Young Aussie expat reveals major red flag after she was ‘ghosted’ after six job interviews

A young job applicant claims she was ‘ghosted’ by a fashion company after narrowly turning down free work in exchange for a better chance at the job.

Florence Fahmy, a social creative and art director, has been looking for a job in London since moving from Australia a few months ago.

A recent experience detailed in a video earlier this week has the Australian expat questioning the trustworthiness of some employers.

She claimed she went through six rounds of job applications before receiving a late-night email request.

Playing “Put a finger down if…” she said, “Around 6pm on a Thursday night you get a very informal email asking you to fill out a review.

‘They never said that an assessment would be part of the application process.

“It’s a full social strategy, a launch plan, and a four-week active campaign of content that they mentioned in all your interviews. They said that would be your job if you were hired.”

Ms. Fahmy immediately became “suspicious” of the request, especially since the company had asked her to complete the task by Monday. She was therefore given one working day to complete the project.

“I am somewhat aware that this is an active campaign. To reassure myself, could you please answer a few of my questions,” she responded to the company via email.

Ms. Fahmy asked the company whether she was the final candidate for the position, whether she would be hired if her campaign was approved, and whether there was a timeline for a final offer after the review was completed.

Most importantly, she asked the company to sign a mutual non-disclosure agreement stating that they could not use her work unless she was hired or paid.

“You never hear back, ever. Technically, after six interviews, you were ignored because you were hesitant about doing a campaign for an ongoing project, because you kind of suspected that they would use your ideas for free,” Ms. Fahmy said.

Several viewers shared their own experiences with recruiters evaluating candidates.

“I did 3 interviews, the campaign, the calendar. And they decided the role was no longer needed, used everything I did. I’m pretty sure I gave everyone on their team a lesson on how to do it,” one wrote.

Another added: ‘Nine times out of ten I get ignored because I don’t take on unpaid assignments during the application process. It’s a real red flag. A portfolio and references should be enough.’

A third noted: ‘The same goes for my current role (but this was after 1 interview). I put a copyright notice on every page stating that it is my intellectual property and cannot be used without my written permission.’

Recruitment expert Graham Wynn said that while assessments are common during job interviews, applicants should be aware that companies may try to take advantage of their willingness to please.

“Employers still want a certain type of person and pay a certain wage for that. I just think pushing the boundaries a little bit too far can be counterproductive,” he said. Yahoo Finance.

When asked whether employers could legally use work submitted during the application process, Mr Wyn replied: ‘Realistically, an employer could use the work, but nine times out of 10 employers do the right thing and don’t do it.’

Ultimately, Mr. Wyn advised candidates to complete all recommended projects as long as they did not present any obvious red flags.

“We’ve all been through it and it’s still happening. It’s not a generational thing, it’s still happening. And you just have to do it,” he said.

A young Australian became suspicious of employers after she was asked to complete a huge project before being hired (stock image)

Unfortunately, the question of whether she was being abused led to Ms. Fahmy losing her job.

“If I’m going to invest time in something, I want to make sure I understand exactly what I’m wasting my time on,” she said.

The fact that they didn’t answer any of these questions is a sign that they probably wouldn’t hire me.

‘There are times when companies ask you to do assessments. I’ve done one before.

“I think there are also a lot of ways for people to share their thoughts without having to work directly for a company.”