How many inivited appilcants is too many, 11,000+

Kim R · Nov 14, 2013 12:49:14 AM

Saw this post **** There were so many applicants that the script in the oDesk web page was crashing trying to display them all. A limit of 50 would surely be enough. I didn't have any of the skills this client wanted. Also looks like they are trying to hire outside of oDesk, as there appears to be a link to hire directly. *[Removed by Admin]

Kim R · Nov 14, 2013 01:00:05 PM

It appears to me that this job has a link in it to apply diectly to them, and bypass odesk. Isn't this against the rules? But all odesk does is remove my reference to the job. After declining this offer, I get another invitation within an hour, for near identical job. Again they invite 5000+ contractors. Is this not spam?

Ayesha S · Nov 14, 2013 01:13:36 PM

Hi Kim, Posting links to a job is against the forum rules. Please flag the job post as spam so that Marketplace Quality team can investigate. Thanks!

oDesk Forum Moderator Always reach for the skies, for even if you fall, you'll still be on the top of the world...

Kim R · Nov 14, 2013 09:11:21 PM

I reported this as "client requesting to work outside of oDesk" yesterday when I wrote this post. Flagged them as spam about 8 hours ago. But both jobs are still there now. And even viewing them causes big delays in the web browser. Looks like thousands of applicants are in the HTML source, which is a massive 10,000 lines long and 1 MB in size. But you only see last 8 applicants. So inviting this many applicants is overloading the oDesk web interface.

Ayesha S · Nov 15, 2013 02:54:28 PM

Kim I went back to check the job post and they are a legitimate client. They have an application process outside of oDesk but hire and pay through oDesk.

oDesk Forum Moderator Always reach for the skies, for even if you fall, you'll still be on the top of the world...

Kim R · Nov 17, 2013 09:35:05 PM

OK, good they are hiring properly. But with so many applicants, it is still overloading the web page, and hence servers and browsers. For the job I looked at, the HTML contain a list of 1041 applicants, but only the first 8 can ever be viewed. (The 'more' link for jobs with more than 8 applicants has been disabled.) Can you raise this as a bug in the oDesk web interface? It should only need to display the latest few hundred applicants at most.

Tony H · Nov 18, 2013 01:13:58 AM

Is that the company that wants you to work for a week for free first, and then IF they hire you out of the 5000+ people they invite you get paid? If so... I tried calling them, and ended up with a run around of several people who said the company name has changed several times through the years and ultimately no one knew who they were or how to contact them... and that is from a phone number I got off their own website

Kim R · Nov 18, 2013 08:38:25 PM

Yes, you have to do a test, and if you pass that and the first weeks assignment, then they pay you. They are called g_t_e_a_m. Some other posts about them here also, describing some dubious tax arrangements between US and United Arab Emirates. They still offer paid work, so it's there if you are ok with that type of setup I guess.

Tony H · Nov 19, 2013 03:44:10 AM

First time I heard of them I thought it was Google, and later found out it wasn't. I'd REALLY like to know what the first week entails. Is it work that they can and actually would benefit from, or is it a standard test, the same for everyone, which they cannot profit? I once said that, thinking they were Google, if they sent me a decent offer I'd work with them in a heartbeat. Shortly after I received an offer for a management role paying$35/hr. I was on the fence about it and decided to call. That's when I got the run-around and ended up with a bunch of people who had no idea who I was trying to call. Needless to say after that point have been weary to say the least. I only wanted to find out what this fist week was about and it was damn near impossible, so I just gave up.

Kim R · Nov 19, 2013 09:14:55 PM

But even people who pass the first week don't get any comment on their feedback. Not allowed to post links here, but if you search for the post "My First Contract" in this section, there is a long thread about them. Some said work was very hard but legit. Others said it is a tax scam. Claim they run a lot of these oDesk jobs through UAE to minimize there US tax commitments. . I got invited again twice today by them, the job has had 11,000+ applicants so they are spamming heaps of contractors. I didn't have any of the skills they were asking for.