jamey Owens <vindir at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [ale] Should I worry about this...
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
> Message-ID:
> <AANLkTillFCA_8n2Tz14wTwayxNRU5Lb9axzIEYDahKbq at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=artech+information+systems+scam
> 
> Looks like responding is just asking for trouble.
> 
> It's an ID theft scam.
> 

While typically I would agree with what Jamey is noticing, Artech is (or was) an IBM Global Services recruiting group with their US phone numbers in New Jersey.  I personally suspect they are based in India since they have found an old resume of mine and keep pitching IBM jobs to me all over the US though I am residing in Denver after repeatedly mentioning this on numerous occasions via email and phone.

The second tell that is a concern is wanting those with qualified skills and experience, but wanting to pay below bottom dollar.  $27/hour on a W-2 with no benefits for someone that knows RedHat, Veritas, SANS, and proper clustering being some of the "must haves" where I know groups in Denver that would pay $35 to $40/hour on a W-2.  Those with the practical experience there have a minimum of 3+ years of experience and in this day and age, most are staying in a decent paying job.  Artech is a 4th level or 5th level placement group meaning there are 4 or 5 other placement folks (who also need their percentage) above them before you get to the US group handling the placement and local recruiters.

If you know a local IBM recruiting group (or better yet someone at IBM directly), I would hit them up first to be perfectly honest.  Downside is that IBM sometimes locks projects with specific placement groups.  The local IBM'ers though do have access to look up both direct hire as well as contract gigs typically which will help verify a deal.

In the end I would play it safe in this day and age.  I know it can be hard for those looking for jobs, but deal with a group that is locally based in your area or that you can verify via a third party.

FWIW.  And yes, I am a former IBM contractor back in the OS/2 days is how I know about some of the IBM methods. ;-)

--- Crawford

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