[linuxjobs] A cautionary tale

[Paul Stimpson]

Hi,

I thought I would share this experience my friend just had looking for 
his first job after moving to the UK.

My friend was worked in computing for a while and recently acquired EU 
citizenship. It was always his intent to come to Europe and live here. 
He just started looking for his first technician/support role on a 
number of name-you-know job sites.

Two days ago, he received  phone call late in the business day asking if 
he was available to come the next morning for an interview for a job 
he'd applied for on Monster. He agreed and was given an 11am slot at an 
address in Fore Street, near Moorgate. The person he was to meet was a 
woman whose family name he was told was "Khan."

He arrived at the address given, which turned out to be a 
"rent-an-office" flexible workspace in a prestige London building and 
received, by all accounts, received a reasonable interview experience. 
He was then told that they weren't filling the vacancy immediately.  He 
was told that, even though it was for a junior position, that it was a 
requirement that he pass one of their Microsoft courses to be considered 
for the role. He was then offered the course online for what he was led 
to believe was a deeply discounted price of £230 plus an examination fee 
of £90.

The job was Microsoft-centric and was for a company he was told was 
called "Learning for You." Their web presence is "vague" and my Googling 
of the interview address revealed the presence of the flexible office 
business operating at the interview address. I know that isn't 
necessarily a bad sign as my friends operate a successful business out 
of a long-term lease of a Regus workspace. Subsequent searches reveal 
others with similar experiences and concerns about different trading 
names that seem to also be associated with Learning for You and 
interviews held at various flexible office spaces. 
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3540525

My friend didn't give these people any money but, until he gets his 
first job, only has his finite savings to draw upon. The interview was 
just early enough that he had to buy a full-price commuter train ticket 
to get there, a £40 expense he didn't need. If he was looking to change 
job, it would also have cost him a day off work.

I know this isn't directly relevant to the Linux market but I don't see 
any reason this couldn't occur with Linux-centric positions.

Best regards,
Paul.