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'Lazy and mediocre': HR team loses jobs after manager's own CV gets auto-rejected
An HR team was terminated after their manager discovered an auto-rejection flaw that dismissed all candidates, including his own application.
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In a striking turn of events, an entire HR team was terminated after a manager discovered that their automated system had mistakenly rejected all job applications, including his own. The job search can often feel like an uphill battle, with countless applicants submitting numerous applications, many without ever receiving a response. The experience of receiving rejection emails almost immediately after applying can be disheartening, suggesting that applications aren’t even being reviewed. This was exactly the case for one manager, who took to Reddit to share the shocking oversight that led to the downfall of his HR team.
(Also read: HR director uses ChatGPT to communicate with employees)
While responding to a job seeker’s complaint about an instant rejection, the manager detailed his own experience. Both he and the job seeker received rejection emails at precisely 10:56 a.m., raising suspicions about the reviewing process. “Auto rejection systems from HR make me angry,” the manager commented. “In three months, we couldn’t find a single qualified candidate.”
An unexpected experiment
Determined to get to the bottom of the issue, the manager decided to investigate further. “I created a new email and sent them a modified version of my CV with a fake name,” he recounted. The results were alarming: he, too, was automatically rejected without any human review of his qualifications. Upon reporting the situation to upper management, “half of the HR department was fired in the following weeks,” he noted.
(Also read: HR issues warning to employee for social media, streaming Netflix use during work hours)
The manager, who works in the tech industry, was trying to hire developers, but the HR department had set the automated system to search for candidates with expertise in the wrong software. They were looking for an AngularJS developer, while the position required expertise in Angular, a different framework entirely. “The truly infuriating part was that I was consistently told they had candidates who didn’t pass the first screening process, which was false,” he added.
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Social media reactions
The incident has since garnered widespread attention, with social media users flocking to comment on the situation. Comments ranged from calling the recruiting team "lazy" to expressing solidarity with the manager. One user stated, "This is why automated systems should never replace human judgement," while another remarked, "HR should be more vigilant; this is embarrassing for the company."
