Zytech

Having recently completed Udacity’s Android Developer Nanodegree, I felt like I was finally ready to start applying for junior level Android developer jobs. I applied for over fifty jobs in one week, scoring a few interviews, and receiving a job offer from one of them: Zytech. After speaking with Zytech's CEO over the phone, I was informed that they are a company that takes developers who are just starting out, trains them to get them job-ready, and then assigns them to one of their existing clients. The only catch is that I’d have to be willing to relocate anywhere in the US based on the client's location. They offered $30 an hour plus benefits, which seemed amazing to me (the most I’ve ever made is $11/hr). I was ecstatic, and accepted the offer instantly. As soon as I was assigned to a client, I’d be making more money than I ever had, with guaranteed semiannual raises. Sounds great, right? ​ Zytech is based in Atlanta, and I live in Phoenix, so all communication was done via email or phone. Before I could speak to clients, I was first asked to review three apps that their former consultants had worked on, to make sure that I knew my stuff. I reviewed and recreated an Activity from each of them, trying to improve them as much as possible to show off my skills. I was extremely excited and ready to get in touch with clients. Below you can see videos of my apps running alongside the actual apps (mine are on the right). ​ Fly Delta | CVS Pharmacy | Prime Video ​ Once I had completed all of the app reviews, I was nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. I actually never ended up receiving any feedback whatsoever on my code (that I had spent hours of time and energy on), but, I was told that I could start talking to clients. As it turns out, they didn’t have me work on the apps to show them that I could code, rather, they wanted me to work on them so that I could lie and say that I had actually worked on the published apps. When I say lie, I’m not exaggerating: they fabricated an entire portfolio and resume in my name that says that I had worked at these companies for *years*. Remember – the only experience I have comes from personal projects. I was told that since I was employed by Zytech, I was allowed to "borrow" their other employee's experience. ​ Friday was the first (and last) day that I spoke to any clients. I was told to follow the resume that I was given when speaking to clients, which included lying about jobs that I’ve never had and saying that I have experience doing things I’ve never done. And the sad thing is, it actually worked. In one day, I had spoken to a dozen clients, completed a video interview, and set up several interviews for the next week. I didn’t feel happy or excited though, I felt terrible. I was lying to everyone I spoke to. One of the clients I spoke to was really impressed with my (fake) resume, which just bummed me out even more. I discussed my disdain with two of Zytech’s staff, the president and performance manager, who both told me that while it is technically lying, since I can do or learn most of the stuff anyway, it doesn’t matter. They also told me that this was a necessary process as I don’t have any real-world experience, and that this is just the way that it is. ​ I stopped all contact with Zytech that day. There is no doubt in my mind that this would have worked, but I am not going to lie to someone to get my dream job. It’s just not worth it. If I don’t know how to do something, I can learn it, but I’m not going to sit there and lie to recruiters and interviewers to get something I don't deserve. Unfortunately, though, other people will. I wish this story had a happy ending, but here I am back on the job hunt, with a company out there stealing a large share of the job market by way of absolute fraud. I tried my best to research the company beforehand to make sure that they were legitimate, but there is little to no trace of them on Google (several similar-named companies come up when searching for Zytech), so I hope this can at least be a warning to recruiters and prospective junior developers. I just wasted the past two weeks of my life for this company, so I'm hoping I can at least save someone else's time.