An account of an unorthodox job interview format, which some are calling hopeless, disrespectful and abusive has sparked debates about what kind of candidate could get a job this way and who would want to. A Nigerian business consultant named Jerry Doubles asked for his followers’ opinions on an employer’s method of selecting patient, obedient candidates: by telling them to show up early, and then stalling for 11 hours before meeting them.
Doubles also shared a story told to him on Facebook by a woman who had once waited 8 hours for an interview and could confirm that this was no urban legend.
Image credits: jerrydoubles1
Here is the alarming story posted by business consultant Jerry Doubles
Image credits: jerrydoubles
Image credits: jerrydoubles
Commenters have been overwhelmingly disgusted by the tactic, and it’s not hard to see why—after all, if an employer is willing to treat applicants like this as a test to see which one he should hire, imagine how he would treat them once the contract is signed.
Twitter users were not impressed with the employer's strategy
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Doubles emphasized that he was not defending the employer, only stating that hiring methods like this aren’t unheard of in Nigeria, where over half of young people are unemployed and people often finish university only to find no options waiting for them in their field. Someone who needs steady employment doesn’t always have the luxury to choose an employer that will treat them with respect.
Doubles responded to criticism when he saw the anger his post had inspired
Image credits: jerrydoubles
Image credits: jerrydoubles
While he has a good point, commenters fairly pointed out that there’s also another kind of discrimination taking place in this interview format, and it’s a type that happens worldwide.
An applicant who has children, or needs to spend the rest of the day working another job or going to other interviews, would not be able to spend 11 hours at the office unplanned. It’s easy to imagine that while this is what many employers are looking for, this one just happened to find an effective method to weed out candidates who can’t afford to sign their lives over.
What do you think? Is this the kind of competition employers should be creating or is it just sadism? Have you ever had a job interview that made you reconsider your application?