9-month jobseeker says preparing presentations only to be rejected is worst part of the process

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean who was retrenched and who’s been looking for a new job for nine months now published a rant on Reddit, saying that they are feeling “so discouraged” by their job search at the moment.

The post author, u/rgruyere, wrote in a Nov 28 (Thursday) post that since their endeavour to find a new job began, they’ve gone to 60 interviews, inclusive of second and subsequent rounds, as well as five PowerPoint presentations.

They wrote that getting so far in the application process only to be rejected is the most difficult part of the job search, as, quite naturally, their hopes, having risen, are suddenly dashed.

They called getting rejected not when one applies or speaks to a company’s human resources staff but when one is “pretty far into the process” both “upsetting and discouraging.”

However, it’s even worse when one prepares PowerPoint or other types of presentations, when one invests time and effort, “only to get an email in the end that they have gone with someone else.”

The post author also raised the point that a job applicant won’t know if the ideas they presented would get stolen. On the one hand, an applicant needs to put their best foot forward. On the other, they run the risk of getting their ideas stolen.

“I wish I don’t have to do the powerpoints but I don’t have a choice – my role requires them during the interview process, and not doing it means I’ll lose out on an opportunity,” u/rgruyere added.

In a comment, they wrote that they work in digital marketing.

Many Reddit users have since responded to the post, with several saying that they are in the same boat as the post author.

One wrote that they put in several hours of work on a PowerPoint presentation, only to be told that hiring was frozen at the firm after they submitted it.

“This is a tough time for job seekers,” the commenter added.

Another wrote that they had such a negative experience applying to one company and being asked to prepare a presentation that they automatically walk away now when proposal ideas or a presentation is asked for.

Some commenters wrote that asking job applicants to make a presentation is a common tactic for “farming ideas.” Another added that there are companies that do this with applicants who were retrenched from rival firms in the hope that they will still have company secrets. /TISG

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