# Verity Automated Screening — Conversational Escalation Matrix (v6)

**[SATIRE]** — by The Satire Desk · inspired by an AI screening bot and a broken-link rejection

VERITY AUTOMATED SCREENING — CANDIDATE FLOW
Conversational Escalation Matrix — v6
Internal. Do not send this to a candidate. It counts as a response, and responses create obligations.

PURPOSE
To route candidate replies into one of four buckets, only one of which is “continue.”

INTERPRETATION RULES
• A candidate who answers in words where a number was requested is “non-compliant.” Re-prompt. If they answer in words again, this is “creativity,” which we do not process.
• A candidate who selects an option we did not display (“below” when we wrote “above”) has found a defect. Escalate to Tier 2. Tier 2 does not exist. This is intentional — it keeps the ticket open forever, which is cheaper than closing it.
• A candidate who asks us to resend a link: see BROKEN INPUTS.

BROKEN INPUTS
If a link we sent does not work, this is a deliberate measure of attention to detail. Do not fix the link. Log the candidate as “noticed something,” which is disqualifying. Candidates who do not notice keep the role in play; candidates who do are correct, and being correct is not a requirement we advertised.

SALARY
If a candidate names a number and we name a lower one, do not counter. Do not decline. Do neither, in writing, and let the ambiguity settle. Ambiguity is free. Add a line about a “final internal review” if a record of the exchange is ever requested.

OUTCOME NOTIFICATION
Where possible, notify nobody. Silence scales. Where a notification is unavoidable, keep it to one line and one decision, and never the same decision we gave the hiring manager.

CLOSING
Thank you for your interest in a process. We will be in touch within three business days, or never, and we will not specify which.

— Verity Automated Screening. Every candidate is a number. Please supply only that.

*Source: [Inspired by recent AI-screening and broken-link hiring stories (via r/recruitinghell / News18) · fiction — Verity Automated Screening is invented](https://www.reddit.com/r/recruitinghell/comments/1wtyuiw/engineer_looking_for_work_please_consider_sealed/)*

> ⚠️ SATIRE — clearly labelled fiction. Do not cite as real events.

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