People Share Examples Of Audacious Online Application Forms That Show How Shameless Capitalism Is Becoming

If there’s one thing that ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ taught us, it’s that megacorporations consolidating power and spreading concentrated corporate culture can be a scary thing (we learned that through the game’s unfulfilled promises, marketing sneakiness, as well as the actual story). But the corporate and capitalist dystopia of science fiction isn’t that far off from reality, as one Twitter user showed all of us in their now-viral post.

Twitter user Hollabekgirl, aka Beks, shared what their online job application was like and, frankly, the quiz it featured really does look like something out of ‘Black Mirror’ or ‘The Twilight Zone.’ Beks inspired others to share their own versions of what she called a capitalist nightmare and started up a discussion about workers’ rights, which answers applicants should pick, and how bold some corporations are.

Check the tweets out below, dear Readers. Do you have any similar experiences to share about applying for jobs? Share your story with us below.

Beks’ thread got over 237.9k likes at the time of writing and raised some important issues about how some companies are focused more on hiring compliant but hardworking individuals, instead of creating a fair balance between corporate goals and workers’ needs.

Bored Panda spoke about alternative ways that companies could hire people and invest in their employees with tech, AI, and programming expert Sebastián Ramírez, the creator of FastAPI and Type. His experience in the industry shows that a more positive, flexible way of doing things really is attainable—it’s not just a pipe dream.

“I really liked what they did with me at my current job. They found me through GitHub and asked me to do a small 2-week freelance job. At some point, during those 2 weeks, they thought they liked working with me, so they offered me a full-time job. I didn't even have to pass an interview, I just had to actually work, during that short consultancy project, while receiving money for that work. And they didn't have to make a long-term compromise, a lot of legal paperwork, etc. before confirming they liked working with me and deciding to offer me a full-time job,” he explained.

However, Sebastián pointed out that there are two sides to every coin. Employees, not just companies, have to change their points of view, as well. Employees have to be incredibly ambitious in their willingness to constantly be learning and improving. Not for their company, but for themselves.

“The ‘standard’ flow of life, in many cases, is to dedicate years and years while young to study a lot. In many cases without purpose, without knowing the use of all that knowledge, how to apply it, what for, etc. Then, at some point accumulate a bunch of study certificates, and never study again. Then send all those certificates with a couple of letters to a bunch of companies and expect to get hired, perform a task that could be repetitive for a long time, and then retire. But it doesn't necessarily work as expected. All the early knowledge could be forgotten by the time it's needed, or it could not necessarily apply to the problems at hand.”

According to him, it would be best if we all mixed learning and applying the knowledge in the real world, all throughout our lives. In other words—we should never stop studying and growing.

“It would be great if the main focus was not on getting certificates, getting hired, and then retiring, but on solving specific problems. It's difficult to not focus on only getting hired given that ‘living’ depends on it. But trying to also keep some focus on solving specific problems important to each one would probably help to keep that focus. And when you study with a clear purpose, to later apply that knowledge to a problem you care about, it actually becomes a source of joy, not a ‘chore,’” Sebastián explained.