Indian Founder Cancels Rs 22 Lakh Offer After Candidate's Offensive Remarks

An Indian startup founder recently sparked controversy online after cancelling a Rs 22 lakh per annum job offer to a promising candidate. Despite the candidate impressing the team with their skills and initiative, the founder revoked the offer after discovering derogatory comments made by the candidate on LinkedIn, targeting religious communities. The founder explained that "respect and basic decency matter to us more" than talent, and that values determine whether someone stays with the company.

Mohammed Ahmed Bhati, founder of Jobbie, shared on LinkedIn that the candidate had applied for a role after seeing Jobbie's viral Reddit post about conducting 450 interviews for 12,000 applicants without making any selections. Mr Bhati noted that the candidate was impressive, even creating his resume with Jobbie and suggesting ways to improve the platform. However, he decided to rescind the offer after discovering the candidate's comments, citing the importance of respect and values.

"Impressed with the interview, we were ready to roll out an offer above our budget. But during the final background check, we found recent public comments that were derogatory towards religious communities. No matter how skilled someone is, respect and basic decency matter to us more. Talent gets you in the door. Values decides if you stay," he wrote along with the screenshots of both the offer and rejection letter. 

See the post here:

The rejection letter reads, "As mentioned earlier, we carried out a routine background check before proceeding with the offer. During this, we came across some recent public posts on LinkedIn that included comments from you, which will deeply hurtthe  religious sentiments of certain communities."

The incident has triggered mixed reactions on social media, with some supporting the founder's decision and others criticising it as an overreaction. Some users argued that revoking a job offer based on social media activity reflects the "cancel culture" and immaturity of leaders. Others defended the founder's stance, emphasising the importance of cultural fit and values in the workplace.

One user wrote, "Revoking an offer letter for a professional position based on someone's social media activity goes out to show how this cancel culture can affect an organisation when the wrong people get in leadership positions. And posting it here isn't virtue signalling either. It simply shows how immature and insecure you are as a leader. Good luck finding good candidates."

Another commented, "Were the comments aimed at critiquing a religion/ its practice, or simply made to spite someone? If it's the former, I don't think it's a reasonable ground to revoke an offer."

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