A digital marketing executive candidate was left frustrated after an online interview with a real estate company took an unexpected turn. Initially hesitant due to the offered Rs 5 LPA (lakhs per annum) salary, matching his current compensation, the candidate proceeded after being promised a better package.
The interview started well but took a surprising turn when the interviewer posed a complex question seemingly out of sync with the advertised pay level. "Let's say the real estate company has Rs 100 crore in inventory, which is 74 flats, and the population of Nagpur is 4,00,000. What would the CPL (Cost Per Lead) be?" the interviewer asked.
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Caught off guard, the candidate attempted a calculation, estimating Rs 200-300 as the cost per lead. Reflecting later, he realised a better approach would have involved assuming "a 1% conversion rate from the population - so, 1% of 400,000 = 4,000 potential leads. To sell 74 flats, we'd need at least those 4,000 leads. If a marketing budget had been provided, I could have divided that by 4,000 to estimate CPL."
The candidate, while acknowledging the question's solvability, expressed frustration at not being mentally prepared for such a complex query, particularly for a role with a relatively modest salary.
"The question wasn't impossible, but I didn't expect it at all - especially not at this pay level. I'm just frustrated because I know I would've nailed it if I had mentally prepared for something like that," he wrote, concluding the post.
The incident shows the sometimes mismatched expectations and interview practices in the job market, which leave job seekers in the lurch.
