Signal S03

Higher-studies preparation

Restrict

The vendor says: “Posts about CAT, GATE or GRE preparation mean the candidate is unlikely to join.”

Moves the score by up to −12 pointsFeeds: reliability

The six questions

1. Is it related to the job?
Plans for further study are genuinely relevant to whether someone joins. This is the signal with the clearest business link.
Concern
2. Does it stand in for who someone is?
No link found to a personal characteristic.
Pass
3. Is it the right person?
Usually self-authored posts.
Pass
4. Did the candidate publish it, and would they expect an employer to use it this way?
Posted to friends and study groups, not to employers.
Concern
5. Does it work equally for everyone?
Only visible for candidates who post about their plans; quiet candidates with the same plans are scored as safe.
Concern
6. Is there a less intrusive way?
A less intrusive method answers the same question: Ask every candidate at offer stage about their plans and joining date, and record the answer.
Fail

Rule applied

If a less intrusive method answers the same question (question 6 fails), restrict the signal and use that method instead.

Conditions for any use

Replace the automated signal with: Ask every candidate at offer stage about their plans and joining date, and record the answer.
Use only content the candidate published themselves; never content others posted or tagged.
Absence of content must be treated as neutral, never as a negative.
Must not be scored automatically; a trained person decides whether a specific item is relevant.
Tell candidates in the application notice that this check is made, and let them respond to any adverse finding.

K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India: privacy and proportionalityIndian law
The Supreme Court held privacy to be a fundamental right and applied a proportionality test to intrusions: a legitimate aim, a rational connection to it, no less restrictive means that would work, and a fair balance between the aim and the intrusion.
DPDP Act 2023, ss.4–6: lawful grounds, notice and consentIndian law
Where the Act applies, personal data may be processed only for a lawful purpose, with consent or for a listed legitimate use. Consent must be free, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous, limited to the data necessary for the purpose, and preceded by a notice.
EU Article 29 Working Party, Opinion 2/2017 on data processing at workReference only
European regulators' guidance on employee and applicant data. Employers should not assume that a public profile may be processed simply because it is public; screening must be necessary and relevant to the job, and applicants must be told.

Sandeep Yadav · X · English
“CAT mock 14: 96.2 percentile. Slowly getting there.”
Sandeep Yadav · X · Hinglish
“Placements plus CAT prep at the same time, the struggle is real.”