Professionals often talk about disappointing and sometimes horrifying experiences they go through while applying for jobs. From getting ghosted by companies to HR asking candidates to provide sexual favours to their bosses as part of their job, there are enough examples out there that prove that finding a job is no piece of cake. But then, the reverse is also true – finding a good candidate for a vacancy at a company is also not an easy task.
Mumbai-based Senain Saxena was looking to hire a social media executive for her company. One of the candidates who had applied for the job did not provide adequate information on their CV. So, Saxena decided to schedule a video call interview with them. The candidate, however, avoided getting on video call and made excuses which Saxena found difficult to accept.
“I had a scheduled google meet (video) interview with someone who applied for the role of a social media executive, but their CV did not have enough information for an immediate hire. Hence, I scheduled a call with them to see whether they had the potential to be an Executive, or could be trained as an intern for a couple of months first. They joined the call with the camera off, said they don’t own a computer and something about ios update not allowing video calls. I responded with,’How do you usually work?’, to which they replied ‘My previous company gave us a laptop, but if one is needed, I can arrange’,” Saxena wrote on LinkedIn.
She went on to reveal that despite her explicitly mentioning that the candidate needed to come on the video call, the person in question didn’t abide by the question. They, in turn, cut the call abruptly and sent a string of disrespectful messages on WhatsApp, screenshots of which were shared by Saxena on LinkedIn.
“I asked them to join at a time when their video can be turned on, since this an interview and I need to see who I’m speaking with. They said ‘Fine’ and cut the call. Their tone was off from the start, they weren’t audible to begin with and it seemed like they were out in public from the amount of noise in the background,” she wrote.
The candidate also ended up abusing her by calling her a “bitch”.
“The younger generation is in clear need of strong guidance, and as a young entrepreneur myself, I am appalled by the audacity of this candidate to think it is okay to call the company founder, or anyone in a hiring position for that matter, a Bi***,” she concluded.
However, Saxena maintained her composure and ended her conversation with the candidate.
You may read her full post here.
Several people, especially those who work in HR, shared how incidents like these are more common than we think. However, there are many candidates who are deserving, professional and well behaved and one must keep looking for them if they wanted to find the right fit.
Have you ever had an experience like this?