Workplace reviews and discussion: 美德耐股份有限公司

HR called beforehand to ask whether I was interested in interviewing, which I thought was fairly polite.

I interviewed for a sales assistant position at the head office. They did not arrange a suitable place and instead conducted it at the tables and chairs directly in front of the staircase—in the stairwell. It was extremely hot and stuffy, and I kept getting bitten by mosquitoes. In addition to having to handwrite information you had already entered on the job bank—including a personal background survey asking about your family situation—you also had to complete a personality aptitude questionnaire first. It had 90 questions, with options A–J for each one, which was bewildering and made it very easy to check the wrong answer. The interview was also held there, with no privacy; anyone entering or leaving the elevator could observe the interview process.

What made me most uncomfortable was that the interviewer’s scoring criteria were indicated directly on the back of the résumé you had filled out. The first item was grooming, and the second was appearance and looks...... Such blatant employment discrimination made me seriously want to call the Labor Bureau to report them. The required information also included your personal financial situation, including how much debt you had (I left that blank). However, I rent outside the home, and when I left the rent section blank, they questioned me about it. I asked the interviewer why I needed to answer that, and she just evaded the question, saying that the company wanted the information to be as detailed as possible. When asked about my desired salary, the company’s website stated a minimum of NT$30,000. But when I said that NT$30,000, as listed on the company website, would be acceptable to me, the interviewer vaguely said that was only the desired salary, merely a reference, and told me to write “according to company regulations.” It felt as though I had been lured to the interview with a false salary offer.

The interview itself felt quite rushed. Perhaps they felt I was not the person they were looking for. When I asked why they had invited me, HR said it was because I had been matched with the position (even though I was notified about the interview before I had revised my résumé. Despite the gap of one to two full years, they did not check or review it before inviting me in; it felt like they were simply shooting blindly). I had not even entered the interview room yet, but the résumé form already reminded me in advance to bring and attach a 2-inch headshot. It really felt like they placed tremendous emphasis on appearance...... The next interviewee, a woman, looked very pretty and young. I hope she takes care......