Job hunting is a ritual of humiliation where you hand over your data for free
Job hunting has become a humiliating ritual where candidates give away their data and barely get a reply. An analysis of the criticism of Spain's recruitment process.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Job hunting: humiliation, free data and no respect for candidates
In the Spanish labour market, a candidate can spend hours filling in forms, taking personality tests and handing over personal data without the company even revealing the salary. And all so their profile ends up in a database sold to third parties. The recurring complaint is not just the humiliation of the process, but the asymmetry: the candidate gives everything, the company nothing.
The business of candidate data
Platforms like LinkedIn have become mere traffickers of personal data. The CV, salary expectations, phone number and even psychometric tests turn into merchandise. One user recounts that after applying to several vacancies, his inbox fills up with spam. Another complains that companies don't even look at CVs: they filter them with AI, which discards them without anyone having seen them. The paradox is that the Seguridad Social (Spain's social security agency) already holds your employment record, yet they make you fill it in again.
A concrete example: a self-employed blacksmith-welder says he was offered €70,000 gross a year for a position in Spain, while another interlocutor replies that with fluent English he should be earning €150,000. The discussion reveals that salaries do not always match qualifications, and that the selection process is often an arbitrary obstacle.
Networking as the most effective method
Several participants agree that direct contact or word of mouth is the only effective route. One IT professional confesses he has never found a job through the Internet, only through friends or contacts. Another details how he improved his salary by €4,000 gross a year, plus working hours and health insurance, simply by talking to his direct boss and bypassing HR. The message is clear: the real labour market runs on trust and recommendation, not digital forms.
Alternatives: direct contact
Some users propose skipping the job portals and sending the CV directly to the head of the department. They consider tech-driven processes with AI filters a waste of time. The recommendation is to visit the company in person or find the manager on LinkedIn and contact them directly. This approach, though less scalable, seems to deliver faster and more dignified results.
The debate even drifts towards the founding of sects as a career utopia, but underneath lies a systemic criticism: today's selection process is designed to control and squeeze, not to find talent. While companies complain they can't find workers, the process itself drives away the best candidates. The question nobody answers is: how much talent is lost along the way?
Related discussions in the forum
In the Spanish labour market, a candidate can spend hours filling in forms, taking personality tests and handing over personal data without the company even revealing the salary. And all so their profile ends up in a database sold to third parties. The recurring complaint is not just the humiliation of the process, but the asymmetry: the candidate gives everything, the company nothing.
The business of candidate data
Platforms like LinkedIn have become mere traffickers of personal data. The CV, salary expectations, phone number and even psychometric tests turn into merchandise. One user recounts that after applying to several vacancies, his inbox fills up with spam. Another complains that companies don't even look at CVs: they filter them with AI, which discards them without anyone having seen them. The paradox is that the Seguridad Social (Spain's social security agency) already holds your employment record, yet they make you fill it in again.
A concrete example: a self-employed blacksmith-welder says he was offered €70,000 gross a year for a position in Spain, while another interlocutor replies that with fluent English he should be earning €150,000. The discussion reveals that salaries do not always match qualifications, and that the selection process is often an arbitrary obstacle.
Networking as the most effective method
Several participants agree that direct contact or word of mouth is the only effective route. One IT professional confesses he has never found a job through the Internet, only through friends or contacts. Another details how he improved his salary by €4,000 gross a year, plus working hours and health insurance, simply by talking to his direct boss and bypassing HR. The message is clear: the real labour market runs on trust and recommendation, not digital forms.
Alternatives: direct contact
Some users propose skipping the job portals and sending the CV directly to the head of the department. They consider tech-driven processes with AI filters a waste of time. The recommendation is to visit the company in person or find the manager on LinkedIn and contact them directly. This approach, though less scalable, seems to deliver faster and more dignified results.
The debate even drifts towards the founding of sects as a career utopia, but underneath lies a systemic criticism: today's selection process is designed to control and squeeze, not to find talent. While companies complain they can't find workers, the process itself drives away the best candidates. The question nobody answers is: how much talent is lost along the way?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (88 replies).
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