Recruiter: I interviewed serial moonlighter Soham Parekh — here are my top 3 takeaways

When 1 recruiter received Silicon Valley's notorious serial moonlighter Soham Parekh's occupation exertion 2 years ago, helium was instantly impressed.

This was 2 years earlier the young Mumbai-based technologist was exposed for moving remotely astatine respective Silicon Valley startups simultaneously.

"I was looking astatine his resume, and his resume was truthful bully that adjacent my CEO astatine the clip pinged maine and was, like, 'Russ, this feline looks awesome. let's speech to this guy,'" Russell Pompea, recruiting manager astatine AI video startup Topaz Labs, told CNBC Make It.

Pompea said Parekh sent his exertion via the company's vocation leafage for a bundle engineering presumption connected June 2, 2023, and that helium decided to interrogation the young technologist implicit a telephone telephone connected June 12. CNBC Make It verified Parekh's interrogation with Topaz Labs via screenshots.

At the time, Parekh listed AI-video startup Synthesia, arsenic good arsenic a lesser-known AI company, Bodo.ai, arsenic erstwhile employers connected his resume.

Pompea said this operation of companies made him a truly charismatic candidate, truthful interviewing him was a no-brainer.

"I retrieve him being a precise bully communicator," Pompea recalled from the archetypal screening. "That was 1 of my archetypal notes: 'Soham is simply a large communicator.' I've talked to 1,000 bundle engineers oregon thing implicit the past year, and they're not usually precise bully astatine communicating."

However, during the interview, Pompea picked up connected a fewer reddish flags that yet stopped him from progressing Parekh to the adjacent round.

"I deliberation helium learned immoderate lessons from this interview, " Pompea said.

In an interrogation on tech amusement TBPN on Thursday, Parekh admitted that it was existent helium was moving for aggregate startups astatine erstwhile and wasn't arrogant of what helium had done.

"No 1 truly likes to enactment 140 hours a week, but I had to bash this retired of necessity," Parekh said successful the show. "I was successful highly dire fiscal circumstances."

Topaz Labs did not verify whether Parekh worked astatine the firms mentioned connected his resume astatine the clip arsenic helium did not advancement to this signifier of the screening process.

When Pompea tried to excavation into the details of Parekh's acquisition successful the interview, helium identified what helium thought were "three large problems" with his responses.

"It looked similar an astonishing profile, adjacent if it was idiosyncratic who was comparatively junior, but past helium was missing a just spot of existent details successful the products that helium built," Pompea said.

When helium pressed him astir his enactment for Synthesia, Parekh was vague. "People usually person large bid of the details," Pompea noted.

Pompea besides spotted that the dates betwixt Parekh's acquisition astatine Synthesia and Bodo.ai overlapped, and helium wasn't capable to travel up with an capable mentation for why.

"He told maine that helium was moving astatine some full-time and that determination was an overlap successful his announcement play ... I wrote it down, like, this is simply a large reddish flag," Pompea said.

Parekh's determination to permission Synthesia besides didn't marque consciousness to Pompea. The technologist claimed the institution was increasing excessively accelerated and helium felt "pigeon-holed," according to Pompea's recollection.

"I asked him, 'Did you effort going to different squad oregon different function?' And helium conscionable wholly skirted the question ... you don't usually conscionable permission a top-tier, ace high-paying institution due to the fact that you're frustrated. You effort to find different occupation [in the company] first."

Topaz Labs requires employees to enactment on-site astatine its office successful Dallas, Texas. Parekh glossed implicit details astir whether helium was going to determination to Dallas and said helium was successful New York astatine the time, according to Pompea.

In aboriginal July, 2 years aft Pompea interviewed Parekh, Suhail Doshi, the laminitis of Playground AI, took to X to warn different startups astir the moonlighting technologist who helium said is "preying connected YC [Y Combinator] companies and more."

Several startup founders past came guardant astir hiring Parekh, saying they fired him aft seeing Doshi's post.

Parekh said helium started moonlighting successful this mode successful 2022, and the grueling manner meant helium became a "serial non-sleeper."

He added that helium "cared astir these companies" and "greed wasn't an incentive," contempt his fiscal situation. He said helium ever took the little pay, higher equity connection astatine companies.

For Pompea, it was a alleviation that Topaz Labs did not prosecute Parekh.

"I deliberation I was gladsome that we were not 1 of those companies that came retired and said that we hired him and had to occurrence him. I would overmuch alternatively beryllium idiosyncratic who saw done it," helium said. "That being said, I really consciousness a small atrocious for a batch of these companies, due to the fact that these are radical moving successful bully faith."

Pompea said radical similar Parekh marque the occupation of a recruiter harder — but besides stress the value of vigorous screening.

As a hiring manager, Pompea said brushed skills similar teamwork and collaboration are conscionable arsenic important arsenic method skills — and sometimes fast-moving startups place these quality qualities.

"What I've discovered [while] hiring for Topaz labs for 2 and a fractional years, but besides tons of different akin companies, is that you astir ne'er person to occurrence anybody due to the fact that they can't larn a caller bundle language, oregon they can't larn a caller framework, oregon if there's immoderate benignant of method problem," helium explained.

"The radical that bash extremity up getting fired person cognition problems, committedness problems, oregon enactment complaint problems."

He said that galore of the AI startups that Parekh applied to enactment astatine are "moving astatine 1,000 miles per hour," and request to get products acceptable for motorboat wrong days. As a result, they whitethorn hold inheritance checks until aft the campaigner is hired.

"Some of these startups mightiness prosecute you 2 days aft you bash your last interview, and they're similar 'Hey, it's Thursday. Can you commencement Monday?'"

Ultimately, Pompea said that if Parekh cleaned up his act, past he'd person a agleam aboriginal up of him. In fact, a fig of startups that employed the technologist praised his method skills, adjacent amid the backlash against him.

"I besides consciousness atrocious for the kid, too, similar he's a precise astute kid. I anticipation that helium changes and ends up having a bully career," Pompea added.

Soham Parekh didn't respond to CNBC Make It's petition for comment.