SMM manager Viktoriya Nedryga spoke about a trash interview that ended in hysterics for the girl because of one question asked by the hiring specialist.
SMM manager Viktoriya Nedryga spoke about a trash interview that ended in hysterics for the girl because of one question asked by the hiring specialist.
«Lately, I’ve been seeing trash stories about interviews and „terrible candidates“ more and more often in the feed. I also want to share my trash story, but from the candidate’s side. More than a year ago, I had an interview that ended in hysteria for me. No, not because of the refusal, but because of the recruiter’s question „and aren’t you a separatist at times?“ Do you know why? Because I’m from Mariupol. Mariupol, which at that time was already in ruins. Mariupol, which I was forced to leave. Mariupol, where my loved ones and my home remained,» she said .
According to Victoria, the recruiter decided it was appropriate to ask the candidate questions delicately, but with an obvious subtext. «I wasn’t in therapy at the time and couldn’t send it right away, so the only thing I could do was end the conversation and cry. It’s ironic that they still called me to the next stage,» she said.
The girl does not disclose the name of the company. «But the „sediment“ remained, so even when other recruiters from this company write to me now, my answer is always no. Why did I mention this? Because toxicity in interviews happens on both sides. And before laughing at the candidate, it is worth seeing if the problem is in the approach of the company itself. Recruiting is not only about skills. It is also about humanity,» she noted.
Under Victoria’s post are dozens of comments in which IT people sympathize with Victoria or try to understand the recruiter.
Yar Bozhyk, HRD, is indignant: “ We are constantly divided instead of united… What is going on in the minds of these people… It is precisely people I do not want to call colleagues. My colleagues are professionals, and these are some kind of marginals and provocateurs. Hold on, not everyone in HR and recruiting is like that.»
«Damn, I’ve never taken the opposite position on this issue, but I can understand (a little) the recruiter’s position. I had an acquaintance, and we just went for a walk and a coffee (we hadn’t seen each other for about two years) and a friend came to visit her. She was from the destroyed Mariupol. At first, everything was fine, we talked amicably about this and that, about science and art, of course we looked into political aspects a little. And then the fierce thrashing began. From her words, everyone hates her, everyone looks at her with horror, because she speaks Russian (and, unfortunately, here in Kyiv, a lot of people now speak Russian, although at the beginning of the war there was none, so no one looks at her at all), the military checked her especially carefully, and in general these Westerners and Banderaists and a bunch of even worse narratives… Well, you get the idea. Moreover, she left through the Russian side, as I later found out.
I’m not saying that we should dig into people because of this, I’m saying that we are all people, and some could simply have had a similar experience and created a bias in a similar way. And this, again, does not justify what happened. But not everyone knows and can reject such biases, especially during war. Unfortunately,» notes Senior Backend Software Engineer Paul Savchuk.
«It’s hard to even imagine how painful it must have been for you to hear this at an interview. I really sympathize with you. I also see a lot of stories about trashy candidates. But I also have bonus stories about trashy questions at interviews. My top question, after they ask me about my hobbies, where I ride a bike on weekends and go to the mountains on vacation, is «When are you going to work? It’s not your profession at all, because you’re active,» Junior Data Analyst Yulia Nummur shared her story.
Many IT professionals are asked to indicate the name of the company.
«I believe that LinkedIn is a professional network where people are looking for employees/work, and such bad stories (regardless of which side the criticism comes from) should be covered here and taken into account. If a person or company has done something wrong, let them vent publicly. I think this will have a positive impact on future communication, because it is much more difficult to build a reputation than to break it,» notes Java Developer Roman Manzhula .
«Can you at least include the name of the company and who was the recruiter (I don’t want to come across such people. May you have the strength and may there be no more such people in your life,» asks Rina Golubeva, HR People partner.
