Techie with 25 years of experience baffled by job application: ‘How did you perform in mathematics in high school?’ | Trending

A tech industry veteran with 25 years of experience took to Reddit to express his frustration over a job application that required him to disclose his high school grades. The applicant, who has been in the workforce for decades, was baffled by the outdated criteria, prompting him to share his experience on the subreddit r/recruitinghell.

In the post, user u/iamdesertpaul uploaded a screenshot of the job application form, which asked, “How did you perform in mathematics at high school?” and “How did you perform in your native language at high school?” Both questions required a selection from a drop-down menu.

Additionally, the application demanded justification for the responses, instructing candidates to refer to “provincial, state, or nation-wide scoring systems, rankings, or recognition awards, or to competitive or selective college entrance results such as SAT or ACT scores, JAMB, matriculation results, IB results, etc.”

Frustrated with the requirement, the techie captioned his post: “I have 25 years of industry experience, went to apply to this role… I’m not filling this garbage out. I haven’t been in high school since 1997.”

His post quickly gained traction, with many users agreeing that such outdated hiring practices are counterproductive. Some commenters mocked the system, questioning why employers still prioritize high school performance over decades of professional experience. Others shared similar experiences.

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Take a look at the post:

A user wrote, “That is some micromanagement BS”

Another added, “it’s Canonical. I applied there recently and had to answer these questions. I was like, high school was a long time ago.”

A third added, “More like ageism. Can’t imagine what other value Canonical is getting from asking such questions. I feel like this should be illegal unless the job description explicitly states the role is for an internship or early career program.”

A fourth noted, “I know that role…I went OFF on them in those text boxes before submitting it. Companies are literal POS these days..”