OK, this just happened two weeks ago.

I applied for this job in June and didn't hear back from them right away so I thought they weren't interested. About two weeks later, I get this very brief phone message from a Jack. He leaves no last name. He talks very fast and says his company name is "Global Translucent". I have to replay the message at least three times to get the phone number.

(Don't you hate that? It's very unprofessional to talk quickly when leaving a phone message, especially a phone number. Especially if this is your first contact with the other party.)

So I call Jack back and find out the company name is Global Internet Solutions. I say I do remember applying there a few weeks ago. Jack asks me several questions about my resume but refuses to give his last name(!?) He says he is not the main interviewer and someone will call me back tomorrow. I think this is strange but I go with it.

Tomorrow comes and goes and no one calls me.

The next day, Jack leaves another message to call a different number. Again, he talks very fast and it sounds like the company name is "Global Translucent". Again I have to replay the message several times to get the new phone number.

So I call this new number and talk to an Alex who also refuses to give his last name. Alex wants to confirm my phone number and says someone will call me back within 5 minutes.

A few minutes later, the same Jack character calls me back again. He asks me a few more questions. It turns out they are looking for a contractor rather than a full time employee which is OK by me. It looks like they are going to hire me so I ask Jack his last name again. Then Jack saids, "Why do you need to know my last name?" I incredulously reply, "You have my resume and know a substantial amount of information about me. I think it's fair I should know who I'm doing business with. What's with the cloak and dagger?"

Jack then asks to put me on hold. A few seconds later I get disconnected. I don't call back. They don't call me back.

Weird, huh?

Talk about contract work that didn't feel right! I don't know what they were hiding but I would never work for people like that unless they advanced all the money upfront. Even then, I'd wait for their check to clear before starting any work!