An engineering student who scored well in the highly competitive the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) faced an ironic setback during a campus placement interview.
In a surprising twist, the student was rejected — not for lacking skills, but for being overly ambitious due to his GATE qualification. The incident, shared on the r/Btechtards subreddit, has ignited a heated online discussion about recruitment practices.
The student shared their experience on social networking platform Reddit, explaining how his GATE success led to his disqualification.
"So I recently appeared for a campus placement interview and guess what—got rejected not because I lacked skills, but because I qualified GATE. Yes, GATE, the national exam that’s supposed to prove you’re competent in your field," they wrote.
They expressed frustration, noting, "I thought interviews were for assessing potential and skills—not predicting whether someone will stick around forever like it’s a marriage proposal."
The GATE exam is a prestigious benchmark of technical and academic excellence, paving the way for postgraduate programmes, public sector jobs, and research opportunities.
However, for this student, his achievement became an issue, as the recruiter viewed his qualifications as a sign of short-term commitment.
The student’s post resonated and garnered several reactions. Many netizens sympathised, with one calling the situation “hilarious and kind of sad.”
Others offered practical insights, suggesting the student may have “dodged a bullet.” Another user remarked, “Recruiters aren’t there to validate if you’re good or bad, they’re there to fill job vacancies. If someone leaves soon, it reflects badly on them.”
