Hi,

I need an opinion because this whole situation seems very suspicious to me.

On Friday I saw a job listing from a seemingly small company posted on a less popular jobs site. I called the number in the ad and was told to send my CV on WhatsApp. I sent it in English, but then they asked me to send it in our native language, which I found a bit odd cause most companies want it in english now or do not bother at all with this. Wtf?

Saturday morning I get a message from HR asking if the owner could call me on Sunday because he’s out of the country. I agreed.

Today the owner, a Moldovan guy, calls me directly on WhatsApp video, from a yacht, with a pretty superficial attitude. He tells me the company is part of a large Chinese equipment manufacturer, but when I ask what it’s called, he completely avoids the question and changes the subject.

Then he asks what salary I want. I give him a number, and he offers me a few hundred lei more than I asked for, but says that’s only for the first month, and after that my salary will depend on “how much I produce.” When I try to understand what that means, his answer is vague, like “we’ll see.” Wtf??

He then says they don’t have financial problems like my previous company, even though I haven’t worked since last summer… then, without giving many details, he tells me I’m basically hired and asks when I can start. During the call, he suddenly adds two more people, one of whom had been hired just 15 minutes earlier.

Nothing is discussed about the work schedule, contract, benefits, or how onboarding would work, especially since I’m at the beginning of my career.

After the call, the HR person calls me and asks for my ID, diploma, and medical certificate. I also ask about salary payment, and she tells me it’s paid cash, “in hand,” not via bank transfer, and seems surprised that I wasn’t already told this. Wtf???

I don’t know what to think. Everything feels extremely sketchy and I’m worried about giving them my personal data.

Has anyone experienced something like this? Do you think it’s a scam or just a very shady/unprofessional company? What would you do in my place? I’m thinking of going to their office tomorrow anyway.