In this economy, finding a decent job can be very challenging, and even landing a proper interview for one can be hard enough. However, what if you had to pay, let’s say, $20 to apply for a job? Not to do the interview, mind you–only to fill out the job application. If you’re thinking that’s the most out-of-touch thing you’ve ever heard, a CEO in Arizona believes that to be an excellent idea: Force job applicants to pay to apply!
In a LinkedIn post from around a year ago, Mike C of Grow Sciences shared his shower thoughts, suggesting that “people should pay a small fee ($20?) to apply for a job.” He argued that it would be “a means to prevent an overwhelming quantity of underqualified or mismatched submissions.” “Am I insensitive to the world?” he asked. Short answer, yes, countless comments told him how ludicrious his idea was. He later added an edit claiming perhaps the fee would only be $1 and would guarantee an interview. However, the beans had already spilled, and the man had become a laughingstock.
“Most. Ridiculous. Idea. Ever 🙂 I am with everyone under here with the “Are you silly?” type of comments 🙂,” remarked a manager for a data center. “I’d like to charge someone $20 for letting this exist on the devil’s internet 😐,” said a recruiter. She continued, making a joke out of the edit the CEO added to his post about the ‘fee guaranteeing an interview.’ “So I could apply, upload my nana’s chicken pot pie recipe as my “resume” and because I paid the fee I’m in for at least an interview?” she quipped. “We should also charge people who post completely ignorant things on Linkedin,” added a talent acquisition manager.
The unhinged post made its way to r/recruitinghell in a Reddit post with the title “Delusional CEOs.” I don’t need to tell you that the entire comment section also thinks Mike C of Grow Sciences’ idea is the worst ever. “lol. LMAO even. By that logic they can pay me $100 for the interview they make me sit through before hiring an internal candidate,” joked the top-upvoted comment. “Is this a joke? If you’re applying to 10 jobs, that’s $200 right there. With no guarantee you get an interview. If you’re unemployed already, you’re just f**ked,” chimed in another.
Regardless of whether you get an interview or not, paying to apply for any position is only something that’d come out of an out-of-touch higher up’s mouth. The competition for jobs in today’s age is fierce, and getting a half-decent position is even harder. The last thing any job applicant struggling financially would want to do is pay just to be noticed by an employer.
