Rs 1 lakh for an MNC job: How 'helpers’ game corporates

Background verification (BGV) companies say this malpractice has been prevalent for quite a while. (Illustration by Suneesh Kalarickal)

Twenty-seven-year-old Anjali* secured a job through a “helper,” Arvind*, at an international airport as a Customer Service Executive in the Terminal Operations department. However, getting a job through a helper wasn't her first choice.

She, along with two friends, tried contacting the company responsible for managing the operations of the airport via its career page. But they didn't hear back for a long time, even after meeting the recruiters in person.

“We got to know of the helper through one of my friends who had applied for the same job. It seemed a safe option as they said we had to pay after one month of onboarding, unlike others who demand money upfront,” Anjali said.

Imran* joined a multinational IT firm as a QA (quality assurance) tester. He has to pay his helper a hefty Rs 60,000 as fees.

While it is not unusual to hear about malfeasance in the recruitment of candidates in PSUs given how political patronage and bribes play a big role there, corruption has today seeped into the hiring of candidates by private companies, which are supposed to embody and champion merit over all other considerations.

The candidates themselves may not be aware of the dishonesty involved in their recruitment. Indeed, many such as Anjali are hoodwinked into thinking the agencies did them a good turn and dutifully pay the commission, whereas their selection was, in some senses, a foregone conclusion.

To be sure, much of this happens only with entry-level positions. However, the fact remains that unscrupulous placement companies and HR executives are adversely impacting the interests of the companies they serve, the candidates being hired, as well as the deserving ones who lose out.

How do they operate? 

A Noida-based 30-year-old, Arvind claims to have placed over 120 candidates so far in big corporates, including multinational firms (MNC) like Google and Accenture, among others.

The process is simple. A candidate looking for a job is referred to Arvind through an acquaintance. Arvind then presents a rate card, which typically starts from Rs 60,000 and goes up to Rs 1.3 lakh depending on the company and the role. Once the candidate agrees, Arvind makes a resume of the candidate with some “keywords” which are identifiable by recruiters of a specific company.

“Sometimes, it's Roboto or PT Serif font. But the main trick is to use them for specific details. For instance, if I use Roboto for the candidate’s address and the latter for the ‘about me’ section, the recruiter knows the candidate is sent by me,” Arvind said. He claimed he recently earned Rs 1 lakh by placing a candidate in Google as Team Lead (TL).

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To maintain the trust factor, Arvind says he never asks for money before the candidate is recruited. The payment is always done after the candidate has received his/her first month’s salary.

Getting the resume past the recruiter is half the job done. Next comes the various rounds of tests, including psychometric, technical, etc., and of course, interviews. However, Arvind said once the recruiter identifies who’s behind the candidate, the rest of the process is nothing but a formality.

Unlike Arvind, Mahesh* is a seasoned “helper” and has known candidates to go back on their word after getting onboarded. “They delay the payment even after completing one month of employment,” he said.

Of his modus operandi, Mahesh says: “There are certain crucial elements in resumes, and tests, which do the work. I only need to get past the two initial recruiters whom I know, the rest is taken care of by my exclusive tips,” Mahesh said.

Is this possible?

Imran disputes this. “The tips offered by them are nothing but basic dos and don'ts and can be learned through a few YouTube videos,” Imran said, adding that he has been an employee of the firm for more than two months and has no plans to pay the helper.

“The HR person whom the helper claimed was her partner hasn't said anything about payments as yet. I hope to continue like this,” he added.

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But is it possible to guarantee jobs in big corporates and MNCs like this? Sudhakar Raja, CEO, TRST Score, an online background check service, feels it is highly unlikely.

The reason is because it’s not just the internal recruitment team that is involved in the hiring process, but also the teams for whom they hire.

For example, in a large company, various teams share their human resource requirements, which goes through an approval process and finally reaches HR, who needs to find the talent.

``There are multiple stakeholders involved, so unless there is connivance among all, it becomes impossible to game the system,’’ Raja said.

Background verification (BGV) companies say this malpractice has been prevalent for quite a while. They say “helpers” like Arvind generally work hand in glove with HR folk within these organisations. But such activities are mostly limited to small firms with a virtually non-existent selection process for entry-level jobs.

Sometimes, BGV experts say, these helpers might not even be working with the recruiters, but are just out to scam candidates by making them pay placement fees upfront. Naturally, in many cases the candidates don't get the jobs they were promised.

Possible mechanisms 

Recruiters and candidates are two key pillars of the employment process, says Raja. Explaining the first, Raja said companies ask recruiters/staffing firms to find suitable candidates to fill positions, and usually pay a hefty 8.33 percent commission of the CTC offered.

“Recruiters need to maintain a candidate pool in order to fill these positions, and they partner with sub-recruiters for the same,” he said, adding one has to be part of this ecosystem in order to scam the candidates.

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Raja said one look at the resume and a chat with the candidate can tell the recruiter about his fitment for the position. If the fitment is not an issue, all they need to do is convince the candidate that they can "guarantee" the job in exchange for payment, as they now know the candidate has a high probability of being selected.

“The candidate falls prey to the word ‘guarantee,’ and after all, what does the candidate have to lose as the payment is sought only after he gets the job,” Raja added.

Once a candidate is selected, they tell their friends and the helper’s rep goes viral. All of a sudden, they have resumes pouring in and they have  a ready talent pool to shortlist from without having to seek these candidates out and convince them that they are the right people to place them, Raja said. “The recruiters have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

Besides, in many companies employees are rewarded for referring candidates. The amount ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000, depending on the company and the role. This helps firms avoid the 8.33 percent commission.

“Now all a scammer has to do is find employees to refer their candidates, which certain employees are happy to, given the incentives,” Raja said. The helper also shares a part of his commission with the employee person.

Why do candidates keep falling for this?

Ashok Hariharan, CEO of background verification platform IDfy, says many candidates are not qualified for the roles they are promised.

“Fraud essentially works on two basic human emotions: greed and fear. Candidates get lured by this,” he said, adding that a lot of these "placement services” actually build their database of candidates through job sites.

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“They buy the resume database from these job sites just like a recruiter would and then messages are sent on WhatsApp for roles. They target candidates who are more likely to get lured. It's a pretty elaborate operation, with proper performance marketing techniques,” Hariharan said.

He adds that even a 1 percent conversion, where a candidate pays, is good enough for the operation to continue.

Nevertheless, since background verification platforms such as TRST and IDfy only get involved after the person has joined, unless there is something fishy about the candidate's background, they don't have any way to detect this.

Till then, Arvind and his "placement services” will thrive.

*(names changed)