Woman reveals she added hidden watermarks to presentations after she caught manager taking credit for work

A woman has recounted the steps she took to ensure that her work was being attributed to her, after noticing that her boss was taking credit for her work.

Cristina, 25, who goes by the username @cristinasevcenco on TikTok, posted about her experience in a TikTok shared in January, in which she revealed that she now attaches a watermark, a digital image or line of text that identifies it as hers, to all of the work that she submits.

In the video, Cristina began by gesturing to her laptop and acting out her manager “presenting [her] ideas to higher management as being hers”. The TikTok then transitioned to a shot of Cristina sitting with her hands clasped, with the text caption: “Me hiding my signature so every time someone downloads it, a watermark is added to it.”

In the caption, the TikToker joked about receiving “urgent calls” from her managers as a result of the watermark.

The video, which has since been viewed more than 3.7m times, prompted many viewers to request a tutorial about watermarking from the TikToker, while many others recounted their own similar experiences.

“TUTORIAL NOW,” one person commented, while another said: “Tutorial please. This just happened to me this week.”

In a follow-up video, Cristina revealed that she began taking the precaution when she was working as a brand manager for a popular dental health company and witnessed her manager “happily presenting” her two-week market research. According to Cristina, nothing had been changed on her presentation, except her manager had included her own name on all of the slides.

“And that was the moment I started reaching how to watermark a PowerPoint,” Cristina continued, before sharing a tutorial with her viewers.

In the video, Cristina added that she doesn’t understand why the tactic isn’t “common knowledge,” as she urged viewers to research how to watermark, because “in corporations, especially in the ones that I worked in, it’s very toxic and it’s very common for people to actually steal your work”.

“I hope I never have to use this but thank you for sharing!” one person commented, while another viewer said: “Thank you, this is very helpful! I have had several presentations stolen, I will do this in the future.”

Someone else added: “Women teaching women and I love it.”

While reflecting on the experience to BuzzFeed, Cristina revealed that she eventually approached her manager about the situation, but that her concerns were ultimately brushed off.

“I tried explaining to her ... It was never about promotions or bonuses, it was more about their recognition and their pat on the back for me,” Cristina said, adding that her manager “quickly brushed it off” and moved on to the next subject.

And while many of Cristina’s TikTok viewers were eager to try the trick for themselves, she noted that she faced consequences in her own career for employing the tactic.

“Days later, she asked her manager to talk to me about ‘how things work around here,’” she recalled. “My career definitely slowed down. She didn’t give me as many projects anymore, [and] she was talking to everyone about how to perform better, [except] me. Later on, I found out they replaced me and I had 21 days to find another job.”

As for what she learned from the experience, she told the outlet that she’s realised it “doesn’t always have to be a competition”.

“We can work together to grow. We don’t need to seal from each other,” she said, before acknowledging that sometimes she feels like “that’s just a dream”.

The Independent has contacted Cristina for comment.