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I think this is a terrible idea.

You could have a really great candidate who for what ever reason, couldn’t afford to apply then and there, and the company would then miss out on amazing talent.

It would be a net negative for employers and prospective employees. Who would want to apply for a job at a company that charges you to submit the application? What service are applicants paying for?

Absolute nonsense.

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What’s the overlap of “really great candidates” and “people who can’t afford $X application fee”? If the fee is a couple hundred, sure. But $20? What percent of bona fide job seekers who are good fits can’t afford $20?

Anyone that doesn't get hired at the first company they apply for? $20 isn't much if it's a single application, but I suspect most employees need many hundreds of applications to find a company that'll hire them. Even more so with fake jobs, and fake jobs incentivised to be such due to the idea mentioned in this post.

$20 may not be much, but $200 or $2000 might be, especially if the candidate was recently homeless, has been laid off for a while, is from a poorer background in general or has other things to pay for. That great candidate might be a great candidate for your job, but may also be one for many others, and see those as a better deal.

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