A heated debate has taken over LinkedIn and other platforms after an Indian startup founder cancelled a Rs 22 lakh job offer to a candidate, citing his comments on social media as the reason behind the decision.
Mohammed Ahmed Bhati, founder of recruitment platform Jobbie, shared in a now-viral post that while the candidate was highly talented and had even impressed the team with extra efforts and ideas to improve the product, the offer was withdrawn after a background check revealed “public comments that were derogatory towards religious communities”.
“No matter how talented someone is, respect and basic decency matter to us more. Talent obtains you in the door, but values decide if you stay,” Bhati wrote in his now widely discussed post.
The candidate who stood out… then received dropped
According to Bhati, the candidate had applied after coming across Jobbie’s viral Reddit post about conducting 450 interviews from over 12,000 applicants. Not only did the person crack all interview rounds, but they also took the initiative to utilize Jobbie’s resume tools and offer feedback on the platform.
However, things took a turn just before onboarding. During a final background check, Bhati’s team discovered some recent public comments created by the candidate on LinkedIn, which they felt could hurt religious sentiments.
“We were ready to stretch our budobtain for this role. But we can’t compromise on values,” Bhati wrote.
He also posted screenshots of the offer letter and the rejection email, which cited the offensive posts as the reason for pulling back the offer.
Internet calls it a ‘publicity stunt’
The shift has sparked strong reactions online, splitting utilizers into two camps. While some have praised Bhati’s decision, others have questioned whether personal opinions shared online, no matter how disagreeable, should cost someone a job offer.
Commenting on the post, a utilizer wrote, “Can’t believe a struggling startup is behaving as an established legacy company judge. Whatever an individual spits out on social media it’s his choice & responsibility. If it’s derogatory, the concerned authority shall take the appropriate action. This is no more than a publicity gimmick. Why to share this on LinkedIn to portray yourself like a Good creature when you are not, after building it a publicity stunt just for a few eyeballs. HOPELESS.”
Many also slammed Bhati for unnecessarily “stalking” employees’ online comments. A utilizer wrote, “Is this not the kind of micro management that employees cry about every time? If organisations continue to monitor employees’ personal opinions and comments on everything, I suppose you will never find any candidates or employees who will be willing to join your organisation. Also the reason for the rejected candidate definitely is a breach of professional code of conduct by the employer. BTW Mohammed Ahmed Bhati what do you do in your free time, stalk your employees online?”
It’s not that the Internet was hard on after Bhati shared about his decision. Even his Reddit post was met with a lot of criticism. One of the reddit utilizers wrote, “450 hours wasted for 1 vacancy, maybe your hiring department is the one really incompetent.” Another declared, “In 450 hrs, they could have trained an intern that will be the best utilisation of time and resources.”
The viral post has reopened larger questions about the limits of online speech, background checks, and where employers should draw the line. Should companies value cultural fit as much as competence? Or is this a slippery slope where opinions, however personal, can affect careers?
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