Job Applicants: Do NOT Permit Yourself to Be Recorded!

My recent LinkedIn post cautioned applicants to NOT permit themselves to be recorded during interviews. The post drew the expected responses (80%=Yes, I agree, it’s a gross invasion of privacy, I’m not feeding an LLM, and 20% = Dance little monkey! You WILL do whatever the “company” tells you. That’s what I did, and that’s what I expect everyone to do, you’re just spoiled :).

(I’ll let you guess at the demographic breakdown of these responses).

Consider the following:

You are a hiring manager, and you are meeting a job applicant IRL. Perhaps at your office, maybe at a coffee shop or other public place. You sit down, introduce yourself, and then the applicant pulls out a tri-pod, sets up the camera phone, and says, “I hope you don’t mind if I record this…..”

What would you say?

I’m sure you would be shocked by the audacity.

You might respond with something like, “Ohh, err, I’m not comfortable with that….” or even “I don’t consent to being recorded,” to which the applicant responds…

“Ohhh, this is my policy to record all interviews. It’s used for training purposes. This is very common now. And, it’s really for YOUR benefit. In this way, I can focus on you, and our discussion, and not on taking notes! Plus, I’ll be able to review your questions and answers later, at my leisure, and I’ll be able to share the video with my advisors, so that we can all better understand the role, you, and your company.”

Would you shrug, agree, and continue? I don’t think so…..

Stop asking job applicants for one-way video interviews. Stop recording them. Stop bullying them into surrendering their words, image, and ideas for the privilege of applying for a job, stop shaming people for wanting to protect their privacy, and their IP from being consumed by an LLM, and stop pretending that your company isn’t complicit in this surreptitious LLM training when you’re insisting on recordings and “personality assessments.”

If you found yourself offended by the audacity of an applicant taping you and your interview, and the idea that the video would be circulated, distributed, and stored without your knowledge and consent, be assured the applicant feels EXACTLY the same way!

If you’re serious about bringing talent into your organization, this is NOT the way to do it!

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