Company rejects dream job candidate for being 'money-motivated' and it just sums up the economy

Employees have their own motivations for showing up at work. Sometimes, their goals align with their employer’s, while at other times, finding common ground can be an uphill battle. This makes it particularly challenging for recruiters to identify the right candidate for a job. A similar situation occurred at a Dutch company when an interviewee admitted that their primary motivation for applying was financial. A member of the interview panel, u/DutchTinCan on Reddit, shared how they were devastated when the panel decided to reject the applicant despite their qualifications and skills.

In the post, the interviewer shared how the other two panel members voted in favor of rejecting a 'dream' applicant over his being “motivated by money.” The company, struggling with understaffing, had finally received approval for a job opening. Describing the position, the interviewer wrote, “The job is difficult to fill; it requires decent wit but is boring and repetitive as f***." They explained that the work was “too boring for smart people and too difficult for dumb people.” Bluntly describing the scenario as looking for a smart person “who’s willing to put up with s***," the interviewer acknowledged the challenge of finding such candidates without offering competitive pay.

“But we found one,” the interviewer shared. They described the potential employee as an “expat graduate wanting to get a residence permit" and noted that the candidate had the advantage of a few years of relevant experience over other applicants. During the interview, the promising candidate opened up about his humble background and mentioned that he sends money back home. He claimed to have been raised to work hard and help his family from an early age. The interviewer was so impressed that they heaped unreserved praise on the candidate. "It was our unicorn of s***-shovelling," they wrote.

“I praised him to heaven with my manager," they revealed. Unfortunately for the candidate, the majority of the panel didn’t share their viewpoint. The other two co-workers on the interview panel wanted someone who was "intrinsically motivated,” the interviewer explained. His colleagues were looking for an applicant who was not chasing “just the money.”  Despite the interviewer strongly advocating for the applicant, the deliberations ended without a positive outcome, and the candidate was ultimately rejected for the role.

The interviewer was also left disheartened as the job vacancy remained unfulfilled. “My recruiter is crying. I’m crying. I bet my dream applicant is too,” they said. Notably, they held a minority opinion in favor of the candidate and were eventually outvoted two to one. “Oh universe, why?” the disgruntled Dutch interviewer concluded. People on the platform had plenty to say in the comments. u/Outrageous_Peace8853 asked, “The company itself is motivated by money, but y’all don’t want an employee that’s also motivated by money?” “Their feedback is being given way too much weight in the hiring process,” u/Effective_Spite_117 pointed out. “This is so stupid. People get a job because they need money and money is how the world works. If you could get paid without having a job almost everybody would just quit, or find something different they actually enjoy,” shared u/PhoneImmediate7301.