A job hunter confessed that she stayed on what was supposed to be a Zoom interview for 30 minutes after the people who were supposed to be conducting the interview didn’t show. It seems that this wasn’t a unique experience in what’s been an increasingly frustrating job market for some.
TikTok creator Sragvi (@sragvipattanaik) posted her video on the platform on Feb. 25, getting more than 892,000 views, 66,000 likes, and a lot of comments indicating this content was extremely relatable.
The short video conveys its content through the on-screen caption, “Staying onto a no-show interview call for 30 mins because I am poor and desperate.” The video uses the Nintendo Wii Mii Channel song to accentuate the sense of waiting. Sragvi shows herself waiting, followed by a view of herself projected on her MacBook screen while in the Zoom room waiting in vain for the interview to start.
Judging from the commenters who chimed in, this is a distressingly familiar experience.
“I emailed after waiting 30 minutes and they replied with a rejection,” one shared.
Another reported, “I waited like 45min and I sent an email around the 20min mark and I was just completely ghosted. Not even an apology or anything.”
@sragvipattanaik rough out here #interview #college #premed #job ♬ nintendo wii (mii channel) song – julie on the internet
“I went to an interview where the manager was 2.5 hours late and I waited,” another shared, “and she didn’t give me the job.”
Someone else shared, “The job field is so ridiculous that I did an online interview, got rejected, went to a hiring event for the same place a week later and got hired on the spot.”
Forbes, in an article about 2024’s developing job market, noted, “Over the past several years, the participation rate of prime-age workers from ages 25–54 in the labor market experienced one of the largest surges we’ve seen in over 20 years, bolstered by elevated immigration levels after the pandemic and the return of previously sidelined workers.”
It then added, “The prediction for 2024 is that an increase of younger workers will continue to join the workforce if the labor market remains tight and immigration flows stay high,” while also noting that increased AI usage could also impact the job market.
However, as at least one commenter pointed out, the competitive job market may be freezing out younger workers who haven’t had time or opportunity to accumulate experience. That person joked, “Do you have the required 10 years experience in order to join the zoom call.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.