Karma hits back: Student who insulted woman as ‘diversity hire’ on Linkedin faces her in interview

After labeling a woman on LinkedIn as a "diversity hire," an Indian student faced her during his interview. The student was "scared as hell" to learn that his interviewer was the same woman he had disparaged on the business and employment social media site.

An IITian, the interviewer's friend, shared this story on X about how "karma bites you back in ways you can't even fathom."

"One of my female friends working at a startup got a message on LinkedIn a few weeks back from a college kid asking for a referral for a Software Development Engineers-1 (SDE-1) opening; she didn’t find the resume good enough and asked him to improve it further before applying,” Pranav Mehta, the IITian shared.

The student made fun of his friend, said the IITian, a former Microsoft employee: "This guy started belittling and shaming her for being a 'diversity hire,' and that she wasn't capable of advising him," he added.

Despite receiving a recommendation for a position at a product-based company, the student was completely taken aback when learning who the interviewer was. On LinkedIn, he had accused the same woman of being a "diversity hire."

Mehta, a software engineer at the Washington-based business firm called Phaidra, continued, "Karma bites you back in ways you can't even fathom, though she didn't let the past experience affect her decision for candidature, but the guy was scared as hell."

Soon after the story was revealed, it was all over the internet, with many expressing their thoughts on it.

“Regardless of gender, etc., it’s utterly stupid to unprovokedly insult a senior employee of a company you want to work for. Even if you get hired, you’re starting off with a beef with a senior employee. Also, if the woman knew what kind of personality this person is, it could have 100% affected the decision, and it wouldn’t even be unfair,” said an individual.

“There is usually a ‘red flag’ category in interviews that is about candidate behavior. Even getting aggressively rude in the interview can land you there. It basically means may not be someone we would want to work with’,” he added.

Another Internet user said, “Even though diversity hiring exists if you are good, ain’t nothing going to stop you from getting hired. So, instead of crying, people should actually just upskill.”