Given the ongoing discussions surrounding H1B visas, I wanted to share my own experiences and shed light on how this visa system is deeply intertwined with industry practices that exploit it.
I immigrated to the United States through a family sponsored green card, so I didn’t go through the hellscape that is the H1B immigration system, but I look like an Indian and am able to understand and speak Hindi well enough that you wouldn’t think that I’m not until I tell you. You’ll find out why this is important later
I worked as a software engineer in my home country and had quite a few years of successful projects under my belt and so I always thought that it’s not going to be too hard to get a job as a Software Dev in the US. Boy was I wrong.
Even though I’m an immigrant. I absolutely love the United States. So much so that I wanted to join the US military and defend this wonderful country and her people, but was talked out of it by my family. The US feels like more of a home than my own home country.
Offshore Developer to Onshore Developer
Before moving here, I worked with clients from the US, UK, and Qatar. The differences between them were stark. While US clients were honest, polite, and straightforward (and hands-down my favorite), Qatar clients were the polar opposite—difficult, demanding, and often disrespectful.
Those offshore days gave me a unique perspective on work quality and ethics. Offshore teams often deal with bad code left behind by previous developers. Some of the stuff I worked on was so poorly written it would’ve cost more to fix than to start over. But ethics weren’t exactly a priority for some managers.
One moment that sticks with me is when I was finishing a project—around 90% complete—and feeling proud of the work. My manager said, “If we complete the task, the client will leave us.” His message was clear: drag it out, keep billing the client. It was wrong, but the alternative—joblessness and being out on the street—was worse.
When I came to the US, I saw a completely different world. The work culture here was nothing like what I’d experienced before.
US Colleagues: Breaking Stereotypes
One thing I need to say, loud and clear: anyone who claims US citizens are lazy or less intelligent is a pathological liar.
Some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with are Americans. I’ve spent weekends and pulled 80-hour weeks with my US colleagues. They’re not just hardworking—they’re intellectually challenging in ways that have pushed my professional growth far beyond what was possible back home.
They’ve treated me with respect and made me feel like an equal, not an outsider. And unlike some exploitable H1B workers, US professionals have the audacity to ask for fair wages, demand decent treatment, and walk away when they’re being abused. That’s not laziness—that’s integrity and self-respect.
The only major difference I’ve noticed is that US Devs are far less willing to engage in fraudulent practices. They’re not as desperate, and they won’t compromise their ethics just to get a paycheck.
Job Hunting in the US
When I started job hunting in the US, I quickly realized the odds were stacked against me. On one side, companies rejected me because I didn’t have “local experience.” On the other, consultant companies dismissed me outright because I wasn’t on an H1B visa. Without the leverage of controlling my visa status, I wasn’t exploitable, so they weren’t interested.
It was disheartening to see the system favor candidates with inflated resumes and fraudulent practices. These people weren’t just lying their way into jobs—they were taking opportunities from honest, hardworking candidates.
Recruitment Fraud: How It Works
Here’s the typical playbook for fraudulent recruitment companies:
- Target Vulnerable Job Seekers: They go after desperate candidates—entry-level professionals, people with foreign work experience, and H1B visa holders.
- Offer Fake “Training” Courses: These courses cost $10,000–$20,000 and teach candidates how to lie, manipulate, and cheat their way through interviews.
- Create Fake Resumes: Years of fake experience are added to resumes to make candidates appear overqualified.
- Assist in Fraudulent Interviews: Candidates get live “support” during interviews, with someone feeding them answers or even doing the interview for them.
- Fake Background Checks: The recruitment company lists itself as the candidate’s previous employer and lies during verification calls.
- Provide Ongoing Job Support: Even after the candidate gets the job, they continue relying on the recruitment company’s “support” to actually do the work.
My Experience as a Recruiter
During a brief stint as a recruiter while I was searching for a software developer role, I quickly discovered an unsettling truth: many people in HR and recruitment are aware of the widespread fraud in the industry. However, most people choose to stay silent—some out of fear of backlash, and others simply because they don’t care enough to confront the issue.
Instead of tackling the issue head-on, companies have made interviews increasingly difficult. Coding tests are grueling, technical interviews stretch on for hours, and the process feels more like an obstacle course than a fair evaluation of skills. The goal? Weed out candidates with fake experience.
For companies, rejecting a false negative is cheaper than hiring someone incompetent. But for honest candidates, these barriers make the job hunt even more exhausting and demoralizing.
Inside the Circle of Exploiters
What shocked me the most during my time as a recruiter was seeing the people who openly benefit from this system. I’ve sat in circles of individuals who proudly admit they don’t know a single line of code or anything remotely related to IT.
Here’s how they operate:
- They land a job in the US based on fake resumes and fraudulent interviews.
- Once hired, they outsource their entire workload to someone in India.
- They collect the paycheck, sending a small percentage to their “support” back home, who’s doing all the actual work.
This is not an exaggeration—it’s a well-oiled machine.
Why Companies Turn a Blind Eye
Companies aren’t oblivious to this fraud—they’re just trying to minimize its impact. By making interviews harder and raising the bar for entry-level positions, they hope to weed out fraudulent candidates. But this approach has its own consequences:
- Genuine Talent Gets Overlooked: The increasingly tough hiring process often rejects honest, skilled candidates simply because they struggle with overly complex interviews.
- Entry-Level Opportunities Are Disappearing: Companies would rather reject everyone than risk hiring someone unqualified. This has killed many entry-level roles, leaving new graduates and career switchers out in the cold.
- On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies are increasingly abandoning the practice of hiring and training junior developers. Instead, they now expect new hires to hit the ground running. And why wouldn’t they? When they can hire “senior” developers with advanced degrees and “experience” at prestigious companies, all for the same salary, there’s little incentive for companies to invest in training.
The Damage It Causes
This kind of fraud has far-reaching consequences:
- Entry-Level Jobs Are Vanishing: With fake resumes flooding the market, companies don’t want to hire junior developers anymore. They expect candidates to be ready to contribute on Day 1.
- On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies used to invest in training new hires. Now, they’re too wary of wasting resources on unqualified candidates.
- US Students are Paying the Price: What shocks me the most is the amount of debt US students take on for their education. Back home, we get the same education at a fraction of the cost, with no debt. And yet, these students graduate into a job market where they’re competing with candidates who are gaming the system.
I love the United States and the opportunities it offers. Some of the smartest, most hardworking people I’ve ever met. But the system isn’t fair—not to them, not to honest people, and not to the industry.
submitted by /u/ImJustGonnaSitHere01
[link] [comments]
r/cscareerquestions Given the ongoing discussions surrounding H1B visas, I wanted to share my own experiences and shed light on how this visa system is deeply intertwined with industry practices that exploit it. I immigrated to the United States through a family sponsored green card, so I didn’t go through the hellscape that is the H1B immigration system, but I look like an Indian and am able to understand and speak Hindi well enough that you wouldn’t think that I’m not until I tell you. You’ll find out why this is important later I worked as a software engineer in my home country and had quite a few years of successful projects under my belt and so I always thought that it’s not going to be too hard to get a job as a Software Dev in the US. Boy was I wrong. Even though I’m an immigrant. I absolutely love the United States. So much so that I wanted to join the US military and defend this wonderful country and her people, but was talked out of it by my family. The US feels like more of a home than my own home country. Offshore Developer to Onshore Developer Before moving here, I worked with clients from the US, UK, and Qatar. The differences between them were stark. While US clients were honest, polite, and straightforward (and hands-down my favorite), Qatar clients were the polar opposite—difficult, demanding, and often disrespectful. Those offshore days gave me a unique perspective on work quality and ethics. Offshore teams often deal with bad code left behind by previous developers. Some of the stuff I worked on was so poorly written it would’ve cost more to fix than to start over. But ethics weren’t exactly a priority for some managers. One moment that sticks with me is when I was finishing a project—around 90% complete—and feeling proud of the work. My manager said, “If we complete the task, the client will leave us.” His message was clear: drag it out, keep billing the client. It was wrong, but the alternative—joblessness and being out on the street—was worse. When I came to the US, I saw a completely different world. The work culture here was nothing like what I’d experienced before. US Colleagues: Breaking Stereotypes One thing I need to say, loud and clear: anyone who claims US citizens are lazy or less intelligent is a pathological liar. Some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with are Americans. I’ve spent weekends and pulled 80-hour weeks with my US colleagues. They’re not just hardworking—they’re intellectually challenging in ways that have pushed my professional growth far beyond what was possible back home. They’ve treated me with respect and made me feel like an equal, not an outsider. And unlike some exploitable H1B workers, US professionals have the audacity to ask for fair wages, demand decent treatment, and walk away when they’re being abused. That’s not laziness—that’s integrity and self-respect. The only major difference I’ve noticed is that US Devs are far less willing to engage in fraudulent practices. They’re not as desperate, and they won’t compromise their ethics just to get a paycheck. Job Hunting in the US When I started job hunting in the US, I quickly realized the odds were stacked against me. On one side, companies rejected me because I didn’t have “local experience.” On the other, consultant companies dismissed me outright because I wasn’t on an H1B visa. Without the leverage of controlling my visa status, I wasn’t exploitable, so they weren’t interested. It was disheartening to see the system favor candidates with inflated resumes and fraudulent practices. These people weren’t just lying their way into jobs—they were taking opportunities from honest, hardworking candidates. Recruitment Fraud: How It Works Here’s the typical playbook for fraudulent recruitment companies: Target Vulnerable Job Seekers: They go after desperate candidates—entry-level professionals, people with foreign work experience, and H1B visa holders. Offer Fake “Training” Courses: These courses cost $10,000–$20,000 and teach candidates how to lie, manipulate, and cheat their way through interviews. Create Fake Resumes: Years of fake experience are added to resumes to make candidates appear overqualified. Assist in Fraudulent Interviews: Candidates get live “support” during interviews, with someone feeding them answers or even doing the interview for them. Fake Background Checks: The recruitment company lists itself as the candidate’s previous employer and lies during verification calls. Provide Ongoing Job Support: Even after the candidate gets the job, they continue relying on the recruitment company’s “support” to actually do the work. My Experience as a Recruiter During a brief stint as a recruiter while I was searching for a software developer role, I quickly discovered an unsettling truth: many people in HR and recruitment are aware of the widespread fraud in the industry. However, most people choose to stay silent—some out of fear of backlash, and others simply because they don’t care enough to confront the issue. Instead of tackling the issue head-on, companies have made interviews increasingly difficult. Coding tests are grueling, technical interviews stretch on for hours, and the process feels more like an obstacle course than a fair evaluation of skills. The goal? Weed out candidates with fake experience. For companies, rejecting a false negative is cheaper than hiring someone incompetent. But for honest candidates, these barriers make the job hunt even more exhausting and demoralizing. Inside the Circle of Exploiters What shocked me the most during my time as a recruiter was seeing the people who openly benefit from this system. I’ve sat in circles of individuals who proudly admit they don’t know a single line of code or anything remotely related to IT. Here’s how they operate: They land a job in the US based on fake resumes and fraudulent interviews. Once hired, they outsource their entire workload to someone in India. They collect the paycheck, sending a small percentage to their “support” back home, who’s doing all the actual work. This is not an exaggeration—it’s a well-oiled machine. Why Companies Turn a Blind Eye Companies aren’t oblivious to this fraud—they’re just trying to minimize its impact. By making interviews harder and raising the bar for entry-level positions, they hope to weed out fraudulent candidates. But this approach has its own consequences: Genuine Talent Gets Overlooked: The increasingly tough hiring process often rejects honest, skilled candidates simply because they struggle with overly complex interviews. Entry-Level Opportunities Are Disappearing: Companies would rather reject everyone than risk hiring someone unqualified. This has killed many entry-level roles, leaving new graduates and career switchers out in the cold. On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies are increasingly abandoning the practice of hiring and training junior developers. Instead, they now expect new hires to hit the ground running. And why wouldn’t they? When they can hire “senior” developers with advanced degrees and “experience” at prestigious companies, all for the same salary, there’s little incentive for companies to invest in training. The Damage It Causes This kind of fraud has far-reaching consequences: Entry-Level Jobs Are Vanishing: With fake resumes flooding the market, companies don’t want to hire junior developers anymore. They expect candidates to be ready to contribute on Day 1. On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies used to invest in training new hires. Now, they’re too wary of wasting resources on unqualified candidates. US Students are Paying the Price: What shocks me the most is the amount of debt US students take on for their education. Back home, we get the same education at a fraction of the cost, with no debt. And yet, these students graduate into a job market where they’re competing with candidates who are gaming the system. I love the United States and the opportunities it offers. Some of the smartest, most hardworking people I’ve ever met. But the system isn’t fair—not to them, not to honest people, and not to the industry. submitted by /u/ImJustGonnaSitHere01 [link] [comments]
Given the ongoing discussions surrounding H1B visas, I wanted to share my own experiences and shed light on how this visa system is deeply intertwined with industry practices that exploit it.
I immigrated to the United States through a family sponsored green card, so I didn’t go through the hellscape that is the H1B immigration system, but I look like an Indian and am able to understand and speak Hindi well enough that you wouldn’t think that I’m not until I tell you. You’ll find out why this is important later
I worked as a software engineer in my home country and had quite a few years of successful projects under my belt and so I always thought that it’s not going to be too hard to get a job as a Software Dev in the US. Boy was I wrong.
Even though I’m an immigrant. I absolutely love the United States. So much so that I wanted to join the US military and defend this wonderful country and her people, but was talked out of it by my family. The US feels like more of a home than my own home country.
Offshore Developer to Onshore Developer
Before moving here, I worked with clients from the US, UK, and Qatar. The differences between them were stark. While US clients were honest, polite, and straightforward (and hands-down my favorite), Qatar clients were the polar opposite—difficult, demanding, and often disrespectful.
Those offshore days gave me a unique perspective on work quality and ethics. Offshore teams often deal with bad code left behind by previous developers. Some of the stuff I worked on was so poorly written it would’ve cost more to fix than to start over. But ethics weren’t exactly a priority for some managers.
One moment that sticks with me is when I was finishing a project—around 90% complete—and feeling proud of the work. My manager said, “If we complete the task, the client will leave us.” His message was clear: drag it out, keep billing the client. It was wrong, but the alternative—joblessness and being out on the street—was worse.
When I came to the US, I saw a completely different world. The work culture here was nothing like what I’d experienced before.
US Colleagues: Breaking Stereotypes
One thing I need to say, loud and clear: anyone who claims US citizens are lazy or less intelligent is a pathological liar.
Some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with are Americans. I’ve spent weekends and pulled 80-hour weeks with my US colleagues. They’re not just hardworking—they’re intellectually challenging in ways that have pushed my professional growth far beyond what was possible back home.
They’ve treated me with respect and made me feel like an equal, not an outsider. And unlike some exploitable H1B workers, US professionals have the audacity to ask for fair wages, demand decent treatment, and walk away when they’re being abused. That’s not laziness—that’s integrity and self-respect.
The only major difference I’ve noticed is that US Devs are far less willing to engage in fraudulent practices. They’re not as desperate, and they won’t compromise their ethics just to get a paycheck.
Job Hunting in the US
When I started job hunting in the US, I quickly realized the odds were stacked against me. On one side, companies rejected me because I didn’t have “local experience.” On the other, consultant companies dismissed me outright because I wasn’t on an H1B visa. Without the leverage of controlling my visa status, I wasn’t exploitable, so they weren’t interested.
It was disheartening to see the system favor candidates with inflated resumes and fraudulent practices. These people weren’t just lying their way into jobs—they were taking opportunities from honest, hardworking candidates.
Recruitment Fraud: How It Works
Here’s the typical playbook for fraudulent recruitment companies:
- Target Vulnerable Job Seekers: They go after desperate candidates—entry-level professionals, people with foreign work experience, and H1B visa holders.
- Offer Fake “Training” Courses: These courses cost $10,000–$20,000 and teach candidates how to lie, manipulate, and cheat their way through interviews.
- Create Fake Resumes: Years of fake experience are added to resumes to make candidates appear overqualified.
- Assist in Fraudulent Interviews: Candidates get live “support” during interviews, with someone feeding them answers or even doing the interview for them.
- Fake Background Checks: The recruitment company lists itself as the candidate’s previous employer and lies during verification calls.
- Provide Ongoing Job Support: Even after the candidate gets the job, they continue relying on the recruitment company’s “support” to actually do the work.
My Experience as a Recruiter
During a brief stint as a recruiter while I was searching for a software developer role, I quickly discovered an unsettling truth: many people in HR and recruitment are aware of the widespread fraud in the industry. However, most people choose to stay silent—some out of fear of backlash, and others simply because they don’t care enough to confront the issue.
Instead of tackling the issue head-on, companies have made interviews increasingly difficult. Coding tests are grueling, technical interviews stretch on for hours, and the process feels more like an obstacle course than a fair evaluation of skills. The goal? Weed out candidates with fake experience.
For companies, rejecting a false negative is cheaper than hiring someone incompetent. But for honest candidates, these barriers make the job hunt even more exhausting and demoralizing.
Inside the Circle of Exploiters
What shocked me the most during my time as a recruiter was seeing the people who openly benefit from this system. I’ve sat in circles of individuals who proudly admit they don’t know a single line of code or anything remotely related to IT.
Here’s how they operate:
- They land a job in the US based on fake resumes and fraudulent interviews.
- Once hired, they outsource their entire workload to someone in India.
- They collect the paycheck, sending a small percentage to their “support” back home, who’s doing all the actual work.
This is not an exaggeration—it’s a well-oiled machine.
Why Companies Turn a Blind Eye
Companies aren’t oblivious to this fraud—they’re just trying to minimize its impact. By making interviews harder and raising the bar for entry-level positions, they hope to weed out fraudulent candidates. But this approach has its own consequences:
- Genuine Talent Gets Overlooked: The increasingly tough hiring process often rejects honest, skilled candidates simply because they struggle with overly complex interviews.
- Entry-Level Opportunities Are Disappearing: Companies would rather reject everyone than risk hiring someone unqualified. This has killed many entry-level roles, leaving new graduates and career switchers out in the cold.
- On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies are increasingly abandoning the practice of hiring and training junior developers. Instead, they now expect new hires to hit the ground running. And why wouldn’t they? When they can hire “senior” developers with advanced degrees and “experience” at prestigious companies, all for the same salary, there’s little incentive for companies to invest in training.
The Damage It Causes
This kind of fraud has far-reaching consequences:
- Entry-Level Jobs Are Vanishing: With fake resumes flooding the market, companies don’t want to hire junior developers anymore. They expect candidates to be ready to contribute on Day 1.
- On-the-Job Training is Dying: Companies used to invest in training new hires. Now, they’re too wary of wasting resources on unqualified candidates.
- US Students are Paying the Price: What shocks me the most is the amount of debt US students take on for their education. Back home, we get the same education at a fraction of the cost, with no debt. And yet, these students graduate into a job market where they’re competing with candidates who are gaming the system.
I love the United States and the opportunities it offers. Some of the smartest, most hardworking people I’ve ever met. But the system isn’t fair—not to them, not to honest people, and not to the industry.
submitted by /u/ImJustGonnaSitHere01
[link] [comments]