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Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

I’m pretty sure I remember an article on HN a while back talking about employers demanding applicants’ social media passwords as conditions of employment, so they can go through and look for this stuff. So, in reality the applicants’ personal lives are already in the sphere.

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People ask for things they can’t ask for all the time. Being a property manager in Seattle pretty much seems to require willful ignorance of renters rights because they make money off of your ignorance.

My first job out of school I never had a non-compete because I refused to sign the first one and told them to give me another one, which they promptly forgot.

It said I couldn’t work in Internet Technology for a period of two years. My entire resume and focus. Yeah I’m not signing that. It’s just a formality it’s not a big deal. Well if it’s not a big deal you can change it right?

or, if it's a big deal, compensate you for these 2 years that you're not allowed to work in that domain.

which they would have to - even then a non compete cant stop you plying your trade

I believe some states have made legislation to prevent that.

But why would anyone ever want to work for a company that would even attempt that sort of thing? That is clearly a sign that they will not respect work/life balance.

Most job seekers are unfortunately not in a position to be picky about the job offerings. I agree it is a blatant violation of privacy though.

You know you're privileged when you ask questions like that which have obvious answers for the unprivileged...

Eh, I read it as more of a rhetorical question given the phrasing.

why would anyone ever WANT to work for a company that... vs why would anyone ever work for a company that...

That was my intention, if a company requires that sort of info and invasion of privacy, they are going to be a terrible company to work for. Out of necessity some people will need to work for those terrible companies. In an ideal world, those companies should be told outright to "pound sand" or less politely to fuck off.

>But why would anyone ever want to work for a company that would even attempt that sort of thing?

Sometimes you don’t have a choice. The only place I worked where they demanded this was my first job out of college and I’d already been selling plasma and working part time third shift at a warehouse trying to keep my apartment while I was job hunting.

It’s scummy but sometimes you need money and can’t say no, and employers know that. Especially unskilled positions or entry level jobs where you have zero leverage.

To this day I'm disappointed that no potential employer has asked me for this kind of information during the interview process. I am genuinely curious what kind of emotional response a hiring manager would display when told to go fuck themselves in front of a room of their coworkers.

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