'I performed on stage to get my first job' - the firms turning recruitment into competitions
Applicants have to pitch their ideas on stage in front of a panel of judges and an audience. But is this exciting or unfair?
Yumi Liberman was up on stage in front of a panel of judges and an audience of 300 people, and she had to perform.
But rather than singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument, she and two friends were in an auditorium in London in 2024 to pitch their business idea, hoping to secure a full-time job with cosmetics giant L'Oreal.
"It reminded me of when I used to do competitive sports growing up and the pressure would get heavy," says Liberman, now 24. "But somehow you just get into flow mode."
While at MTV she competed in an internal competition for a promotion that she says was referred to as a "bake-off". Candidates had to come up with sponsorship and marketing campaigns, and then pitch to a room of seven people.