It's a scam. I had my first bad feeling about the company when I read the job description for the Online Digital Marketer role and it was pretty vague, but sometimes that happens. The real sketchiness started when they emailed me to come in for an interview without even speaking to me first - that's a bad sign. Why would a professional waste time with an in-person interview without speaking to a candidate over the phone?
I arrived at the WeWork (79 Madison Ave) where the higher-ups work. I was greeted by someone on the phone in the lobby and brought up to the common area after I waited for him to finish his personal phone call. After waiting until about 20 minutes past my interview time, the CEO showed up (I think his name was Jon) and started promoting the company. It has a high rating on Google and we show up first if you search "SEO company NYC." Anyone who has worked in SEO knows that just means they optimized their site for those keywords.
At this point, it felt very much like a scam, but I was sold on that idea as soon as he described the corp to crop style of the business. So they will shop you out, somewhat like a recruiter, to businesses. You give GVATE an hourly rate and that's your cap - you can't make any more. They get more money from the business for which you work over a couple of months. The bad part is that you have to sign a contract with them. Unlike a recruiter, you're trapped with GVATE.
When I started to ask questions, the CEO got very defensive and would just explain what corp to corp is. I asked "Will I get paid even if I'm not placed at a job by you guys?" because I can't get other work I sign your contract. He'd reply, talking about how I didn't understand corp to corp. I eventually got him to tell me that I would not get paid if I were not placed. I then left the interview.
Avoid places like this. If you have the skillset to do the work GVATE wants you to do for their clients, you can get a salary position for around the same amount their offering. The CEO will tell you that you can't, but he's lying. I've been job hunting for similar jobs and GVATES pay is in the middle of the salary range I've seen. Not to mention that if they say the pay is $60k annual, then you don't work for part of the year, you're not going to actually pull in that full amount.