‘If you’re not confident, then get lost! People like you will never succeed! Stay poor!’ — CEO brutally rejects SG job applicant for being honest AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: In a jaw-dropping Reddit revelation that reads like a corporate horror story, a Singaporean jobseeker shared how a supposedly routine interview spiralled into a verbal smackdown—courtesy of a CEO who clearly missed the memo on professionalism.

The post, made in response to The Independent Singapore’s earlier story “‘Bro, chill, I’m here to get a job, not to fight you’ — SG jobseeker tells SME boss who’s ‘so combative when interviewing applicants’,” adds fuel to the fire about workplace toxicity—especially in SMEs.

“I remember this sales role I applied to. They put me through three rounds of interviews,” the job seeker wrote. “The first two rounds were great; the hiring manager told me she liked my resume, and she feels like I am a good fit for their company.” However, for the third round, that’s when the red flags turned into a full-blown carnival. “The last role was with their CEO [over the phone]. I felt like I was scolded throughout the interview,” he added.

The CEO opened with his “no-nonsense” demand: “We are a results-based company, so if I gave you a timeline of six months, how many sales will you be able to bring in?”

Trying to be honest and thoughtful, the job candidate asked, “Sir, this is an enterprise system, yes? Can I find out the sales cycle of the product I am selling?”

The question posed was a big mistake, as it seems, in this situation. Apparently, asking reasonable, clarifying questions is a sin in this CEO’s rulebook:

“I don’t need you to start making excuses. I ask you for a figure; just give me the figures! I can already tell you are full of bull (expletives used),” the CEO snapped.

Still holding onto his dignity, the applicant tried again: “Sir, if I were to be working for you, I want to be honest with you. I don’t want to be over-promising you. You will get full transparency from me.”

However, that was the final straw for the CEO, who completely lost the plot: “Cut the bull (expletives used)! Just give me the figures. How is that difficult to do? If you are not confident, then get lost! I don’t need people like you! People like you will never succeed! Stay poor!”

That was his verbatim, and the man was interviewing for a job, not trying to escape a pyramid scheme.

The jobseeker, understandably done with the CEO’s uncivilised attitude, delivered his final word with dignity intact: “Then I don’t want to work with you. I feel you are a bad boss. I love myself too much to work with you. Thank you and goodbye.”

Interview or interrogation?

Commenters rallied behind the candidate, calling out the CEO’s conduct as not just toxic but self-sabotaging.

“Interview is a two-way street,” one Redditor said. “This kind of boss will only get people who are currently desperate (but will move to other professional employers when they have an option),” he added.

He also explained that when that happens, such toxic bosses “will have a negative confirmation bias, saying workers don’t stay lah, workers cannot produce lah.”

“The one who truly can produce will have the option to work with a better boss than this bodoh (stupid),” he concluded.

In an age where employer branding matters and top talent are no longer afraid to walk away from red flags, this story is a stark reminder that respect is indeed a two-way KPI, bro.

Read related (in case you missed it): ‘Bro, chill, I’m here to get a job, not to fight you’ — SG jobseeker tells SME boss who’s ‘so combative when interviewing applicants’