‘Employees quit managers, not companies': Netizens weigh in as rant about Indian hiring managers goes viral

Mint

8 hours ago

A rant about Indian hiring managers, and how they think they should be worshipped, has struck a chord with netizens, especially those who have also been victims of such a toxic workplace.
In the viral Reddit post, a person shared their run-in with a hiring manager who did not show up for an interview he had scheduled, without any intimation or explanation.
'Applied for a role based in Bengaluru. The recruiter scheduled an interview with the hiring manager, but he didn't show up. No intimation, no explanation. I followed up with the recruiter, and it got rescheduled,' the post read.
The second time, the person said, the story was repeated. 'This time he shows up 15 minutes late, no apology, no acknowledgement of being late, just walks in with an air of arrogance like it's normal.'
However, what really irked the Redditor was that the hiring manager delivered 'a monologue about how he basically runs the show'.
The social media user shared that the hiring manager said that in the engineering department, he wants someone in the office 5–6 days a week for a Product Owner (PO) role.
'Zero courtesy, rigid mindset, and weird power-tripping vibes. Not sure what's going on with some of these folks,' said the Redditor.
However, the person did not name any company, because they 'had a better interaction with their European counterparts'.
Netizens could relate to the struggles of working under a toxic hiring manager and said the Redditor will just 'dodge a bullet' if they aren't hired.
'There's a saying that 'employees quit managers, not companies'. Couldn't agree more!!' a social media user said.
'If you don't get the job, I want to say that you might have dodged a bullet. Good luck out there; it's brutal,' another user said.
Another user commented that it's a vicious cycle where 'Entry level folks get toxic managers, they grow into the manager role, and then show the same toxicity.'
'This culture then normalises up to the point where people think acting like this is expected and normal. How do you break that chain?' the comment added.
A user shared his personal experience with a toxic hiring manager, saying, 'I'm from Bengaluru as well, and the hiring manager from one of the automobile startups had reached out to me regarding a role. We spoke on Naukri, LinkedIn, SMS, calls, everywhere.'
'The interview itself was conducted by team members working in the same role that I was looking to be hired for and surprise, surprise, one of them gets competitive and I get rejected,' he added.
He said, 'good riddance,' but was surprised that the hiring manager, who seemed like the sweetest person on the planet earlier and would respond within seconds, 'ghosted the f**k out of me without even the courtesy of picking up a call or answering a message after the 'interview'.'