Job seeker sparks debate after revealing recruiter on Zoom asked them to give 360 view of their room

Recruitments over Zoom calls have become quite normal recently, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, job seekers do not have to run around clutching their files full of certificates and proof of work experience from one job interview to another. All you need to do is turn on your webcam on your laptop, charge your device and sit tight at the scheduled time to get through your job interview.

In most cases, job seekers choose to talk to their recruiter in a quiet environment, which is best found in the privacy of one's room. But there have hardly been any cases where the recruiter has demanded to get a complete 360-degree tour of your private space. One individual on Reddit went through this unusual interview session where they had to show the recruiter their room and many agreed that it was indeed creepy behavior from the recruiter's side.

u/Alternative_Map8723 on Reddit shared the weird moment they experienced and how they now had no idea what to make of it. The post was titled: "Zoom interview, recruiter asking to show my room?" It might have left a lot of netizens questioning why a job recruiter would want to check out a job seeker's room. So the Reddit user elaborated on the story. "I had a job interview for a tech support position, work from home. She asked to see my room because it is mandatory to have a quiet place for the job and a room with a closed door. I was not comfortable with showing my room at all. I was so anxious and taken aback that I gave her a quick tour," the post began.

Then the recruiter insisted on checking out the Reddit user's door to see if it was closed on not. The recruiter also informed the job seeker the interview session will be recorded so they could review it later with the hiring manager. "This was so bizarre, is this normal? I wish I said no thank you because now I feel weird," the post concluded. Fellow people in the community shared their thoughts on what could be the reason behind the recruiter's unusual demand, whereas, others marked the recruiter as unethical and unprofessional.

u/bard329, who has worked from home for a long time, shared, "100% not normal. I've been WFH for about 5 years now. At no point has anyone asked me what my home office setup is like. And all of my coworkers know it's not always quiet because they can hear my kids playing and screaming during calls."

u/MissySedai wrote about a similar experience: "Some years back, I interviewed with a company that wanted a tour of my office. At the time, I had a small (10-gallon) aquarium in my office. The interviewer told me I had to remove the aquarium because the policy was 'nothing with a heartbeat' could be in your office. I bowed out on the spot."

u/OkCustomer3734 added, "This seems to be a thing some companies are doing now, but I think it's weird. If they're going to ask you questions like that, they should make it clear before the interview." u/Mean-Salt-9929 joked: "So, yeah we need the blueprints to your house/apartment, a key to the front door, a key to your office and who lives with you and what times they're home. You know, for 'business purposes.'" 

We hope the Reddit user has decided not to move ahead with this particular job opportunity because it did seem a bit shady.