To be gobsmacked that an interviewee openly told dh that he had looked at our accounts…

[ChampagneWorries]

On companies house?

Dh did an interview today via zoom and the interviewee openly told him that they had looked at our company accounts on companies house to see if we were a healthy company!

Our dividends are on there and I'm really shocked that he basically admitted to being so nosey.

I know they are public information (which i disagree with) but they do show the company income, how much cash was in the bank and our salary etc.

Dh wants to offer him the job as he had some good qualities, but this has really put me off him.

I know people do look at peoples companies on the companies house, but you don't bloody tell them surely?!

Would you still offer him the job?

You sound really weird OP. The candidate did their homework on the company, including looking up on companies house. I would absolutely do this before an interviewed.

Don’t hire him. He’s too good for you.

I can’t believe you’d rather he’d either lied by omission, or missed a crucial detail.

My main question though is why you’re so closeted about your business accounts? IME this kind of anxiety around public accounts goes hand in hand with dishonesty.

@ChampagneWorries

Its the fact he’s told dh that he had looked at them.

Fine to look for your own security but i think it was off to admit it.

I would of thought he would of said that he had looked at our website, reviews etc not bloody financial information!

I hate people knowing our salary and how much is in the business bank etc.

I would never say that to an interviewer.

You're being ridiculous.

Your reaction is very very bizarre. Any. Or am person would look at the accounts and mentioning it showed they did their research …. Very normal.

Are you embarrassed that you blatantly take dividend to avoid tax .

OP, I can understand why you feel like it's a bit intrusive, but he WNBU. He was very sensible. You get the tax benefits and limited liability of incorporation, you also get a bit of public oversight.

Also what @123ZYX said about your accountant.

You’d rather an employee was sneaky & not upfront? You have odd priorities in an employee...

I work for a plc and anyone who hadn't looked at the report and accounts online, whether via the website or Companies House before coming for interview, would probably not get very far.

Public information and basic due diligence.
Why WOULDN’T you look?

@ChampagneWorries

Its the fact he’s told dh that he had looked at them.

Fine to look for your own security but i think it was off to admit it.

I would of thought he would of said that he had looked at our website, reviews etc not bloody financial information!

I hate people knowing our salary and how much is in the business bank etc.

I would never say that to an interviewer.

You can always register abbreviated accounts, so that anyone looking sees the overall picture, but not the specifics - Directors' salaries, dividends etc.

I'd be impressed at his level of initiative, who would want to work for a failing company, especially these days?
From what you've said, it does sound like he'd be better off aiming higher.

How long have you had this business, OP? It's quite bizarre that you don't understand how this works, and why there should be transparency about limited companies' accounts.

If that is your attitude I wouldn’t want a job working for you.You need to take a good look at yourself,you are the weird one here.

I’m afraid you ABVU. A company director I used to work with would ask candidates during interviews if they had bothered to look at the accounts of the business. Why would it bother you that someone had done their research?

It's right he told dh he had looked, there's nothing to admit to
It shows that he can do his homework and not just turn up to an interview.
If everything else was fine, I'd have offered him the job.

I think your reaction is completely bizarre. The fact that you want to squirrel away your company's financial information sounds really dodgy, to be honest!

The guy sounds pragmatic, thorough and genuinely interested in the position. He could be a great asset. You, on the other hand, sound batshit.

I agree with virtually every other poster on this. You are being unreasonable.

Your candidate has shown integrity, honesty and initiative. If you don’t hire him then I’m sure someone else will be along who admires and respects those qualities.

As an aside, my favourite takeaway disappeared from Deliveroo recently and I checked their accounts to see if they were still trading It’s publicly available information and I was very pleased to find they had a healthy turnover. They were back a few weeks later so all is good.

You do realise it's not your money, your bank account he's looking at?

Or is that the problem?!?

It sounds like he did his research. What's wrong with that?

Very bizarre response OP. He hasn’t looked at your personal bank account...

This is bonkers

Do you not understand the internet? In what way could it be unreasonable to say that you've looked up relevant information that literally everyone in the world has access to? It's not like he tried to hack your Facebook profile or your private DMs

He has done absolutely nothing wrong, OP. In either looking, or saying he looked.

Why are you so bothered about people knowing what's in your company accounts when that's standard practice, OP?

You know some companies - gasp - publish their entire pay structure? It's good for transparency and (at least in theory) helping to iron out pay discrepancies for minority groups. Unless the whole point is that you earn a lot and make a lot of profit and want to pay very little...

I was offered a very high paying director job for a startup company for satellite solar panels and space systems electronics. Well they were 5yrs old, so not brand brand new but new for the space business. I did research their company to include looking at all their financial statements and could plainly see that it was horribly mismanaged, had never turned a profit, and seemed to shark for bank business loans to pay its directors (which I would become) ridiculously high salaries and it was obvious to me they’d ultimately fold and pheonix. They also did production in Mexico in plants that I knew had horrible labour conditions and zero health/safety and zero environmental controls. You can honestly get a feel for a company’s health and its ethics just by researching it. So I turned down the job and stayed in my lower paid but more moral/ethical company. .

I'm sure they can see your house if the business HQ is there too.
I've seen lots of vans on streets with the company name, in front of their lovely homes.
Come on OP, if you can't stand the heat, maybe the kitchen isn't for you.