🎉 The company using candidates for free work....

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Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

Layoffs. LinkedIn ChatGPT scams. Eight-Step interview process. Disney star turned venture-backed Space CEO.

We sure have a party for you all today!

PARTY PLAN 🎉

😡 Using candidates for free work

🤖 ChatGPT LinkedIn scam

✖️ Latest in layoffs…

🚀 Disney Star to Space CEO

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

JOB MARKET

The Company Using Candidates for Free Work…

We've all heard the stories about companies being shady during the interview process. Ghosting candidates, rescinding offer letters, etc.

But this may be one of the worst examples: using candidates to do a bunch of free work and never hiring anyone. Who tf would do that?!

It’s normal for companies to assign take-home projects to candidates. But it’s not normal for a 4-step interview process to turn into an 8-step interview process.

According to @designalily on X (Twitter), Eight Sleep, a company that makes mattress covers, did that to her, and a bunch of others. But maybe she’s just salty she didn’t get the job?

Well here’s the story in her own exact words via this thread on X…

“I recently interviewed at Eight Sleep and it was the most demanding take home I've ever had. Their brief: "Create an in-app experience for a new product, integrating the existing app and flagship product." Even linked their design system and font family to use.”

On top of this, you were required to put together a one-hour Zoom presentation, separate from the onsite interview. The compensation for any of this? None.

In the first call, the recruiter told me it was a 4-step interview process, with a take home that was “a few hours for wireframes.” I’m usually extremely hesitant to accept ANY take home, but they made it sound reasonable.

As I passed rounds, they added more interviews with no real explanation. The 4-step process progressed into a 7-step process, 8 if you count completing the take home challenge. They also required each interview to be scheduled on a separate day.

After I posted this on Linkedin, multiple candidates reached out to me that (including a previous coworker) that they had this EXACT same experience, step by step. They were led on about the interview process, then steps were added, and then blindsided with this take home.

Originally, I didn't reveal their name until I discovered they were INTENTIONALLY doing this to others. Given these times with 1000s of people applying for any opening, and how much unpaid work could be sourced, I reveal them to warn others. We stand together!”

Maybe it’s time that Eight Sleep rebrands to Eight-Step Interview Process.

AI

ChatGPT LinkedIn Scams

According to a new report and intel from the UN, hackers based in North Korea are using ChatGPT to launch intricate cyberattacks against American white-collar workers.

The hackers are using language models like ChatGPT to target workers in sectors like cybersecurity (hacking on expert mode, nice) defense, and cryptocurrency. LinkedIn seems to be the platform of choice.

So how are they doing it?

Hackers are using ChatGPT to create fake recruiter profiles that send a series of trust-building messages in order to trick users into clicking on malicious links or revealing sensitive information.

Don’t fall for the fake messages!

Some of the hackers are even getting real jobs with their fake profiles…

This report comes less than a week after Microsoft and OpenAI announced that they disrupted five state-affiliated cyberattacks from groups in China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran (the usual suspects).

In Altman we trust!

LAYOFFS

The Latest in Layoffs

• Scottsdale-based airline Set Jet abruptly shuts down, canceling all future flights, terminating all employees.

• The Chicago Tribune is laying off 200 employees.

• Short-term rental operator Sonder announced that it would lay off 17% of its workforce.

• Wells Fargo reportedly had another round of layoffs this morning and are shutting down an entire branch in Portland (500 people), per employees.

• **Hundreds of rural hospitals are in danger of shutting down in 2024 and 2025 due to operating losses, almost half of rural hospitals are currently losing money.

• Mesa Public Schools to eliminate 385 positions for the 2024-2025 school year - including hundreds of teachers and staff.

• Petersen Healthcare, which operates around 100 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the US Midwest, is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

• Farfetch cuts up to 30% of jobs - 2,000 employees.

• Fort Worth ISD will eliminate 133 teaching and other admin positions.

• San Diego Unified School District to lay off a significant number of teachers due to nearly $100 million budget shortfall and declining enrollment.

• Last week, Nike said that it will reduce its workforce by about 2%, or more than 1,600 people, in a bid to cut costs.

• Toast to eliminate 550 employees in latest sign of tech sector shakiness.

• Cleveland-Cliffs, North America's largest steel producer to lay off 900.

• Strategic Financial services is laying off 838 employees. Strategic move.

• Cisco to eliminate up to 10,000 employees. Latest estimates suggest actual number will be ~4,125 for now.

• Morgan Stanley Is Laying Off Hundreds In Wealth-Management Division.

• Continental Tire to eliminate 7,150 jobs.

• CalTech, (California Institute of Technology) to eliminate 521 jobs, or 25% of their workforce.

For more, check out MacroEdge.

CAREERS

Disney Star to Space CEO

Maybe you remember Bridgit Mendler from Disney Channel. Maybe you’ve heard a few of her songs.

Turns out, she’s been busy since her days starring in Good Luck Charlie.

Mendler, now 31, has built quite the impressive resume. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2016. She received her Master’s from MIT (along with a Doctorate in Philosophy). And received her Doctor of Law from Harvard, while being the Co-President of Harvard Space Law Society.

But if all that wasn’t enough…

Mendler recently announced that she has co-founded a venture-backed Space Data startup called Northwood.

Built different.

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