Fakegeek: Bogus programmer sought for Russian web studio, with ‘worn sweater, specs’

19 Jun, 2017 20:45 / Updated 8 years ago

A web studio in Tyumen, a city in the Russian Urals, has listed quite a job offer: they’re looking for a… fake programmer. The ideal candidate should be skinny, have a “worn sweater”, and wear glasses.

The vacancy first emerged on Monday on one of the key job-searching websites, Zarplata.ru , translated from Russian as ‘salary’.

The job includes being at the desk when a client comes in, then opening the html code, and, while looking attentively at the monitor, mumbling something like:

“Told them this should’ve been done on Framework [a programming model for building apps]!”, “Oh my God, no! Whew, I made a backup…” or “What kind of dumbhead wrote this code?!”

The phrases, the job offer also says, should be learnt by heart, and there will be monthly additions to the list.

So what would a perfect match look like, one wonders?

Well, a skinny, bespectacled kind of person, according to the job listing, also preferably in possession of a “worn sweater.” The sweater could be borrowed from the firm, though.

If you agree to get a programming-related tattoo on a visible spot, we’ll add a couple of thousand rubles [about $40] to the salary,” the web studio offers.

The listed salary of the would-be programmer from $170 to $500.

The reason for such an unusual vacancy is that many clients view the studio as a short-lived enterprise, when they see only three people working at the company’s office.

The company also wants to hire a fake designer.

In their free time, the would-be employees can while away their working hours on social networks or playing video games.