Hiring manager kindles job-search discourse with a negative remark about an applicant who claimed that their personal interest is "olive oil": 'That is not an interest. It’s been hours, and I cannot stop thinking about it. There won't be an interview'

A banking hiring manager who claimed to reject a candidate because of their unusual personal interest ignited online discourse about hiring, jobs, and even the entire nature of the way we approach work itself.

What makes someone qualified to do a job? Is it writing a CV that contains all the right keywords necessary for a recruitment professional, who works for an organization that does technical work, and who kind of understands the premise of that technical work, but doesn't really understand enough to do it themselves, to be able to read it and pass your CV on to the next level?

Is it writing a great cover letter that somehow shows both your aptitude and experience while giving some insight into your character or your sensibilities? Or is it sitting and enduring an hour-long interview where a panel of judges bombards you with questions and comments like you're an "American Idol" contestant and assesses your capability of doing work in which you will never face this particular situation again?

The reality is that in your work itself, you will almost never be writing a CV, or a cover letter, or sitting in a panel interview. And, yet, these things are regarded as the best tools that we have for weeding out the unworthy and identifying that prime, ideal candidate… Why?

And that's before you get into unpacking all the tricks and hacks that "hard-nosed" wannabe business magnates and deluded hiring managers claim to employ in order to analyze candidates at some unknown cosmic level that has more in common with horoscopes than anything real or concrete.

From where I'm sitting, most of this is hoopla and codswallop, but it really does beg the question: What else is there? What other way should we be vetting candidates and whittling them down to a manageable few that can be properly focused on?

That's an answer I don't have.

But, it remains a fact that our entire current process is time-consuming for both parties, and going through an unsuccessful hiring process as a manager feels like a sink of wasted resources. (Which really does make you pause and wonder why organizations don't put more into staff retention in the first place.)

But for a candidate, this time-sink is multiplied by the tens, hundreds, if not thousands of times. Completing untold applications, customized CVs, and fresh cover letters all take so much time. Just to be met with an automated rejection or flat-out being ghosted.

via Juan Gomez

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“The worst they can say is no.”
“The worst they can say is no.” Gets a whole new meaning when it comes to a job application. Really, in this day and age, the statement should be amended to, “The worst they can do is send you an automated AI-written rejection email without any explanation as to why."
While you never know unless you try, and put your best foot forward, and put your hat in the ring. But when each application takes hours, and there are only so many jobs available in your field, receiving nothing but a response that has had little to no thought put into it just feels devastating, especially when you seemingly had all of the qualifications on paper.
It can leave you wondering just what went wrong. You're putting in all this work with no feedback, wondering if you've missed something obvious on your CV or cover letters. Everywhere you look, there's another potential pitfall or another red flag that you're potentially unintentionally signaling for some reason, but you can never know for certain until you land that job.
For this candidate, well, they might be doing everything right, but they missed out on at least one job, getting passed up for even getting an interview, simply because of the personal interest they listed: olive oil.
Whereas so many others list personal interests such as hiking, biking, reading, going to the gym, yoga, and music, this candidate saw the chance to share their love of olive oil with the world, hoping to strike up some conversation and im-”press” their knowledge on hiring managers.
An X (formerly Twitter) user claiming to be either a hiring manager or a recruiter for a bank shared an innocuous tweet with a personal anecdote about how important it is to be “normal” and “well adjusted” when applying for banking roles. This has sparked an ongoing conversation and debate over the last 24 hours about what “normal” is and whether you actually want to hire “the olive oil guy” for roles.
There are valid points on both sides, but I, for one, think that there is some truth to wanting to hire someone who is unique and authentic and able to be dedicated enough to something to become an expert in it. And, yes, even if that thing is olive oil.
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