SINGAPORE: As the job market grows increasingly competitive, some candidates are finding that the hiring process itself is becoming more demanding.
Recently, a jobseeker applying for a senior executive role shared on Reddit that he was asked to complete a pre-interview task that involved creating a short presentation outlining a six-month plan.
According to the jobseeker, the presentation had to cover several components, including “campaign ideas, target audience, specific partnerships, rough budget allocation, and success metrics.” The assignment also required him to include at least one campaign that adopts a full 360-degree marketing approach.
“I understand that maybe they want to test my strategic thinking, but I’m wondering if this level of detail is typical or if I should be cautious about sharing too much,” he said. “It also caught me off guard when they asked me to send the deck to them so they could flash the deck for me on the day.”
Adding to his uncertainty, the company’s HR representative also declined to disclose the salary range for the position when he asked about it.
At the end of his post, he asked the online community, “For those in marketing or hiring roles, is this a normal interview task? Just wondering, if they were to really use my plan, is there realistically anything I can do legally about it?”
“Normal for marketing roles.”
In the discussion thread, Singaporean Redditors told the jobseeker that pre-interview assignments like this are actually quite normal, especially for marketing and senior roles. Most agreed that the task is meant to test a candidate’s strategic thinking, not to steal their ideas.
One said, “Normal. Nobody is going to steal your plan or ideas as a senior executive. In fact, if you do end up joining, you will probably end up so frustrated that nobody is listening to your ideas.”
Another wrote, “Normal for marketing roles. But please make sure it’s a sample case study and not something they can steal from you.”
A third commented, “Sigh, if you are not keen to work for an agency, then don’t do this assignment, lor. I don’t think they are stealing ideas from you.”
In other news, a man who aspires to be the ‘house husband’ in his future family has been slammed online for stating that he wants a ‘girlfriend in Singapore who earns more than him.’
In a post on the r/SingaporeRaw subreddit, he wrote: “Why do I have to earn more than my girlfriend? I want a girlfriend who earns more than I do. If I want to have children in the future, it’s pretty much a necessity for her to earn more than I do to support us, since I’m not earning much.”
