Losing out on a dream job is never fun.
Whenever it happens one can’t help but replay every second of the interview process over and over.
In the end we at least hope that the people interviewing are qualified.
Because if they’re not, how are they making decisions?
Case in point…
Redditor Kat5034 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for getting someone fired because they pretended to know the language?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“English is not my first language.”
“I (27 F[emale]) decided to apply for my dream job.”
“I have met all the criteria and one of them was to be proficient in my native language (Russian).”
“Which I am, since I’ve grown up in the country speaking and writing in it and have finished school and university where obviously all the subjects are taught in Russian, except English and French/German language classes.
“I ended up securing the interview with this place and needed to demonstrate the knowledge of Russian, so the person who did the interview started asking me questions in it.”
“However I could barely understand her, not only the accent made it incredibly difficult but the fact that she couldn’t build a sentence.”
“But also used incorrect forms of the words and the pronunciation was totally wrong too.”
“In short it sounded as if she was randomly putting the words in Google translate and was trying to repeat them over.”
“I have answered all her questions, however I’ve also noticed she barely made any notes.”
“I decided to let it pass and wait for a verdict.”
“After about 3 months of chasing and silence, I got an email saying I wasn’t successful and the reason was that they believed my knowledge of Russian language was poor and insufficient for the job and not up to their “standards” according to the interviewer.”
“Of course I was confused, since the lady who interviewed me could barely speak the language herself.”
“So I have decided to leave feedback about my experience on one of the job sites, which was made to share info about working at the job and interview process.”
“My review received a fair amount of traction and last week Monday I ended up getting a call from the higher ups, who listened to my feedback and opened the investigation.”
“On Friday I have found out the lady who interviewed me was dismissed.”
“She and her friends were messaging me on social media calling an a**hole, because this job was her only source of income and was struggling.”
“I am now feeling guilty about this and feel like I was an a**hole for writing about my experience.
“So AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA – She is scamming her company by pretending to speak a language that she has minimal fluency in. Imagine how many other people she’s turned down for jobs.” ~ EagleSevenFoxThree
“She probably thought that she would be better off hiring people who spoke badly because they wouldn’t be able to find her out.”
“She thought she was the gatekeeper and didn’t realize that it was a super dumb idea.” ~ hellahellagoods*it
“So weird if a job requires X language skill set then you’d have to know people applying will have that and you get caught eventually.”
“Plus how hard is it to get a Rosetta Stone or look up videos on YouTube so you could try and have a basic convo you can steer.”
“’Hi, what kind of sports do you like?'”
“This requires you to know only a few words really, then they say basketball in Russian and you go in Russian basketball I like tennis.” ~ FluffySecretary403
“And please let the company know that she accessed your personal information (if she was fired, she has no right to this information) and is using it to harass you.”
“If she is also involving her friends, she passed out classified information and the company needs to know this.”
“You could sue her and the company so be pro active and let them know.” ~ PanamaViejo
“NTA, tell the flying monkeys she sent after you that SHE cost you a job you were qualified to get.”
“Tell them to ask their friend why she lied about being fluent when she isn’t.”
“Respond to the woman who was fired in a long, detailed response in Russian.” ~ Capt-Sylvia-Killy
“She screwed OP out of a job placement based on her scam, which hurt OP’s livelihood.”
“She f**ked around and found out.”
“Using OP’s confidential contact info that she gained during her employment to harass her, giving that info to others to add to the harassment can’t be legal either.”
“What a pitiful way to live. NTA.” ~ Gelflingscanfly
“She was also preventing the company from hiring qualified candidates which could seriously impact their viability as a successful business.”
“NTA. AND don’t let them bully you.”
“Contact her company if she/they do, and it could potentially impact her unemployment.” ~ Emptydata_Enzo
“NTA. You were denied a job based on a lie that wasn’t yours.”
“That’s not on you.”
“It could have been your only source of income too.” ~ Puzzleheaded-Big1680
“I have zero sympathy for someone who purposely messes with your career and then turns it around and complains you ruined hers.”
“Especially since she’s the one who made the choice to claim to speak the language, when she knew she couldn’t.”
“In English, we’d say ‘she made her bed and now she can lie in it.'”
“You didn’t do anything wrong here—it doesn’t even sound like you set out to get her fired, which is what some people would have done.” ~ ViscountBurrito
“NTA, she shouldn’t have pretended to know a language she wasn’t fluent in, and it’s her own fault for being sacked.”
“She could’ve easily had avoided this by not pretending and having someone else do the interview that did know Russian.” ~ Renethon
“Not only was she wrong for pretending to know Russian, but she was also incredibly stupid too.”
“Anyone with half a brain would have read OP’s resume and saw ‘native Russian speaker who graduated from a Russian university.”
“Only a complete idiot would read that and then decide ‘I’m going to reject this native Russian speaker with a Russian university degree as not being proficient in Russian.'”
“One doesn’t need to know any Russian at all to know OP is proficient in Russian.”
“What an idiot.” ~ AbleRelationship6808
“NTA- you missed out on a wonderful sounding job, due to a person who clearly wasn’t up to scratch and had no business interviewing someone fluent in the language.” ~ Angelblade92
“NTA. She isn’t qualified to do her job, and lied about the results of the interview.”
“The business that employs her requires a knowledge of the language and she’s pulling the wool over their eyes.”
“Not your concern, and I hope you’re able to interview again.” ~ ELSquared71
“NTA. She took a job she shouldn’t have, and the consequence of that is that the team suffers.”
“She would have been found out eventually.”
“Not only that but she specifically is the reason you didn’t get the job because she was afraid she would have been found out had you been hired.”
“She was trying to keep a job she didn’t deserve leaving other more qualified people to suffer the consequences.”
“I hope they reconsider your application.”
“And don’t feel bad about her.”
“I’m sure she’ll find another scam soon enough.” ~ Ehgender
“And there were probably struggling people who could’ve used that job who she denied.”
“If he job was really so important to her, and she absolutely had to lie to keep her source of income, then in her spare time after getting this new job responsibility, she should’ve been getting language lessons, Rosetta Stone or something else online.”
“Instead of relying on whatever translate thing she was using.” ~ RedditUser123234
“NTA. She was being dishonest and threw you under the bus to save herself.”
“She got what she deserved. I’m sorry you lost out on the job.” ~ DarkAthena
“NTA. It sounds to me like she denied you a job opportunity because she was afraid that you would know that she cannot speak Russian.”
“And for that, she is a bad person and deserves to be fired.” ~ hellahellagoodsh*t
“NTA. Her poor language skills made you miss out on your dream job.”
“That’s not on you, you were simply being honest.”
“OP you might wanna email that same higher up to see if you can re-interview seeing as this wasn’t your fault. Good luck.” ~ Dark_Phoenix25
“NTA. This is really one of those situations where what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – this lady denied you a job because she was incompetent at hers.”
“She can clearly go lie and get another job somewhere else.” ~ rmric0
“NTA. As a man who uses google translate to communicate and build a 2nd language, yikes.”
“Good warning signs.”
“She wasn’t fluent in the language. She lied.”
“If would be figured out eventually.”
“What was her plan?”
“Take a job where she needs to speak Russian and hope she never runs into a native speaker?” ~ Thediciplematt
Well OP, Reddit is behind you.
You may have lost out on a job you were meant for due to another person’s negligence.
There is no wrong in seeking the truth.
Hopefully, you find a position worthy of you soon.