EMPLOYERS/HIRING MANAGERS EXPLOITING JOB APPLICANTS

Hello readers,

Today’s article discusses how some employers and hiring managers use job applicants to complete tasks without hiring them.

As a Data Analyst, cleaning, transforming, and analyzing data requires significant effort, especially if you’re meticulous in your work. While employers and hiring managers are aware of this, some choose to exploit job applicants instead of employing and paying talents to do the job.

As an entry-level data analyst job seeker, you often face the challenge of analyzing a take-home dataset provided by the organization, which is used to determine whether you advance to the next interview stage or get hired. It’s high time this practice is addressed. I prefer not to name any organizations.

As a data analyst, it can be disheartening to learn that the project you analyzed and presented was implemented by the organization, and yet you received a rejection email stating that you were not qualified. This situation is especially frustrating because it’s almost impossible to know.

There was a period when this issue was trending on Twitter (now X) regarding UX/UI designers. Candidates would complete take-home design tasks for organizations, only to see their designs used in real products without being hired. This practice is truly exploitative.

While it’s true that data analyst work often goes unseen once implemented, that doesn’t mean we should be exploited. Unfortunately, many victims of such exploitation are Africans, who are often more vulnerable due to desperation.

One significant red flag to watch for is organizations that frequently advertise openings for the same position. For instance, there’s a foreign organization I’m aware of that has been posting job listings for a Data Analyst every two to three weeks for over a year on LinkedIn. As a job applicant, it’s crucial to be cautious of such patterns to avoid potentially being exploited.

Another red flag to watch out for is when an organization provides a dataset that seems too realistic to be a mere sample or fictional, yet insists that it is not their actual data. Early in my career, I encountered this situation. Upon receiving the dataset, I quickly realized it was too authentic to be a simple exercise. I informed the organization that I would be withdrawing from the application process, as the dataset’s realism suggested it might be their genuine data.

Employers and hiring managers, please put an end to this practice.

If you have any additional red flag(s) that job applicants should be aware of on this topic, please share them in the comments below. Your insights will help others navigate their job applications more effectively.

Thank you for reading.

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