Hi--I was asked to interview and make a presentation on a marketing campaign I had worked on in the past. This would be for a contract director role. I was given clear instructions to present for 30 minutes. The presentation was to address certain areas and be no more than 5 slides. I was also instructed to leave 15 minutes for questions at the end. I gave the presentation but at the end, no one asked any questions. I am feeling perplexed. Either they thought it was fine and did not have any questions or were not engaged enough to ask questions. And then they asked me if I had any questions and I was not prepared and taken aback. I put in a lot of time on this to make sure I hit every point I needed to hit. Has anyone else been in this situation where you are asked to present and get no questions?

5 Comments

1. AnonymousJune 23,2024 at 10:50PM UTC

   I haven't been in that situation, but wonder if the interviewers wanted to see how you would make use of the time when noone asked questions. They may have wanted to see if you maintain or regain your connection with the participants and conclude the presentation on a warm, positive, professional note. Sounds like it's always important to have a few handy questions ready to go if asked. Good luck!

2. AnonymousJune 25,2024 at 6:36PM UTC

   Being in marketing you should have solicited their questions. Often they are so much in judging mode and if they have not been properly prepped for what to look for are just soaking in the presentation and not thinking specifically about you. Your questions irrespective of their lack of some should have been prepared because an interview is a 2-way street and you should have used that time to ask what you need to know about how they make decisions, work together, interact with other teams, reward, etc. If this fails, ask for specific feedback ( hopefully you get some) but also give them feedback on the lack of engagement from the interviewers during your time with them. Marketing is about promotion and you might have slightly missed self promoting during their failure in the meeting. I hope to be wrong here but that is just my feedback based upon what you wrote above. Good luck.

3. GirlBossanova934974June 26,2024 at 12:44PM UTC

   I have worked in Marketing for over 25 years. From what I am reading here, it appears your interviewers were simply "checking the boxes" here. I am thinking some "higher up" came up with this presentation requirement, all the elaborate rules, and dragged a couple of fellow employees into the interview. In a REAL give and take marketing environment, your audience is going to have questions. Trust me! Unfortunately, this style of FAKE TEAM interviewing is still way too popular. I would have second thoughts about this outfit. The FIRST THING I would be trying to find out about this outfit is what has been the TURNOVER in the last 2-3 years.

4. AnonymousJune 27,2024 at 12:22PM UTC

   IMO, this is a waste of time for candidates and often used as a poaching mechanism for ideas. Apologies for the cynicism but that has been my experience. You actually did work for them and yet they couldn’t be bothered to compensate you for your time or effort in any way. This is the challenge you face when doing this type of interview and I would ask about compensation for any presentation work you do for an interview before accepting to do the work. Past project or current work, your time should not be discounted- even if it’s not what they were looking for. Lastly, always expect to ask questions about the employer. Do some due diligence on the company, it’s history, some of the key leadership you’d be working with if hired. Ask them about company culture, team events/gatherings, employee engagement, and overall metrics on how success is defined and made applicable to each team. Ask about collaboration of work and presentation methods for big projects. Ask if employees are excited by the work produced. Always keep a solid 3-5 questions in your pocket for interviews.

5. Ciera PrattJuly 3,2024 at 2:37PM UTC

   Sounds like they were fishing for ideas and maybe don’t know what they want. Either way, it doesn’t sound like a company you want to pursue. Best of luck!