An Indian engineering student said no to an internship opportunity with a US-based company after the employers put forth a bizarre and intrusive demand. In a viral Reddit post, the student shared that the company with mostly Indian workers wanted him to keep his webcam on throughout his workday.
Claiming to Tier-3 college student in his third year, the student said he received an offer for a full-stack developer intern, with the possibility of a full-time position after the internship.
"The compensation was in Indian rupees initially giving 25k stipend, but after listening to my previous stipend, they agreed to pay me a 35-40k stipend and for full-time 12lpa+ offer (they said we will pay more than what you expect)" the OP wrote in the r/developersIndia subreddit.
The OP said he was comfortable working during the US office hours, but the next request from the employers stumped him.
"But here is the catch...they told you have to stay on the meeting during working hours and your camera should be on," he wrote.
Despite trying to convince them otherwise, the company did not agree, and the student decided to reject the offer. However, self-doubts soon began to creep in as the OP's seniors and friends told him he was unlikely to land such a good offer again.
“But after asking everyone, now some friends and seniors are saying I should accept the offer as I come from a tier 3 college and getting such kind of offers is difficult for me. Did I make the right choice? Or I am gonna regret this?” he asked Reddit.
Camera should be on during working hours | US working hrs
byu/unbeatable697 indevelopersIndia
Social media reacts
As the post was widely circulated, social media users calmed down the student, telling him that he dodged a bullet with the company and that better opportunities lay elsewhere.
"Nope. Nope, just tell them where they can stick their little offer," said one user, while another added: "They are going to make your life a living nightmare as time goes on. If they are trying to micromanage your work by keeping the camera on, it is just going to get worse."
A third commented: "Don't join. This is your first job, and this camera thing will destroy your mental health; you will hate the IT industry in future and will be drained out of your life."
A fourth said: "Camera on at all times means you will work as a slave. I think their productivity metric measurement is off. Given your skills, you will find something else."
