Avani Rathore, an alumna of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta and a former consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, recently found herself at the center of a heated debate online after one of her LinkedIn posts was widely circulated on the popular subreddit LinkedIn Lunatics. The post, originally intended to voice her frustration with what she perceived as growing entitlement among fresh graduates, quickly drew backlash for its tone and perceived insensitivity.
Rathore, now an entrepreneur, shared a post recounting a recent experience involving a friend who was recruiting for her startup. She described how a prospective candidate had responded critically to a standard hiring assignment for a tech role, questioning whether the task was an attempt by the company to get “free work” done under the guise of recruitment.
Rathore expressed disbelief at the candidate’s audacity, pointing out that the individual was fresh out of college with no real-world experience. She blamed such attitudes on online “career coaches” whom she accused of misleading job seekers despite lacking proper professional credentials themselves.
Her post aimed to provide what she called a “reality check” for students entering the workforce. Rathore emphasized that assignments and case-based assessments were common across industries—from engineering and MBA roles to creative fields—as legitimate tools to evaluate a candidate’s skillset.
She dismissed the notion that these assignments constituted exploitation, arguing instead that such evaluations were a normal part of hiring processes. Rathore concluded her post by cautioning young professionals against confusing healthy skepticism with arrogance, stating that such an attitude might ultimately harm their own career progression rather than challenge systemic flaws.
However, the post sparked intense criticism once it was reposted to Reddit. Users on the subreddit LinkedIn Lunatics—a community that often critiques performative and tone-deaf professional content—found Rathore’s commentary elitist and dismissive of genuine concerns about labor exploitation during hiring.
One user recounted a personal experience where they completed a detailed assignment for a company, only to be rejected—only to later find their concept prominently featured on the firm’s homepage months later. Another user described being asked to translate an entire website as a trial task for a freelance role. Despite being praised for the work, they never heard back from the agency again. These stories were shared to highlight how seemingly innocuous "evaluation assignments" can sometimes be misused to extract unpaid labor without any intention of hiring.
A more sarcastic comment read, “Awww, can’t exploit people so easily anymore!” —a sentiment echoed across dozens of similar replies criticizing the practice of unpaid trial work in recruitment.
The incident has since opened up broader conversations about the ethics of hiring practices, the power imbalance between employers and fresh graduates, and the rise of social media platforms like Reddit in holding professionals accountable for their public statements. While Rathore may have intended to offer industry insight, the overwhelming response revealed a significant disconnect between employer expectations and job seeker experiences in the current job market.
Rathore, now an entrepreneur, shared a post recounting a recent experience involving a friend who was recruiting for her startup. She described how a prospective candidate had responded critically to a standard hiring assignment for a tech role, questioning whether the task was an attempt by the company to get “free work” done under the guise of recruitment.
Rathore expressed disbelief at the candidate’s audacity, pointing out that the individual was fresh out of college with no real-world experience. She blamed such attitudes on online “career coaches” whom she accused of misleading job seekers despite lacking proper professional credentials themselves.
Her post aimed to provide what she called a “reality check” for students entering the workforce. Rathore emphasized that assignments and case-based assessments were common across industries—from engineering and MBA roles to creative fields—as legitimate tools to evaluate a candidate’s skillset.
She dismissed the notion that these assignments constituted exploitation, arguing instead that such evaluations were a normal part of hiring processes. Rathore concluded her post by cautioning young professionals against confusing healthy skepticism with arrogance, stating that such an attitude might ultimately harm their own career progression rather than challenge systemic flaws.
However, the post sparked intense criticism once it was reposted to Reddit. Users on the subreddit LinkedIn Lunatics—a community that often critiques performative and tone-deaf professional content—found Rathore’s commentary elitist and dismissive of genuine concerns about labor exploitation during hiring.
One user recounted a personal experience where they completed a detailed assignment for a company, only to be rejected—only to later find their concept prominently featured on the firm’s homepage months later. Another user described being asked to translate an entire website as a trial task for a freelance role. Despite being praised for the work, they never heard back from the agency again. These stories were shared to highlight how seemingly innocuous "evaluation assignments" can sometimes be misused to extract unpaid labor without any intention of hiring.
A more sarcastic comment read, “Awww, can’t exploit people so easily anymore!” —a sentiment echoed across dozens of similar replies criticizing the practice of unpaid trial work in recruitment.
The incident has since opened up broader conversations about the ethics of hiring practices, the power imbalance between employers and fresh graduates, and the rise of social media platforms like Reddit in holding professionals accountable for their public statements. While Rathore may have intended to offer industry insight, the overwhelming response revealed a significant disconnect between employer expectations and job seeker experiences in the current job market.
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