Job Seeker Recounts Frustrating Experience with 'Toxic' Company's Hiring Process

TikTok has become the go-to platform for many professionals to vent about their careers. One such video is currently snowballing on the video-sharing platform where a user called out their company for its toxic hiring process. In the clip which has gotten more than 2.9 million views, TikTok user Josh Hublitz (@joshhublitz) gives viewers a peek into a job interview process that he tags as "terrible."

"I was given a verbal offer only to have it rescinded, only to be referred to a similar position and be told this would be 'the most transparent process you’ve ever been a part of’ by the recruiter and the hiring manager," he says.

"I was gaslit from every direction possible. ‘You’re overqualified. We loved you as a candidate. Your case study was phenomenal. You’re such a fit,'" he continues. "Ghosted left and right. Like never before—I was ghosted by two different hiring teams who told me that they ‘wanted to hire me,’ who had at some point, like, given me a verbal offer."

After this, he emailed every person he spoke with during the interview, simply asking what happened. "And to that, they responded, 'Oh, you know what? We’re going to go with somebody that’s more junior. You’re too qualified for us,'" Hublitz says in the video. 

While Hublitz refrained from dropping the name of the company directly, he still gave hints that were enough for netizens to guess the company. In the video, Hublitz offered a rhyme and said that the company was involved in the soap business. Through this, the viewers concluded that he was talking about Dr. Squatch, a company that claims it produces "high-performance and yet natural personal care products."

"Took me too long to figure out Dr. Squatch," wrote one user to which the creator replied, "But you got there."

Many others took to the comment section to laud his decision to share the information and indirectly call out the company. Many also talked about their stories that were equally emotionally taxing for them. 

"A five-month interview process is ridiculous, companies whine about ‘people not wanting to work’ when the truth is no one wants to hire!" writes one user. Many also took to the video to name some big companies like Tesla, and more. "Tesla. SPACEX. I SAID WHAT I SAID, "writes another user Alisa. 

As per a report released back in October, by SHRM, many job seekers in America had to abandon the process and are harming companies. "The report revealed the red flags that candidates continue to face in the hiring process," said Ariana Moon, head of talent planning and acquisition at Greenhouse, a software company.

"It's clear that companies have work to do to ensure they have an inclusive and fair hiring process," she added. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hiring process should be extremely transparent and yet should steer clear of questions based on color, religion, sex, national origin, and age.

For more such content follow @joshhublitz on TikTok.