Singaporean woman left stunned after hiring manager compares her with more experienced candidates

A woman with six months of internship experience wrote about a virtual interview that left her rattled. The hiring manager compared her to candidates with three years of experience and asked why the company should hire her. She froze. Later, she wished she had pushed back or walked away. The comments split into two camps. Some said the line was standard and a test of composure. Others said the phrasing was condescending and revealed culture. Both can be true. That is the point. The same sentence can be a fair prompt or a red flag. The difference lives in how you respond and what you notice about the room.

I mentor founders and early operators across Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi. This situation shows up often, especially in lean markets where employers think leverage equals license. Here is the difficult truth. You will hear versions of that question many times. You cannot control the prompt. You can control your posture, your proof, and your read on culture. Treat the moment like a pitch. Not a debate.

Start by fixing the frame. When someone says there are candidates with more experience, do not fight the facts. Agree with reality, then move the conversation to advantage. A calm line helps. Try this: You likely have candidates with more years. That is fair. If you are hiring only for years, I will not win. If you are hiring for speed to usefulness in your current problems, I will be valuable. Then show them why. This removes the tug of war over seniority and puts the spotlight on their pain points.

Next, translate potential into usefulness. Teams do not buy years. They buy outcomes with less supervision and less drama. Your job is to connect your limited history to specific outcomes they care about. Use one short story that reads like an operator’s log, not a school essay. For example: During my internship, I inherited a messy CRM, rebuilt eight workflows in two weeks, and lifted response conversion from two percent to five percent. The head of sales kept the new setup after I left. That is not padding. That is clarity. It shows an environment, an action, a measurable result, and another person who validated the change.

Now prove coachability. A junior candidate wins when they can learn fast without burning management time. Say what you did to get up the curve last time. Name the manuals, the dashboards, the hours you set aside. Make it practical. I blocked an hour daily to read tickets and pattern the top three root causes. I kept a simple log and shared it weekly with my supervisor. The log led us to retire two tasks and automate a third. This is the language of leverage. Managers hear it and relax.

Then show you can hold pressure without going brittle. That is the second layer of the hiring manager’s question. He may be clumsy. He may be testing for composure. Either way, you can signal steady. Keep your tone neutral. Use short sentences. Ask one clean question that centers the work. Would you be open to sharing the first two outcomes you want the new hire to deliver in the first sixty days. I will show you how I would approach them. Notice what you did. You turned the heat into scope. You made it easier for the manager to imagine you in motion, not in theory.

If the culture looks poor, take the signal without burning the bridge. Sometimes the line is not a test. It is a tell. The interviewer enjoys comparison, not clarity. If you sense that, close with grace and gather intelligence. Thank him for the time and ask about process, ownership boundaries, and how the company handles mistakes. The answers will tell you what you need to know. You can decide to pass. You can also leave the door open for another team in the same company. Do not let one person own your story.

There is another layer to the week’s conversations. A domestic helper posted about anxiety and panic attacks in a large household. Different sector, same pressure dynamic. When power concentrates and work expands without structure, dignity erodes first, then performance. Interviews are the earliest taste of a company’s operating culture. If the pitch to candidates is built on belittling and scarcity, the work will likely carry the same energy. You are interviewing them too. Do not forget it.

Let me give you a compact script that works for junior candidates in Singapore. Keep it in your pocket and adapt it to your story. Start with alignment. I understand you are speaking with people who have more years. If you measure by years, I will not rank first. If you measure by speed to usefulness on [X problem], I can deliver. Move to one proof. In my internship at [Company], I took over [messy system or process], focused on [two actions], and achieved [one measurable result] within [timeframe]. This was adopted by [manager or team], which freed [time, cost, or risk]. Then add your learning loop. I built a weekly review with my supervisor to surface blockers early and ship improvements without hand-holding. Close with a question. For this role, what would success in the first sixty days look like. I can outline how I would get there. This is simple, respectful, and strong. It invites partnership. It also makes a poor culture reveal itself quickly.

What if you truly have no result yet. You still have inputs and method. Use a build plan. I have not shipped in production yet. Here is how I would ramp in two weeks. Day one to three, I map systems, owners, and definitions of done. Day four to seven, I draft a small scope improvement and test it with one stakeholder. Day eight to ten, I implement with guardrails and write clear notes so others can replicate. Then I ask for feedback and repeat. Managers do not expect miracles. They expect clarity and repeatable steps.

Here is a quiet tactic I teach young candidates who keep facing the experience wall. Build a tiny portfolio of proofs. Not a glossy website. A two page document with three sections. One before and after snapshot from a real project. One short teardown of a company’s public workflow with a thoughtful fix. One page of your learning cadence and tools. Bring it to every interview. Offer to walk through it when the question comes. The portfolio changes the energy. You are no longer making claims. You are showing work.

There is also a mindset shift that helps. Stop trying to be the exception that breaks their rule about years. Become the candidate that makes their rule feel lazy. When you answer with context, proof, and poise, you make it obvious that years are a blunt tool. Some managers will still pick years. That is fine. Others will pick usefulness. You only need one.

If you are reading this as a hiring manager, check your language. Comparison can be a valid filter. Delivery is what matters. You can ask for signal without stripping dignity. Try: We have a wide range of applicants, including people with more years. Help me understand where you get productive fastest and what support you need in week one. You will learn the same thing, and you will attract better candidates. Respect is a performance strategy, not a perk.

To the woman who wrote that post, I wish you had not been put in that spot. I also wish you had answered with the calm confidence you will grow into. You did secure the interview. Someone saw a spark. Next time, step into it. The line lands. You breathe. You anchor on usefulness. You share one proof. You show your learning loop. You invite a sixty day scope. If the room is respectful, they will lean forward. If the room is not, you will know early and walk away with your posture intact.

Interviews can feel like a plea. Treat them like a partnership preview. You are not begging for a seat. You are offering to earn one. That is a different energy. It changes how you speak, how you listen, and what you notice about the culture on the other side. Learn the rhythm. Practice out loud. Do three mock runs with a friend. Write your one proof story until it is tight. Then go again.

One last note. Do not wait for the question to unlock your pitch. Sometimes the prompt never comes. You can still sell your edge. When they ask the generic opener, pivot to the same structure. Two lines on alignment. One proof story. One learning loop. One question about sixty day success. You are putting the right furniture in the room. The manager can now sit with your value, not just your years.

If you remember nothing else, remember the focus keyword as a reminder of the work. The skill is knowing how to answer why should we hire you in a way that makes sense for the real problems in front of the team. You are not arguing with experience. You are demonstrating usefulness. You are reading culture. You are choosing with intention. That is how juniors win roles that stretch them. That is how dignity and performance meet in the same conversation.