1. Very easy to communicate with (basically, just listen to her and respond to some of her questions, all of which were about work philosophy)

The following is my personal experience of the interview. I interviewed for a general affairs position (the stated schedule is a five-day workweek with fixed Saturdays and Sundays off; I have forgotten the exact start and end times, but I got the impression that leaving work on time would not be possible—you can only leave after finishing your tasks (does the workday ever end?); the interviewing supervisor was a female manager wearing a religious bracelet).

1. This is a position with responsibility-based working hours. For example, if the POS checkout system used by store staff cannot be opened, you may still have to go to the store and handle it, even on a holiday. I also asked whether there was an MIS department and was told there was not. I then asked whether the POS system company could provide remote maintenance on holidays, and was told that the contract with the POS system company only covered weekdays; because emergency handling fees are more expensive on holidays, they had not signed a holiday service contract. If the air conditioner or refrigerator breaks down, there is an affiliated operating unit (with the same owner but a different company name) that can carry out repairs. However, I got the impression that it would be best to pray nothing breaks down on a holiday; otherwise, you may also have to handle these matters on your day off. (They did not mention whether working on a holiday could be exchanged for compensatory leave.)

2. Clocking out at the end of the workday feels unfair. I have forgotten the exact working hours, but I vaguely remember that overtime could only be applied for after working an additional hour, and it required the supervisor’s approval. You could only leave after finishing your tasks, so clocking out on time gave me a subtle sense of being wronged. The key point is that there is no overtime pay; the system is entirely based on compensatory leave.

3. The entire office is your backup. During the interview, I asked whether, if holiday attendance might be required, there would be a designated backup person who could serve as a second contact. The interviewing supervisor said, “Everyone is your backup, so don’t worry!”

4. Although the official schedule is a five-day workweek with fixed Saturdays and Sundays off, when a new store opens, everyone in the office has to provide support (for approximately one month). You can choose either one Saturday or one Sunday, and take the other day as compensatory leave on a weekday. (This is what I had in mind, but the interviewing supervisor gave me the impression that you could accumulate it and use it “later” when traveling abroad.)

My impression from the interview was that you should not know too much—just enough is fine—because you may be asked to support other departments. I can understand that there are few people in the office, but when it comes to helping out, I personally see it as a matter of personal relationships and favors, so I will not say more!

Finally, regarding the salary, it was acceptable: about 3 out of 10. The reason I ultimately did not accept the offer was that I want to rest completely on holidays and do not want messages and phone calls interrupting me at unpredictable times.