大數據股份有限公司

Very close to the MRT station

This company proactively sent me an interview invitation for an administrative assistant position (salary: NT$32,000–40,000).

During the first interview, everything was about the administrative assistant position (which was perfectly normal). At the end of the interview, HR said they were also looking for a sales assistant and suggested that I consider it. However, my résumé did not mention anything about wanting to try a sales assistant role, so I politely declined at the time.

During the second interview, HR initially said they hoped I would consider the sales assistant position. I first interviewed with the administrative manager, and later they even directly arranged an interview with the sales manager. Before entering the company, I had no idea that I would be interviewing with the sales manager. I also told the manager that I was not currently considering a sales assistant position. However, the sales manager was very direct and said that the sales assistant role consisted of work that others did not want to do or did not have time to do. I did not want to feel that I had been tricked into coming in if I ultimately chose the sales assistant role, so he explained it plainly. After the interview, HR again hoped that I would consider it and said that the job duties would not be as extreme as the manager had just described.

The next day, I proactively asked HR to speak by phone. HR mentioned that there were indeed other candidates for the administrative position and said they thought my personality suited the sales assistant role, while another candidate was completely unsuitable. I repeatedly stated that I was not considering the sales assistant position, and we scheduled another call that afternoon.

During the afternoon call, I clearly stated that I was not considering the sales assistant role and explained why. HR said it was a pity and expressed hope that we might have an opportunity to work together in the future.

At that point, I assumed I would not communicate with this company again because we had clearly reached an impasse and had no consensus. I also constantly felt that the company was using the administrative assistant opening to lure candidates in. This made me extremely unhappy; I felt I had been deceived into attending an interview and had wasted my time. As a result, I scheduled three interviews for the following week.

However, the following Monday, they called me four times. I did not answer, which gave me a strong sense of urgency. I finally answered the fifth call. I happened to be on the MRT on my way to an interview. HR said they respected my decision not to consider the sales assistant role and that, after internal discussions, they felt I was better suited to the administrative position. I further explained that after our call the previous week, I had assumed that meant they would not be hiring me, so I had arranged other interviews and needed to wait for their results. At first, I said I could respond as early as Wednesday and no later than Friday. HR felt Friday was a little too late, so I eventually said I would respond on Wednesday (I happened to have one interview each from Monday through Wednesday). I also said that other companies had offered salaries of NT$38,000–40,000. HR said the salary was negotiable and also mentioned that the receptionist had already resigned (which explained why they were so eager to find someone). After the call, they still did not tell me approximately what salary they could offer.

On Wednesday, they sent a message saying that they would respond as early as that afternoon and no later than the following afternoon. (I still had not received the results of my interviews that week, and I still did not know the salary.)

The next day, I spoke with HR. They did not proactively tell me the salary; only when I asked did they say it was NT$36,000–37,000, with a year-end bonus of one to two months. I said I was expecting NT$38,000 (I had also clearly stated the salary range offered by other companies during the previous call). HR said the maximum they might be able to negotiate was NT$37,000, but that they still needed to discuss it with the manager. I also said that I was still considering other companies, since I had only just interviewed with them. During the call, however, HR twice said, “Originally, we were supposed to receive your answer yesterday (Wednesday), but now that it’s today and we still don’t know, it’s a little difficult for us to handle this.”

I do not understand what that statement was meant to convey. First, was I supposed to confirm that I would join the company while the salary was still uncertain? Second, I had already explained that because of the way things were handled the previous week, I thought our process had ended, and that I still had other companies to interview with and needed to wait for their results. I believe that was reasonable.

The following Monday, I proactively sent a message apologizing for not being able to respond at the agreed time the previous week. I said that, regarding the matters that were supposed to be discussed with the manager the previous week, I could start at any time if the manager agreed.

On Tuesday, while checking 104, I discovered that the administrative assistant position had been closed. Only afterward did they send me a message saying that they would discuss the matter with the manager.

On Thursday, we had a phone call. They directly stated that my start date would be three weeks later and explained why it would take so long before I could start. They said the offer would be sent no later than the following Wednesday, but did not mention the salary at all. I proactively asked about it, saying that I had mentioned my expectation of NT$38,000 the previous week and that they had said they would discuss it with the manager. I asked what the result was. HR replied, “The highest we can offer is NT$37,000,” and then said that the manager had thought I would have confirmed the previous week whether I would start, which was why it had been delayed until now. (Did the manager know that I had no idea what the salary was and still expected me to start?)

During this period, another company sent me a confirmed offer. I thought this company would send me an offer as well, so I declined the other one.

Two days ago—the deadline HR had given for sending the offer—I sent a message asking about the status of the offer notification. The day before, HR replied that the company was still making its final decision internally regarding the candidates and expected to contact me by noon the next day at the latest to confirm.

The content of today’s call was that they had chosen another candidate. I then asked whether the previous week’s call had not meant that everything was already confirmed. HR said they were still conducting interviews and explained that, if the decision were confirmed, they would roughly indicate when the offer would be issued, and that there were other candidates as well. They also said that the other candidate had more experience, but that the salary they were offering was still NT$37,000.

I do not care what the other candidate is like. The issue is that this back-and-forth dragged on for a month. They repeatedly changed their position, used an administrative assistant opening to recruit for a sales assistant role, and then came back to me when the previous administrative assistant had confirmed their resignation and they were genuinely short-staffed. They pressured me to respond quickly, did not proactively disclose the salary, and, by the end, led me to believe that they had definitely decided to issue me an offer. Only then did I find out that they had kept me waiting while pretending they would send me an offer, before choosing another candidate.

I do not know whether this was solely HR’s handling or whether others within the company were also involved. It makes me feel that a company that appears to have a good working environment could show such disrespect toward job seekers. I understand that HR was under pressure because they were short-staffed, but that does not mean they can treat an interviewee this inconsistently. At first, I even told my friends, “I have no problem with this company; it’s this HR representative I have a problem with.” Every phone call left me inexplicably angry. But now I do not know whether anyone besides HR was involved in coordinating this.

I sincerely hope that other job seekers will not experience the same situation.

No pros

The interviewer was incompetent and only talked superficially, saying shallow things. They are someone whose knowledge is assumed to be great simply because they hold a high position.