Crio.do — Crio scams

Crio scams

How did they manipulate me to join Crio?

One of the Crio personnel contacted me, asking if I had attended the career session online. I replied affirmatively, though I had attended a session on another platform, not specifically Crio's. I had simply filled out the form with my details and preferences without actually attending the session.

He informed me that Crio would provide opportunities with top companies like Microsoft, Zoho, and others. When I inquired about the course fees, he mentioned that I would need to pay ₹20, 000 once I secured a job with a package under ₹20 LPA, and ₹40, 000 once placed with a package over ₹20 LPA.

I acknowledged this and said I would check and get back to him.

Two days later, another person named Kaleel called me. He mentioned that many students were currently undergoing training and had received great offers within a few months. I asked about the duration of the training, to which he cited an example of a student who had completed all the courses in just 48 days and had transitioned to the Crio-referral program, where she was now receiving job offers and attending interviews. He didn't provide her name.

Seeking confirmation once more, I clarified if success was solely dependent on my efforts. He affirmed that it was indeed contingent upon my dedication.

He reassured me that I could either complete the courses within two months or opt for a part-time approach of two hours daily, finishing at my own pace.

And then he called me again, and we were in a Zoom meeting with another person named Deepak Raja. He explained to me how the crio course works and shared some sample student details of those who enrolled a few months back and have now secured jobs. He showed some crio sprint boots with the overall workflow.

After he left the meeting, Kaleel shared in detail about the sprints and how to join the sessions. He mentioned that if I couldn't attend a session at that time, I would receive the recorded session and could access it whenever I wanted to complete the sprint resources with customer support.

I asked Kaleel about the fee details, and he asked if I had attended the session. I replied, "Yes, I did." Then, I mentioned that they had provided the pricing: 20, 000 for the package under 20LPA and 40, 000 for the package over 20LPA.

He then clarified that the joining bonus was required from me, not the mentioned fee. The course fee was actually 2 lakhs, but they offered EMI options with no interest.

Initially, I hesitated due to the large sum, but Kaleel convinced me by explaining that I would receive a joining bonus from companies ranging from 75, 000 to 1 lakh. This bonus could be used to make a single payment once I secured a job. Upon securing a job, I could cancel the EMI and pay the rest of the money without interest.

I expressed my concern about the cost to Kaleel, stating that it was a significant amount for me and that I needed to consult with my parents. He reassured me, suggesting that I could call my parents during the meeting, but I declined, opting to discuss it with them later.

Then, Kaleel convinced me further by offering a discount if I enrolled by that evening. He instantly reduced the fee by 10, 000 using his referral code and arranged for another 10, 000 discount through a student named Akashy, who was also a member of crio and confirmed the discount via message.

With these considerations, I decided to join crio and promptly enrolled.

What are the promises given by Crio-team and Crio CEO Rathina?

Crio-Team:

Promise 1: Once you have completed 70% of the Crio course, you will secure a job.

Promise 2: It's up to me. If I want to complete the course within 2 months, I can choose the self-paced course, allowing me to complete the course at my own pace.

Promise 3: Once 70% completion is achieved within two days, the Crio referral team will start sharing interview opportunities. I can choose the company. If I am satisfied with the package, I can opt-in or opt-out.

Promise 4: If I secure a job with a certain package, for example, 12 LPA from Company A, and within the next week or 15 days, I secure a job with a package of 15 LPA from Company B, I can decline the offer from Company A and accept the offer from Company B.

Promise 5: If I get rejected, I will receive proper feedback about the interview. This will help me push through the next interview without making those same mistakes.

CEO Rathina:

He emailed me stating that upon enrolling in Crio, I would secure a minimum package of 12 LPA, and Crio would be responsible for that.

This information was provided to me before my enrollment in Crio. Therefore, it raises the question of why they would share packages under 12 LPA.

Sprint Resources:

I opted for the self-paced sprint to expedite my completion for job referrals because I was working full-time at Zoho for the past 1.5 years. I chose Crio to upskill and improve my job prospects and salary. Having prior coding knowledge, I preferred not to start from scratch with beginners.

In the first month, I only completed one sprint due to my office workload, as I didn't have much time to dedicate to the Crio sprint resources. However, in the following month, I attempted two courses, despite the initial understanding that only one course was allowed at a time.

This extended my course completion time to 6 months, whereas I initially anticipated finishing it in 2 months.

After completing 6 months of sprint resources, I felt ready to pursue my dream job. I informed the Crio support team of my completion and requested the next steps for career referral. However, there was a delay of almost 2 weeks before they responded, providing preparation questions. I prepared diligently and inquired about the status, only to learn about the requirement to register for the bar-raiser interview. Curious about this, I asked for clarification and was informed that the bar-raiser interview is a prerequisite for the actual job referral. I decided to undergo the bar-raiser process. Upon successful completion, I updated the customer support team and reached out to the Crio referral team. They assured me that I would receive all necessary details and be contacted accordingly. This broke the Promise (No: 2).

Crio-referral team:

The referral team assigned a person ["Arijit"] to assist me in finding a job. We had a Zoom meeting where he explained the Crio-referral portal and how to opt-in and opt-out. He then mentioned that I would need to apply for jobs through assisted apply, likening it to applying for jobs on LinkedIn, Naukri, and other platforms.

Why the hell should I bother applying for jobs through some third-party crap when I signed up for Crio with a totally different purpose? It's downright ridiculous and makes me question why the heck I'm even paying for Crio's so-called "services" if I can do the job hunt on my own. I mean, seriously, who even needs them? Job hunting on third-party platforms is just the norm, and frankly, I don't see why I should follow the herd. My reason for joining Crio was completely different, and I'll be damned if I'm going to waste my time and money on something that's freely available elsewhere. This whole thing just reeks of incompetence, and I'm seriously starting to doubt the value of Crio's so-called expertise.

He said, "this is not the Crio-referral job; it's about increasing your chances of securing a job outside of Crio." I demanded to know when I would actually get the Crio-referral job I signed up for because that's what I need. I didn't join Crio to waste my time with jobs from elsewhere; it's absurd.

Then, he had the audacity to claim that if I applied for jobs through Crio's Assisted Apply, my resume would get priority over others from outside the platform. I doubted his words; how would the interviewer even know I'm affiliated with Crio? It's a blatant lie.

After applying to over 40 jobs through Assisted Apply and receiving no calls or emails, and finding out that some of the job postings were no longer available, I decided to stop wasting my time with this nonsense. This broke the promise (No: 3).

Crio-Interview:

The worst interview ever, I have opted in many companies through the crio-referral, such as Sabpaisa, Swiggy, Mirabel Technologies, Insphere Solutions, and Dataplant, over the last 2 and a half months.

Some of them are still processing the first round, while most of them have been in the interview stage for more than 30 days.

The Swiggy interview for Frontend and Backend was done well with a fast response from the company. However, the result was prohibited actions. I wonder how this happened, especially considering there were multiple-choice questions and some SQL query questions. I contacted the crio-career team to inquire why this occurred, and they responded that it's not only you; many others faced the same issue.

Out of all the companies, only Swiggy provided feedback about the interview. The rest of the companies didn't offer any feedback.

Some companies rejected me even though I answered all the multiple-choice questions correctly. When I asked Arijit from the crio-career team about this, he mentioned that perhaps I am overqualified for the job role, and that's why I was rejected. I replied, "So I am overqualified, right? Got it, man. Thanks." Then why bother referring me to these kinds of jobs in the first place?

I inquired about the feedback, and he said, "We can't force the company to provide feedback." To which I responded, "Then why did you promise me that if I got rejected, they would provide feedback to help with my next interview? They broke that promise (No: 5)."

The duration of the Crio-interview process is excessively long. It takes up to 30 days for the first round alone. How can I secure two jobs and choose the best one in such circumstances? This breaks the promise (No: 4).

And one more thing, he had the audacity to lecture me about the interview delay. I refused to fill out their ridiculous form, where I'm supposed to rate my confidence in answering each question on a scale of 1 to 10. I mean, seriously? Do I have to jot down every single question they asked and how confidently I responded, even if it's not a coding round? If I didn't fill out the form, they would pause my interview. So, I bluntly asked him, am I attending the interview for the company or for Crio? Why should I waste my time filling out all these unnecessary details on some form they shared? And apparently, based on this nonsense, my interview will supposedly "further move." How utterly illogical!

What I lost after trusting and joining Crio?

I quit my job at Zoho because my manager promised me a role and package switch starting the next month. I waited for this change for six long months, but he didn't follow through, so I decided to switch companies. At that time, the Crio team approached me, and I thought it was a good opportunity to switch careers and believed I was on the right track to achieving my goals. Now I realize it was all lies; the Crio team deceived me, inflating my hopes for career growth.

Now I feel like I made a big mistake. I'm suffering, wasting my time, and paying off the loan I took for Crio.