Virtual meetings and their respective recordings have been around for about a decade, but now there is a notable uptick in recruiters requesting to record one-way and two-way interviews.  Why the change?  In two letters:  AI.

Never, EVER Allow Your Job Interview to Be Recorded

The main reason to opt out of recording is that you do not know how your intellectual property (IP) is going to used, how it will be shared, where it will be stored, nor who will have access to it.  In all cases, you permanently forfeit your rights to your words and image – they are now the exclusive property of the recruiter, the 3P service provider, and/or the potential employer.

Consider this all-too-common scenario:

Hiring manager wants to hire his cousin, Vinny, as his new Customer Service Manager.  Here’s the problem:  Vinny isn’t qualified.  Hiring Manager contacts a staffing firm, provides screening questions, and requests video recordings of all the top applicants – even if they’re out of his price range.  He snips the best answers and insights from a dozen or so highly-qualified experts, and then wraps them into a script for cousin Vinny.  Vinny watches the interviews, preps his answers, records his interview, and voila’ is magically the best candidate. 

Sprinkle in a little high-tech corruption and H1b seat-selling, and you see the problem.

Never, EVER Consent to a One-Way Video Interview

One-way interviews are the epitome of employment catfish.  These are bogus companies or troubled companies, and your one-way interview is sold to a third party for AI ML training, and/or to prep others (see above).  In many cases, the JD posted is a bogus ghost job; that great salary is bogus, and you never seem to actually meet a bonafide client or even a person IRL. 

Never, EVER Write Essays

Similar to video interviews, essay responses are used for AI training or to coach other applicants on the “right” answers. 

If writing skills are essential for the position to which you are applying, it is better to provide links to samples or a blog.  Filling out custom questionnaires, documenting an approach to technical solutions, outlining your methodology to solving complex business practices… Nope.  Here’s a link to a White Paper, which is part of my personal portfolio and copyrighted publications.  I’ll solve your problems for money, not for free…..

Why Recording?

People who request recordings use two reasons. 

1) They’re doing this for YOU!! “I would prefer to focus on YOU – not taking notes!” This isn’t a Tinder date, this is work. I don’t need you to focus on me. I need you to extract the information you need to pass me to the next round. If you lack the skill to take notes during a meeting or an interview, you shouldn’t be a recruiter.   

2) It’s not them, it’s the client! The client is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo busy that the only way for you to “get in front of the hiring manager” is to be recorded.  This is usually followed by a “….this is a very competitive position (or the hiring manager is a very-important-person), I would hate for you to lose this opportunity – EVERYONE is doing this now….”

Boundaries aren’t really a thing for most recruiters and staffing agencies, and who cares what someone’s made-up title is? My response is no response. Don’t take the bait, don’t argue your point.  If you asked them not to record, and they are pushing back, they’re only interested in data mining.

What to do?

By law, you are required to be informed if you are being recorded.  That notification is automatically displayed in most video conferencing applications, some more clearly than others.  If someone clicks record (with a breezy “I hope you don’t mind if I record….”) stop the interviewer and say that you would prefer not to be recorded. 

If you receive ANY pushback, exit the call. 

If you catch an attitude, or get ANY pushback, politely exit the call.  Pushback is a clear indication that they are data mining for a third party or collecting IP for other candidates. There’s no job for YOU.

Recording is NOT the Norm!

Legitimate, desirable employers are NOT the ones asking for recordings.  They’re smart enough to understand the implications of collecting, sharing, and storing these data.  These requests primarily come from lazy recruiters, and off-shore ghost firms – who come and go like fruit flies.  Many aren’t even in the staffing business.  They are using the staffing firm as a “front” for their data collection and other fraudulent activities.

Too often I see applicants say that they participate in these practices because they’ve been unemployed a while and “have no choice.” What these applicants are not understanding is that there is no job there. This whole thing is a ruse.

I Don’t Care What They Said: Don’t Expect Ethics from Anyone

Unethical and fraudulent hiring practices have been around for decades, but the tremendous amount of data that can be collected from a person via the application process has introduced a nasty side hustle for unscrupulous businesses.   Most of us know that certain demographic information, such as age, marital status, and the like cannot be requested, there are no laws that protect your image, voice, and IP/PI from being usurped and distributed, and that information is far more valuable.   

Moreover, unsuspecting and naïve, applicants are easy prey.  Most people are absolutely clueless about IP/PI collection, which is why these grifters can successful run different scams ranging from pretending to hire you (in order to collect identity and financial information) to tricking people into providing credit card and banking information for equipment “deposit,” training, and it goes on and on….

Opt-out.  You’ll be glad you did….

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