Job interview- partner says my presentation is shit

[Greenginghamdress]

I need mumsnet wisdom.
I have a job interview on Friday. I would like the job but not desperately as I like my current job but it would be a payrise and I like the look of the company.
I had to create a presentation of my skills prior to the interview. I spent a good deal of time on it. I have not done this for an interview before. I rehersed it in front of my partner tonight. He said it was shit and awful! That theres no theme or anything that stands out about it! Having looked again, he's probably right. PowerPoint isn't my strong point. Theres plenty of information and supporting data but it may not look the part.
The problem is, I've already emailed it to the recruiter as we were instructed to do in advance.
I'm gutted and thinking of pulling out of the interview as I wont be able to stop thinking my presentation 'Is shit'.
Should I pull out or go ahead?
YABU - Go to interview
YANBU- Do not go

Please be honest but not brutally so as I'm in tears at the moment.

When I interview, the main thing a presentation is for is to demonstrate logical thought, and the ability to string ideas together, along with an understanding about the job (eg, in your case, the skills required).

Stay calm, practise what you are going to say and speak with authority. You've got this!

Your boyfriend is a dick for his criticism. It is unfounded and unjustified and speaks more about his character than your abilities.

To be frank, it may be true that your Powerpoint is shit. Or it may not. Your partner wasn't as tactful as he could have been but better that he was honest so you have time to prepare rather than leaving you exposed and telling you it's great when it's not.

It would be stupid not going to the interview. If you don't go, you have ZERO chance of getting the job. If you do go, anything could happen including you getting the job.

So stop crying, put your big girl pants on and prepare to wow them in the interview.

Easily sorted, OP - if the ppt presentation looks a bit shit and the content is dry, use tomorrow to prepare content to verbally fill it out that isn't included in the slides.

Remember, the worst presentations are the ones that are just read word for word from the slides. The interviewer won't be expecting you to just read what you've sent them anyway!!

Oh, and GO!

Don't let the words of your (rather harsh) BF stop you!

Good luck, OP!

As you're not that bothered about getting this particular job....I say go for it.

what have you got to lose ?

Your presentation probably isn't shit. Your partner is definitely shit.

pay not attention to your boyfriend.
is he always so unkind and unhelpful?

It's unlikely to be the look of the presentation they're assessing you on and it sounds like you're more confident in the content.

I would be seriously reconsidering my relationship rather than the interview.

Depending on what he's like, he might be saying that because it's actually good and he feels threatened. Is it a big step up, would you be earning more than him, is it a job he'd like himself, or similar? If he thought it was lacking something he could have said "May you could add XY or Z here or here" or something. Saying it's shit is trying to bring you down for some reason.

I've been with men who've done this kind of thing and they were supposedly "nice" men. One freaked out when my salary approached his, didn't even match it.

Assess objectively: is it shit?

If yes, fix it and email over the new copy saying you want them to use this one. They won't care.

If no, have a glass of wine and practice in front of the mirror.

This. Also there’s a good chance nobody’s going to be looking at it closely, or not till the last minute.

Slides quality is unimportant. I present constantly in my job. What matters is doing the thinking to communicate clearly.

Pre-covid and pre-maternity leave, I’ve sat through a lot of presentations from professionals at various stages and in a number of sectors. I’ve even paid speaker fees for some of these presentations. Most were shit. It helps to be able to deliver a good presentation but giving a bad presentation won’t stop people seeking your advice and it doesn’t diminish your knowledge.

Go to the interview. Then even if you don’t get a new job, you should definitely get a new boyfriend.

Slides are meant to give you some support, not do all the work. The work will be coming from you. You're the one doing the talking, so you should go because they don't know what you're going to say! Just be confident.
You boyfriend's a real prick...! If you get the job, take your mum out to dinner and tell him you'll be home late!

Did he mean theme as in the appearance of the slides or the structure of the content? Either way he was an arse for feeding back in such an unconstructive manner. I've never worried too much when recruiting how a presentation looks, it's about how the candidate brings it together and makes their points verbally, and the research they've done if applicable. If you can tidy it up a bit and send the 'correct' version then fine, if not then just go in, br engaging and confident and sell yourself. It's about you and your skills. You are the world expert on this. Go and share your knowledge!

Is your partner always like this?
Is he trying to sabotage you for some reason?
If there was an issue with the presentation he could have come up with some constructive criticism rather than saying it's shit and awful.

Thanks everyone.
Yes its the appearance of the slides he thinks are poor.
I need to decide what looks better; emailing a new presentation tomorrow or sticking with the one I have?

The appearance is sth you can still change I think. I wouldn't change the content but the appearance is not a big deal as the questions they've prepared are still fine imho but I've never interviewed anyone like that tbh.

I’d really like it if you could come in and explain this stuff to the entire bloody civil service. How many words can you fit on a slide? Can you condense a 300 page word document into one slide packed full of tiny font?

I despair all day long, every day at the awful things done with PowerPoint around me.

good luck with your presentation @Greenginghamdress

I think you're probably better sticking with the one you have. Sending over another makes it look as though you're disorganised or trying to have more time to prepare than everyone else.
You can add emphasis by the way you present and spend less time on slides that you feel are weak.
Next time, ask your bf for feedback before you send it over. There's no point getting feedback when it's too late to do anything about it.

Make some alterations and then email the new one

I wouldn't ask the boyfriend for feedback ever again given how he chose to give it.

I’d say that the content is more important than having used something other than the basic theme on PowerPoint.

Tbh, something really plain can be much more accessible for people. So there are plus points for a less fancy looking PowerPoint presentation.

Ha! I interviewed someone a few a weeks ago who started his presentation saying he’d rehearsed to his 11 year old who told him it was shit so he had seriously thought of not turning up.

the 11 year old was pretty spot on. It was really a verbatim speech on PowerPoint slides with no images. The presentation was only part of the process and his interview was excellent.

Good advice from @polkadotclip The powerpoint is a visual aid, not the presentation. It should support what you say, not reproduce what you say.

Best of luck!