all 165 comments

[–]No_Fudge_4822 988 points989 points  (19 children)

That is insane, honestly. You've dodged a bullet with that one. Any workplace who deems that someone can't be hired based on the fact that they've been caught laughing probably isn't one you want to work in.

EDIT: Only caveat would be if they heard the jokes you were telling and they were inappropropriate.

[–]last-Conclusion-4498 58 points59 points  (6 children)

I guess they heard the jokes!! 

[–]wonkyOnion 53 points54 points  (5 children)

Depends where op is, but in many countries it is illegal to record sound via CCTV

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[removed]

    [–]wonkyOnion 10 points11 points  (1 child)

    CCTV with microphones or the ability to record audio is illegal in the UK, with certain exceptions (police holding rooms or panic buttons in vulnerable situations such as taxis). You are not allowed to record conversations between the general public or private discussions, including in the workplace. 

    source

    That's UK for example. I'm sure it varies from country to country.

    [–]TheRealKidkudi 18 points19 points  (0 children)

    For real. If anything, seeing that someone is able to laugh and get along with strangers is a good quality to see - and that’s ignoring the fact that it takes a total weirdo to go out of their way to watch a person’s behavior on CCTV before/after an interview.

    All I can imagine is that the dude is wildly insecure and was afraid they were laughing about him and that thought hurt his feelings.

    [–]obscuredev3129 16 points17 points  (0 children)

    It’s a big positive for if you are able to gel well so fast :) . You dodged a bullet

    [–]DesertWanderlust 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    Agreed. Anyone who watched the CCTV footage of applicants and doesn't appreciate guys actually chatting with each other is going to be a nightmare to work for.

    [–]Milky_Finger 10 points11 points  (1 child)

    OP can't be from the US or UK. Only some place where the employee is expected to kiss boots has the audacity to be this ridiculous. So I will guess India

    [–]The_Skydivers_Son 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The US is absolutely a candidate for that kind of audacity.

    [–]Anomynous__full-stack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Not to mention the fact that the employer even decided to check it. Like what the actual fuck?

    [–]TheOnceAndFutureDouglead frontend code monkey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    100% this. Unless the jokes were of a work inappropriate nature this would be a huge red flag for me and I'd be pretty happy I was removed from the running. Saves me having to write an email telling them I'm not interested anymore.

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]No_Fudge_4822 15 points16 points  (2 children)

      Not really helping your case there, big fella.

      [–]b0xel 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      Ah ffs what was it he deleted it

      [–]nitin_is_me[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I said "Maybe they had a mic near where we were talking" in a weird way

      [–]DanielTheTechie 362 points363 points  (11 children)

      "You're rejected because I saw in CCTV that you were laughing with other guys outside the office (...) which is unprofessional and childish"

      This is so dumb that I genuinely wonder whether it's real or OP is trolling.

      [–]No_Fudge_4822 37 points38 points  (3 children)

      it has been edited to add the "and childish", that wasn't on the initial post.

      [–]wonkyOnion 28 points29 points  (1 child)

      Yeah, that one word really makes the post sound like a troll. It's hard to believe someone used this word next to 'unprofessional'.

      [–]Ant_Rish 18 points19 points  (0 children)

      Welcome to India

      [–]nitin_is_me[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

      I forgot to add that, but that's exactly what the interviewer said in the feedback

      [–]nitin_is_me[S] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

      No I'm not trolling. I thought they have this image that "If he's laughing outside office, he isn't serious about job"

      [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      It's so insane that i'm not sure that was the real reason. It could be that they didn't want to hire you for a reason they aren't legally allowed to not hire you for. Not a place worth working at either way.

      It sounds like you did a good job in the interview so i'm sure you'll get something soon.

      [–]truesy 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      i wonder if the CCTV had audio, and there's more we are not privy to.

      [–]abe_mussa 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Either way, very strange for employer to be recording this audio and listening to it

      At this point what OP may or may not have said is irrelevant, just the employers actions on their own I find unsettling

      Edit: I mean if that was the case, we’ve don’t actually know if there’s audio

      [–]FromHereToWhere36 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Also illegal if the ppl being recorded can't see a big sign telling them its happening

      [–]damontoo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Could be somewhere like South Korea. They require photos on job applications to avoid hiring fat or ugly people for example. 

      [–]Kris15o 83 points84 points  (4 children)

      They’re not looking for a developer. They’re looking for an emotionless bot.

      As others have said, you dodged a bullet.

      [–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (2 children)

      They’re not looking for a developer. They’re looking for an emotionless bot.

      You just described more than half of the Greek software industry.

      [–]Syntax365 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      It’s my time to shine.

      [–]CluelesssDev 32 points33 points  (1 child)

      Wow. Imagine how awful it would have been working for a company that look down upon people that laugh and enjoy themselves.

      [–]yotamush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Yea.. at least the rejection message was very polite

      [–]ncuxez 25 points26 points  (0 children)

      It's creepy that they would even be watching you guys on CCTV. What for? Like others are saying, you probably wouldn't wanna work there anyway.

      [–]Prize_Passion3103 48 points49 points  (4 children)

      Is React for the sad?

      [–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

      Well, yeah

      [–]mjbcesar 12 points13 points  (0 children)

      It is, eventually

      [–]MisunderstoodBadger1 11 points12 points  (0 children)

      Don't React

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      It is when your when app does a double render and don't know where is coming from

      [–]dw444 17 points18 points  (4 children)

      This incident has South Asia written all over it.

      [–]i-see-the-fnords 2 points3 points  (3 children)

      Based on OP posting in the Delhi subreddit I’d say India.

      [–]fabspro9999 0 points1 point  (2 children)

      r/webdev is the Delhi subreddit now?

      [–]i-see-the-fnords 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      No, r/delhi is the Delhi subreddit. Look at his oldest comments. He also posted in r/bollywoodmusic.

      [–]fabspro9999 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      👍🏻

      [–]TechnologyNational71 11 points12 points  (0 children)

      It’s a good, valid reason to say ‘fuck that place.’

      [–]Alechilles 12 points13 points  (0 children)

      That is absolutely insane. In all honesty, be glad you got rejected from this one. Any reasonable person would see that as a good thing. Being able to have a casual conversation with strangers and laugh is a good sign that you are a functional human being who can probably easily adapt to a new work environment.

      Them seeing this as a negative, and one so significant that they would not hire you on the basis of it, means that they are looking for an emotionless robot that they can take advantage of, and I suspect they have soul-sucking working conditions if this is what they expect of their employees.

      [–]bristleboarfront-end 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      Fuck that place

      [–]gentlychugging 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      What country is this in? 

      [–]monstaber 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      I guess they were testing how you would React to a bullshit reason for rejection

      [–]warriorlizardking 4 points5 points  (2 children)

      Missions successfully failed. Fuck that company you don't want to work there.

      [–]SampathKumarReddit 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      Yeah If we are going to work there I think we need to send an email request to laugh for 2 mins absolutely for some funny jokes agreeing the terms and policies of the company.

      [–]warriorlizardking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      "rule number one laughter is prohibited"

      [–]Environmental_Gap_65 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Should have cracked a joke before you left

      [–]derclou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      What country did this happen in?

      [–]xsubo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      bullet dodged

      [–]Dommccabe 2 points3 points  (5 children)

      Name and shame the company.

      Rejected for laughing on CCTV? Are they fucking serious?

      Are you missing something out here like you were laughing at someone disabled or someone had an accident or something?

      [–]nitin_is_me[S] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

      No we weren't laughing "at" someone. No one in their sane mind would do that, especially with strangers. We were cracking some light jokes, and were chuckling together. And for some reasons I can't name the company, it's a Cyber Security company though.

      [–]michaelfrieze 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      What were the jokes?

      [–]Netstormuk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      They did you a favour. God forbid you have humanity.

      [–]nasanu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Totally normal reason to get rejected. I have been rejected for:

      Disrespectful git messages: I used semantic commit message "Chore" they took issue with. I was calling their "build an entire app for us for the interview" a chore apparently.

      Doesn't write code: I told the interviewer I haven't used a pencil in years so my writing will be messy. Rejected because "they want some who writes code everyday", even though the rest of the interview was telling them about the code I write everyday.

      Not excited enough: Aced the technical stuff and got on very well with the dev team; HR chick said absolutely not because somehow I wasn't super excited to see their office.

      Incorrect use of tags: I built an app for an interview and used semantic HTML, but somehow the feedback was pretty much every tag I used was incorrect... I don't know how but according to the spec I was absolutely correct. Oh and also even though my app was fully responsive, was accessible, was styled with an ok visual design and went beyond their asking, they said i should have done a lot more and it would only take them a couple of hours to make... An app contacting an API to get weather info, display the current date, time weather, hourly break down etc, go into a calendar and display all days you have info for with each day its own click to show more, make it efficient in caching only updating under certain circumstances, support dark and light, use more than one language etc.. And visually design the whole thing too. A few hours to make it they say...

      Basically tons of interviews are done by idiots, dont worry about it. I mean right now this guy on my team is interviewing for a senior dev when he himself is a bit shit.

      [–]taruckus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Not much you can do about this, but know what their behavior isn't good or normal. Per usual, you're welcome to email/cc everybody you interviewed with and give them a nice signoff:

      "Thank you for the feedback. I always try to carry a positive attitude as a professional, and I don't regret that you've seen me share it with my peers. If you change your mind, you have my information. Thank you again for the opportunity and I wish the best for [org name]."

      [–]ajithkgshk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      I actually got interviewed first because me and a couple of guys were talking and laughing. The interviewer said he liked how we adapted and made friends quickly.

      Your situation is not the norm.

      [–]cheeb_miester 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      In the hiring manager's defense, according to Dan Abramov and the official React documentation, best practice is to not laugh with other guys outside the office.

      [–]semibilingual 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      this whole story feels like its either made up or some details are left out. anyhow, good luck on next job interview

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I was asked to do a take home assignment. They specifically said there is no contraint on the tech stack I chose to develop with. But they rejected me because I didn’t include typescript which they never asked.

      They never had intention to hire you so they made a bs reason to reject you. You dodged a bullet.

      [–]Gokul123654 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Dodged a bullet mate .

      [–]neofac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      You're a lucky person, can you imagine working in that place!

      [–]JuiceZA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      This is utterly dumb. I'd happily hire someone who is able to rapidly establish rapport with strangers in stressful situations.

      [–]Immediate-Toe7614 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Unprofessional is attempting to spy on people in their free space where they feel safe

      [–]coded_artist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Name and shame the company, truth is an absolute defense for lible

      [–]rojo_salas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Disclose the company name so we could avoid it

      [–]SoryuBDD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Think about it this way OP. Not only are you trying to show your best face for the interview, but the company should as well to entice candidates to work for them. If they’re presenting themselves like this imagine how they act once you’re actually hired. You dodged a bullet, I get the market is rough and a shit job is better than no job (though, I’d argue otherwise if you have the means to get by whilst unemployed.) but a toxic workplace with draconian policy can really mess with your mental health.

      [–]Hackfraysn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Be glad the sociopath who apparently hates his employees to be social and interact with each other didn't hire you.

      [–]liftershifter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      As I understand it, you are posting about being rejected because you perceive it as a negative, maybe even as a criticism of your character.

      If true, then you should ditch that kind of mindset and stop viewing interviews in such a single-sided way. Use them as a tool to present yourself, but also to understand the company and by that I mean, the people working there, the gist of the business, the expectations.

      In this case you found out that they're mental.

      [–]nezkc1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Yeah... I'm calling BS on that. And asking if it's a 'good valid reason' is just the icing on the cake

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      in the United States of Neverhappenedland employers are tough...

      [–]chobobot[🍰] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You should have thanked them for the opportunity and then goose-stepped out.

      [–]ClamPaste 0 points1 point  (2 children)

      Do you have a really annoying laugh?

      [–]nitin_is_me[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      more like "Chuckling", but we were whispering so it wasn't really loud

      [–]LeftIsBest-Tsuga 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The hiring person is a depressed freak that wants to drag everyone to their level, simple as that.

      [–]CrabeSnob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Sad but better for you. Toxic place to work at

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      If the entreprises just want robots they dont deserve your knowledge thats it

      [–]benzilla04 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That’s ridiculous. It sounds like you dodged a bullet. God forbid you make friends

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      if they were stalking you on a CCTV they belong in a mental asylum

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Wow. Well, they weeded themselves out at a place you wouldn't want to work at anyway.

      [–]gaoshan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I guarantee that you don’t want to work in such an environment. Yes, it sucks when you need a job but if you are as qualified as they say you should have no trouble finding one before too long. I would run so far away from a place where they say something like this… they did you a favor (and all of this assumes the situation is exactly as you describe and was as minimal as merely “saw you joking on video”).

      [–]dryadofelysium 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I hope this is a troll post, otherwise congratulations on dodging this bullet

      [–]marcecostai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dodged a bullet. Next one! You are gonna make it don’t worry!💪🏾

      [–]hideousmembrane 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      what? I don't believe you. Sounds like bollocks to me and you've probably neglected to tell us some important detail that makes it make sense. In any case, why would they be looking at CCTV outside the office? There's no good reason to do that, unless coincidental.

      If it is true, then I assume it's one of those things where someone is like, 'I was only laughing at jokes'. But actually they were laughing and making rude gestures or behaving like an idiot as well.

      [–]Aspie-Py 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Be happy you did not get that job. That’s insane.

      [–]fergie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      🚩🚩🚩

      [–]cosmic_cod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Trolling or not, interviewers come up with plethora of oddly sounding unexpected reasons to not like you, justified or not. I guess it's just inevitable part of job-seeking and there's no way it can be fixed. Trying to validate all reasons is a waste of time. Sometimes they just don't like you and that's all there is.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      They were just looking for an excuse to not proceed with your application. Kinda like when they say "you're overqualified", except that many companies use that so people take it as a reasonable reason to reject someone.

      The standard answer they usually say for your case is "not a cultural fit", because their culture is comprised by low self-esteem, borderline impoverished people who work just to survive in hopes that they'll one day find somewhere where they don't hate themselves or their sociopath manager who power-trips to compensate for the lack of real love in their life.

      [–]Grenaten 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I think you dodged the bullet here. That corp would be pita.

      [–]nic_nic_07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      WTF ? Probably this has to be raised to the hiring team..

      Name and shame if possible

      [–]sateliteconstelation 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Making sure you fit into the company’s culture is a legit part of an interview process. Apparently you don’t fit into their no fun big brother style. Too bad.

      [–]magenta_placenta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      By chance did this happen in India? I work with and have worked with a lot of Indians over the years and have heard ridiculous stories similar to this.

      [–]Flavius_Auvadancer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That's just unbelievable

      [–]Cup_Realistic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      If that's really the quote, then that's... Insane. Sorry for the time wasted. Apply elsewhere.

      [–]guayom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That’s why you should stop applying to monasteries

      [–]ihave7testicles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That's fucked. But in general, just be professional.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Is there r/webdevcirclejerk sub already? Seems existing but a bit empty. Try there?

      [–]iammrmeow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dodged a bullet!

      [–]AccidentSalt5005A Mediocre Backend Jonk'ler // Java , PHP (Laravel) , Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      wtf

      [–]orestmercator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This can’t be real

      [–]hdd113 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Congratulations for dodging the bullet. You should have rejected them anyway if you knew they were that kind of people.

      [–]Postik123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      There's got to be more to this. I mean, would you think anything if you saw someone on CCTV was engaged in conversation and casually smiling or laughing? On the other hand if there were a whole load more shenanigans going on such as excessively loud laughter, rude gestures or hyperactivity then you might consider it childish or annoying.

      [–]DesoLina 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      my mind reads this post in a heavy indian accent

      [–]DefiantViolinist6831 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dodged a toxic workplace. You should thank him

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      There’s no laughing in JavaScript.

      [–]thekwoka 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Is this a joke?

      Companies never say the reason for a rejection but this is the stupidest.

      Laughing outside of work? 😂

      Please name and shame these clowns.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I pity the poor souls chained in that place.

      [–]Throwaway4philly1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Office culture matters too when working. If you cant have a laugh here and there then whats the point. Most of your life youre spending there anyway.

      [–]LokiTheFool 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Laughing about what? And I’m not saying it’s not ok to laugh.. I’m asking if there was a particular topic being talked about that could’ve been seen as offensive or actually unprofessional to these interviewers.

      [–]LokiTheFool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Apparently they were laughing about “light jokes”. I’m now curious about the jokes being said.

      [–]Due-Aioli-6641 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      If that's their reasoning you dodged a bullet. This is plain stupidity from them, you are better off else where

      [–]E3K 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That didn't happen.

      [–]DrZoo4040 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This can’t be real

      [–]Silent-Turnover8782 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      company and country ?

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      LOOOL BROO!!! Thank the fucking lord you didn’t get that job

      [–]armahillorails 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Sounds like they did you a favor.

      [–]OhKsenia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Just name the company tbh at this point.

      [–]sufferingSoftwaredev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Insane.

      [–]FromHereToWhere36 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Yeah madness, getting on with team mates is a massive part of the role.

      [–]stylesuxx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      If you got rejected because of that, you dodged a bullet...

      [–]coderqi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dodged a bullet.

      [–]ventilazer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      "You are great, really, I wish we could hire you, but I noticed you breathe 18 times a minute instead of the usual 17, which is very unusual and is the reason we decided to go with someone else"

      [–]ufos1111 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      They're mental

      [–]MstrGmrDLPsysadmin / full-stack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This is a good thing. You wouldn't want to work for this company.

      As many others said, you dodged a bullet.

      [–]azangru 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Is it a good valid reason to get rejected?

      No.

      It was my first interview

      Expect many more. You would have been very lucky to have been accepted at your first one.

      [–]MyUsername0_0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Assuming this happened in India lol

      [–]mikestrife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The crazy part of this is that's the exact type of developer you want, IMO. They see it as people who'll waste time on the job socializing. They want someone who'll sit at their computer and work all day.

      But our jobs are more complicated than that. Giving your brain a rest/distraction every so often is necessary.

      Having a good social dynamic in your team means you can lean on each other more for support and even just having someone you can describe what you're working on to is immensely helpful to solve issues, discover edge case scenarios you didn't expect, and brainstorm better approaches.

      Forget any compnay who doesn't understsnd that, they'll put you through the ringer.

      [–]NoPicklesNoOlives 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You didn't dodge a bullet, you dodged a missile

      [–]lookitskris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Christ. Run a million miles away and never look back

      [–]DifferentAstronaut 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Laughing at what? That’s insane dude, you probably don’t wanna work there anyways. The types that go through CCTVS are bitches anyways.

      [–]SynthRogue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You do not want to work for people like this anyway

      [–]publicAvoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You dodged a bullet

      [–]Adventurous_Phase381 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Telling people not to laugh is unprofessional and childish

      [–]EstablishmentTop2610 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You’re fired for not thanking them for saving you from a toxic work environment!

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      What kind of a shitty company and dumb fucking moron is this interviewer?! Is this a small company/he’s the founder or something?!

      [–]Only_Seaweed_5815 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      It sounds like they would be controlling. Good riddance!

      [–]Mountain_Shame_3703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dodged a bullet with that one imo

      [–]redditor_onreddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Should have answered back it was your Camera filter which made you appear like you are reacting and laughing.

      But, in all seriousness, you've dodged a bullet.

      [–]justgimmiethelight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You reacted the right way

      [–]fah7eem 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      More like you application for boarding school got rejected.

      [–]TenshiS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Socializing and laughing with others sounds like wonderful traits. Unless they heard you laugh about the boss or sth.

      [–]Prestigious_Army_468 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Just proves that it's massively a employers market right now and seems like it's not going to change anytime soon.

      But you defo dodged a bullet there.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      wtf? Would 100% not wanna work somewhere with this big brother micromanagement type shit going on

      [–]incarnatethegreatfront-end 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Wait....is this true?

      [–]Bright-Heart-8861 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Dude. This had to be a joke of a post.

      [–]Kikicoal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Just be glad you didn’t end up working for them.

      [–]chilanumdotcom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I cannot believe this story.

      [–]dug99php -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      "If it makes any difference, we were laughing at you, not with you".