Workplace reviews and discussion: 華擎科技股份有限公司

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I interviewed for a position in the marketing department.

As soon as I arrived, the receptionist handed me four double-sided pages of questions and said it was a test that would be collected after 30 minutes. The questions were generally about marketing theory, but they were very unlike questions that someone who understood marketing would write. Toward the end, there was an open-ended question:

Please plan an online and offline marketing campaign and demonstrate how online data can be converted into offline results.

⋯⋯⋯There was no context at all, yet they expected the applicant to write an answer. How was I supposed to write it?

As soon as the 30 minutes were up, the receptionist came in, collected the test papers, and left without saying anything.

After a while, Mr. Liao came in. I stood up to greet him, but he barely acknowledged me. As soon as he sat down, he said, “So you’re unemployed now?”

I replied, “Yes, that’s why I’m here for an interview. Should I introduce myself first?”

He looked down at my résumé and did not answer immediately.

When I began introducing myself, he told me to do it in English.

I said I wanted to use Chinese, and he said, “So you don’t know English?” The way he spoke made me completely unwilling to continue the interview.

If someone does not even show respect during an interview, what reason is there to continue? So I said, “That’s right, I don’t know English.”

He then stood up and said, “Then you’re not suitable,” and left immediately. After gathering my things, I went to the front desk to retrieve my résumé. The receptionist called him and said he refused to return it. Then the receptionist said, “Otherwise, you can talk to him yourself,” and handed me the phone⋯

I told the man that my personal information was on it and that I wanted it back. He raised his voice increasingly, saying, “It’s the company’s property. We can’t give it to you,” and then hung up on me⋯⋯

He immediately stormed out and loudly confronted me, asking, “So what exactly is your problem?” He said that if I was afraid he would leak it, I could sue him, and otherwise I should come back and see him—while insisting on not returning my résumé⋯

His wording was extremely harsh, and his attitude was terrible. At one point, I even wondered whether he was drunk. During the conversation, I asked him to speak more quietly, but he completely lost his temper. He still insisted on not returning my résumé and then simply walked away.

I was left standing at the front desk, completely dumbfounded⋯

I later asked Human Resources to handle it and was finally able to retrieve my résumé. The HR manager said that he was from Hong Kong, so he was more direct when speaking, but this should not be the reaction of a marketing director at a publicly listed company, regardless of which country he is from.

This interview experience was absolutely unbelievable.

However, the HR staff were very friendly; it was just Mr. Liao’s attitude that I found impossible to commend.