Man’s honest answer during Zoom interview leads to rejection: ‘Being transparent is disqualifying now’

A Redditor has shared an unpleasant experience with a company — whose name remains anonymous — claiming that during a virtual interview for a business analyst role, he was asked if he had applied elsewhere but did not realise that an honest answer would lead to rejection. "I told them I was interviewing elsewhere, and they ended the call," the caption of the post reads.

Interview takes an unexpected turn

The Redditor explained that the interview was going well until the HR representative asked whether he was actively applying to other companies too. He replied honestly, saying he had later rounds pending with two other firms.

According to the post, the HR representative responded immediately. “Faces instantly changed,” the Redditor wrote.

Call ends abruptly

“Oh, we prefer to focus on candidates who are genuinely interested in our company. In that case, we’ll let you pursue those other opportunities,” the HR representative added, ending the call on the spot.

Post sparks online discussion

The Reddit user said he was given no opportunity to clarify or explain, adding that transparency appeared to have cost him the job. “Didn’t even give me a chance to clarify. I guess being transparent is disqualifying now,” the post read.

The post soon gained traction, with many users expressing both shock and sympathy.

Some criticised the company for punishing honesty, arguing that transparency should be valued, while others suggested that employers prefer candidates who seem entirely committed to their organisation.

Berlin entrepreneur claims old interview video was shared to damage reputation

In a similar incident, a Berlin-based tech entrepreneur had alleged that a failed job interview from years ago was recorded and later shared with other companies, harming his professional reputation.

In a Reddit post titled “My old interview call got shared with other companies,” the founder said he recently discovered that the recording of an unsuccessful interview was being circulated among local firms.

“A few years ago, I had a job interview that I bombed. I couldn’t define properly some concepts they asked, as I hadn’t really prepared,” he wrote, adding that the interviewers were “a bit demeaning,” telling him, “you claim you worked at NASA but cannot tell us what the un-embedding layer is in the Transformer architecture.”

He said that after launching his own business, he later learned from several local companies that they had seen his “interview training video.” One firm even admitted the recording came with a “letter of warning” against working with him. “Just because of one bad interview,” he added.

The entrepreneur asked whether interview recordings were confidential and if companies were allowed to share them externally.