‘Then why call me?’ — Singaporean woman left stunned after hiring manager compared her to experienced candidates
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SINGAPORE: A woman with only six months of internship experience said she felt humiliated during a job interview after the hiring manager bluntly compared her to other candidates with years of experience.
She recounted on an online forum that this was the very first virtual interview she managed to secure after sending out countless applications. She described how she went in genuinely excited, eager, and fully prepared, thinking this might finally be her break after weeks of silence and rejection.
Then came the moment that completely caught her off guard. Midway through the interview, the hiring manager looked at her and asked, “We have people with three years of experience interviewing for this position, so why should we hire you?”
“I was stunned at that time and puzzled, honestly. I wanted to respond with a question asking, then why did he call me back for an interview?” she wrote on the r/singaporejobs subreddit on Friday (Aug 22).
“And there were many other things that ticked me off about the interviewer. He was not a boomer but was acting like a boomer. I know many people in management positions have this MC (main character) syndrome with no actual backbone or ability, and he seemed to be one of them.”
Although she kept her thoughts to herself during the interview, she admitted the encounter still lingers in her mind.
“Those unsaid words haunt me until now. I wish I said whatever I wanted to say to that hiring manager. I don’t think it is right that we have to beg and grovel for a job that much,” she said.
“And we should be standing strong and asking for fair compensation and respect. If what he said was indeed true, our begging and grovelling for jobs probably contributed to a job market where someone with 3 years of experience still had to look for an intern position.”
“You could have easily turned it around to your advantage.”
Her post quickly drew responses from fellow Singaporeans. While some sympathised with her frustration, many others defended the hiring manager, saying the question wasn’t necessarily meant as an insult but rather as a way to test her confidence and ability to pitch herself despite her lack of experience.
“Not surprised you didn’t get that job. If such a basic question stumps you and gets you all defensive, I wouldn’t want you in any of my teams working on complex deals or projects. Such questions are not designed to belittle or downplay you,” one individual said.
“Yeah, this is a pretty standard question for any candidate (why should we hire you instead of other candidates). Judging by your negative reaction, maybe the hiring manager made the right choice to not hire you,” another chimed in.
Others agreed, saying the woman could have seized the moment to highlight her qualities instead of taking offence.
One wrote, “You could have easily turned it around to your advantage — good attitude, willing to learn, clean slate so easier to learn new SOPs procedures than for someone experienced to unlearn their mindset or previous learnt knowledge, etc. Experience doesn’t always win.”
Still, not everyone agreed. A number of users sympathised with her, saying that while the question itself might be fair, the way it was phrased could easily come across as condescending.
One user commented, “I don’t know why the comments are so inflammatory, but I am on your side — what did this interviewer want by bringing up that there is someone with 3 years of experience applying for the intern role?? Lol, are they not embarrassed??”
Another remarked, “This kind of interview question tells you the culture of the place. Run.”
In other news, a domestic helper took to social media to share that she has been feeling anxious and struggling with panic attacks while working for her current employer.
Posting in the Direct Hire Transfer Singapore Maid/Domestic Helper Facebook group, the helper said she has been working in her employer’s three-storey home for the past two months, where she and another helper care for six bedrooms and seven toilets.