Overview

• A Mumbai job seeker detailed on Reddit on May 29 that the director of a marketing agency and an HR representative asked about earning family members and marital plans during an interview
• The post has received over 200 upvotes on r/IndianWorkplace and spurred a flood of user accounts describing similar irrelevant pre-interview queries
• Candidates report being quizzed on details such as their father’s occupation, household income, number of siblings, parents’ jobs, residential pin code and EMIs before any formal interview was scheduled
• Observers contend these intrusive lines of questioning are a tactic to measure applicants’ financial stress and willingness to accept less favorable job conditions
• The online discussion has brought attention to a broader pattern of invasive recruitment practices in India and prompted calls for stricter professional boundaries in hiring