‘Hire me for free’: Indian woman desperate to stay in UK offers to work for free, netizens criticise

An Indian student living in the United Kingdom on a graduate visa has sparked an online debate over her LinkedIn post, where she offers to work for free. An MSc graduate in Mechanical Engineering, Swetha Kothandan, shared her journey on LinkedIn after moving to the UK in 2021. 

After completing her degree from the University of Leicester in 2022, Kothandan said she worked tirelessly to find a visa-sponsored UK job, but she had still not found one. Now, as her visa is expiring in three month, the young woman has offered to work for free for a month. 

Her LinkedIn picture screams, “Hire me for free for one month. If I don’t deliver…. Fire me on the spot. No questions asked.”

My Graduate Visa EXPIRES in 3 months, repost this to help me stay in the UK,” the woman further pleaded on LinkedIn.

“The job market feels like there’s no value for me, my degree, or my capabilities… I have applied to 300+ jobs and got a handful of useful feedback. This LinkedIn post is my FINAL chance to secure a long-term future in the UK,” she wrote. 

Not only did she say her employer could fire her without notice or compensation if they were unhappy with her work, but She even promised to work overtime and without weekly offs, so that she could stay on in the UK.

The Indian student, who was looking for a “visa-sponsored Designer Engineer role” also boldly offered to work 12 hours a day to demonstrate her skill.

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The woman’s post was shared a month back, which has now gone viral on LinkedIn and Reddit. It garnered mixed reactions from social media. While some criticised the woman for going to “ridiculous” lengths to avoid returning to her home country, others slammed her for creating unrealistic expectations for employers.

“Responsibly ruining the image of Indians abroad and, in turn, severely hurting the chances of those genuine candidates who can make it big abroad. This is usually the case with most rich/spoiled folks who don’t think twice before pursuing a Master’s abroad, and when reality hits them in the face towards the end of the graduate program, it’s game over. Sad state of affairs” wrote one user. 

“The desperation is palpable. They will do anything to avoid coming back to India,” commented another. 

“Working for free thinking companies would not take advantage of it and creating this entire hell hole all together is crazy , in this job market? Why the f**k are these grads doing it? What in name of wanting to be slave,” said a third.

(With inputs from agencies)