Ok, so it happened again. This one is bad.
The fact that something is Doable and Optional does not make it Ethical or Acceptable.
I’ve been blogging about this for years now. I wish I would run out of examples, but sadly no.
So, what happened?
A few months ago, my good friend Mei found a job she was curious about.
She didn’t want it badly. She already had a pretty good job, but she wanted to find out more, so she applied.
(All too often, the only way to learn more is to apply for the job and wait. That was apparently the case here. This is something that some organisations misunderstand; they lose good candidates because they force them to dance before even talking to them.)
A few days later, Mei received an email, asking her to take a 50 minute test.
It wasn’t clear what the test would be about. The invite was sent without anyone even reaching out first. Already not great.
As she logged in and started to get ready for the test, she read through the instructions:
”You must not use AI.” …
”You must not leave the browser’s full screen mode.” …
”You must disable all browser extensions.” …
(There were a few more like this and then…)
”Your camera will be used to take pictures of you every 30 seconds during the test.” What? No!
The explanation for this was ”…to make sure you’re not cheating”.
Seriously?
In that test page, this was technically doable and she could have closed the test page right then and there, so in a way it was optional. However, none of that makes this ethical or even acceptable.
Just No!
Just No!
The employer who sent the test had apparently decided to treat candidates like this in order to save time. Their own time, that is. Why not just talk to people first and then have a test – and in a way that doesn’t violate people’s integrity and privacy?
Because it takes time? Oh, boo-hoo.
How far are we prepared to take this? How much of this are we prepared to accept?
Why are people treated like this before joining and then called ’heroes’, ’amazing’ and ’the best’ after joining?
And remember: this was for a mid-to-senior job. It’s sometimes even worse for junior candidates and newcomers in the job market.
Here is my own baseline, the very ground I stand on as a Tech Leader:
- Treat all candidates like the humans they are, not like resources or raw materials. Treat candidates with respect.
- Do not take shortcuts at the expense of candidates.
- Do not save time by stealing someone else’s.
- Don’t focus on ’filtering’ or finding ’flaws’ in other people. If you are any good at talking to people, you’ll find out.
- Remember that your need to hire is a luxury. Treat it as such.
- When you talk to candidates, remember that you are far from perfect yourself and the same is true for your organisation.
- See recruitment for what it is: One of your top most important responsibilities.
Let’s help each other avoid these integrity-violating and privacy-invading processes and tools until some law helps us get rid of it. Not a single candidate should have to be subjected to things like this.
Pretty soon now, new EU rules are coming that will impact salary information before and during interviews. That will for sure change things in the candidates’ favor. Let’s hope battling poor ethics is the EU’s next step.
Mei moved on and is interviewing with other companies. I think she told some friends about that company. Employer branding, anyone?
Take care, everyone.
/Björn
Note: All my texts are anonymized and often also moved in time or space to better explain a situation. The relevant events did take place, though.