The location is convenient, I guess.

Interview questions:

As soon as the interviewer sat down (less than one meter away from the interviewee), they said in a very rude tone, “Take off your mask.”

First, the attitude was very poor. Second, why couldn’t I wear a mask when having an intensive conversation at close range with someone else in an enclosed space? (People who are mindful of COVID-19 might find this very speechless.) Third, if they wanted to see my face, they could have phrased it more politely.

During the interview, the interviewer asked about: five strengths, three weaknesses, past salary structure, personal information about family members, work experience (and, immediately after I had just said that I was still currently employed, asked the bizarre question of why I had left a job in a certain month), reasons for wanting to leave, and went on at length about the business qualities and specific family background supposedly required to be a good headhunter.

They asked for extremely detailed information about family members (even though the interviewee had already indicated that they did not want to discuss it further, the interviewer continued asking). It felt quite disrespectful of personal privacy.

Interview process:

1/ Process: Fill out a standard résumé form (about three full A4 pages), a health declaration form, and a personality assessment, followed by an interview with one interviewer

2/ Total time spent: One hour (half an hour filling out forms, half an hour in the interview)

Summary:

Finding the right headhunter is important. If you don’t know which headhunter contacts are problematic, you can refer to reviews on Gu Ge; they consist of experiences shared by people who have been through it.

I believe every headhunter has to deal with a great many interviewees every day and works hard. After all, repeating the same actions many times can inevitably make one numb. If fatigue causes impatience to surface, I also hope everyone can find a balance between work and life. After all, we are all working or looking for work, and it is not easy for anyone. I hope we can be understanding of one another.

1/ Overall evaluation: If you want to gain interview experience, you can give it a try, but you may want to think more carefully about whether to actually take the job. The interviewer I encountered gave an overall impression that was truly, truly, truly unprofessional!

2/ Examples: Some problems with meeting scheduling (another interviewee arrived at around the same time as I did, but I was interviewed first; the other interviewee apparently waited nearly an hour), no reminder that you need to arrive early to fill out the standard forms (which take about 20–30 minutes), disrespect for interviewees’ personal privacy and attempts to inquire into detailed personal information about family members, an arrogant and rather careless attitude, and repeatedly kicking me with crossed legs without apologizing.

3/ Total number of interview rounds: There are three rounds in total (I only made it to the first round, but honestly, that’s fine.)