The only advantage this company has for me is that it is very close to my home.
Position interviewed for: Project Manager.
Interviewers: CEO Pan Bingzong; Deputy Manager of the Project Department Lin Xiaolan. Interview duration: Within 30 minutes.
Work environment: Cluttered and disorderly. I did not see any evacuation route signs or firefighting equipment.
Note: The interview was moved forward at short notice. I received a call notifying me that the interview time had been moved earlier and asking whether I could attend on the notified date.
Interview process:
I filled out a company-created résumé form. The format provided only two sections for describing work experience, along with some basic information such as my health status and dependent status.
Interview questions:
Q: The interviewer was completely unprepared for the interview that day and simply picked apart the content of the résumé I had filled out on the spot.
A: Conversation 1: The interviewer said, “We value ability, not academic qualifications.” Then, in the next exchange, they said that because I did not have relevant academic qualifications or experience, my starting salary could only be at the entry-level rate; otherwise, other colleagues would object.
Q: Cross-departmental communication and crisis management are required for this position. The company’s website introduction also mentions expanding beyond Taiwan and transferring successful experiences to other countries.
A: I began describing my overseas work experience with competent authorities and government agencies. The interviewer then changed their wording and said that my overseas experience was not applicable to domestic projects. After the interview, I submitted information about projects I had carried out in cooperation with domestic competent authorities. A few days later, I was notified that they had found someone more suitable than me.
Interview advice
My advice and experience are as follows:
The company states on its own website and recruitment websites, as well as in its official business philosophy, that it operates according to the principles of “integrity, stability, and innovation.” For example:
Pan Bingzong, the CEO, is described on the company’s website as holding a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Occupational Safety and Health from a university, yet no such information could be found through his alma mater or thesis-search websites. Is this integrity?
In addition, the company has no public-relations crisis-management ability whatsoever.
For example:
I asked about the interview result so that I could use it as a basis for sharing my interview experience online. The company merely replied with a canned message saying that they had found someone more suitable than me, rather than providing genuine feedback about the interview. Is this innovation?
Can joining such a company really provide stability?
Finally, to those who are planning to interview at Changhui Environmental Technology, my advice is:
1. Just pretend to be a novice when attending the interview. Don’t be like me and take it too seriously by reading through all of their company information, team details, tender contents, and past performance before the interview.
2. Regardless of your education or experience, hiring decisions are subjectively determined by senior internal members of the company. Even if you were Superman, they could still rewrite the rules of the game.
Based on all of the above and my personal experience, I cannot help but wonder...
Does an environmental engineering company like this really care about creating a friendlier living environment and improving environmental issues?
Is there no problem with a competent authority appointing a person who has committed academic fraud to use public funds and taxpayer money to lead environmental education and promotion efforts?
Those of you going to interviews, please think carefully.
Meals are provided from time to time
Working hours are fairly flexible (discretionary work system)
No one trains you; you have to do everything yourself, and you’ll be worked to death
You have to endure invisible pressure
People form factions...