Boss rejects candidate for playing guitar, running marathons: 'Kaam kab karega?'

Having extra-curriculars on one's resume can be a double-edged sword since these might or might not align with the job requirements. Often extra-curriculars such as team sports are preferred but those like playing a certain musical instrument not so much. 

Amid the raging debate around 90-hour work weeks and work life balance, Tatler Asia COO Parminder Singh recalled when his Indian boss rejected a candidate because of the extra-curriculars mentioned in his CV.

These extra-curriculars were playing guitar and running marathons, while adding his boss did not let him hire the candidate.

"Once a candidate applied to my team for a marketing role in India: Besides being a capable marketer, his CV mentioned that he runs marathons and plays guitar. My boss didn't let me hire him, saying, 'Yeh aadmi yeh sab kuchh karta hai to kaam kab karega?' I thought such managers were extinct. Turns out they aren't," Singh said in his post on X. 

He added that he regrets that he could not hire the young candidate and that the incident took place many years ago. "Since many of you asked -- I couldn't hire him, and I regret it. This happened many years ago. I've been away from India and assumed things would have changed, but it looks like they haven't."

Singh further cited Google as an example and called excellence a "transferable skill". "Compare this to my time at Google, which had an unwritten policy: if you excelled in the Olympics, you could walk into a Google office and get a job."

The debate around the 90-hours work week gathered steam after Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman SN Subrahmanyan advised his employees to work 90-hour work weeks and that he regrets he cannot make them work on Sundays. 

The remarks were made during an internal meeting with the employees. He further questioned the employees on wanting to spend time at home.

"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at the husbands? Gert to the office and start working." After the undated video went viral, social media users and corporate leaders have condemned the L&T chairman's take on work life balance.