台北遷建基地都市更新股份有限公司

1. Having a reason to treat myself to a late-night snack after the interview

2. Broadening my perspective and training my emotional intelligence

At around seven o’clock on Sunday evening, after taking a shower, I noticed a missed call, so I called back. The other party said she had seen my résumé on 104 and asked what kind of job I was looking for. We chatted over the phone in a question-and-answer format about my previous work experience, education, and so on. At first, she was fairly polite, but for some reason she kept repeating questions she had already asked. She also asked what Chinese zodiac sign I was born under and what year and month I was born in.

After we had talked for a while, she asked whether I could go for an interview on Monday. I already had another interview scheduled in the afternoon, so I asked whether a morning interview would be possible. We originally arranged for me to go to the company at 10 a.m., but then she suddenly changed the subject and repeatedly asked where I was located. She then said, “Why don’t we meet up now?” It was already around seven o’clock, and I was a little taken aback because I needed time to get ready and leave. I first asked where she wanted to meet. She said she was going to Xinzhuang to meet someone and gave me a location. Since I’m not from Taipei, I asked which MRT station was closest. I checked and found that it would take about 40 minutes by MRT. No matter how I thought about it, meeting in an hour seemed impossible, so after discussing it, we agreed to meet at nine o’clock at a certain intersection. I thought the interview would take at most an hour, so finishing at ten would still be acceptable (Yes, I was really asking for trouble.)

After hanging up, I started doing my makeup and changing clothes. I had originally planned to take the MRT, but a friend said she could take me there by scooter, which would be faster. We left at about 8:15 and rode toward Fu Jen University Station. On the way, because I couldn’t find the location she had mentioned, I tried calling her to confirm it, but her phone went straight to voicemail. At the time, I thought her phone might have run out of battery or something. My friend and I tried to find the place ourselves. We arrived at the meeting point at about 8:41, and I waited there for her.

But when nine o’clock came, she still hadn’t shown up, and her phone was still going to voicemail. My friend and I were both stunned and wondered whether we had been scammed. However, since we had already come all that way, we waited until 9:30. I called again during that time, but it still went to voicemail. As I was about to leave, I decided to call one last time. This time, she answered and asked me to wait a little longer because she had been delayed by transportation or something. I asked how long it would take, but she couldn’t give me an exact time. She only said it would be “just a little while” and told me to go to a nearby FamilyMart and have some coffee (coffee at nine o’clock at night?).

Anyway, stupidly enough, I still went to FamilyMart to wait. I ended up waiting another half hour. I was exhausted, and my friend didn’t want to wait anymore either. At ten o’clock, I called again to tell her that I really couldn’t wait any longer. The first call rang briefly and was rejected. On the second call, she answered and said, “I’m here, I’m here.” But after hanging up, she didn’t show up for another five minutes. When she finally appeared, she said she would call a taxi to take me home (?????). I told her that my friend had brought me there by scooter, so we could just talk quickly. We went into FamilyMart, and after sitting down, I briefly described my previous work experience again. She also introduced her company, saying that it had been operating for 20 years and that the cases it handled involved very large sums of money, and so on. She said that one of the company’s scriveners was leaving, and that the position required taking over the paper records and the locations of the electronic files from that scrivener. I asked how long the handover would take. She said it probably wouldn’t be long, perhaps only one week. A company that had been operating for 20 years must have an enormous amount of information. Even setting aside the electronic files, the storage of the paper records alone was worrying. Still, I let it go; it wasn’t as if I had never experienced a rushed handover before. Later in the conversation, she asked whether I could come in first thing the next morning for the handover. I replied that all my interviews for the following week had already been scheduled, and while I was waiting for her, I had also received an invitation to interview with another company the next morning. I had already agreed to attend and still needed to go. After hearing that, she said, “I’m meeting you this late because I thought your responses on the phone were quick and clever, but you’re saying you’re going to interview with other companies. What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

I was completely baffled. I had already told her on the phone that I had other interviews that week. Besides, even if I agreed to an interview, that didn’t mean I had to accept the job on the spot. I explained my situation to her and said I would give her an answer in three days. She agreed.

But at that moment, she asked an extremely absurd question:

“May I ask—because relationships between women and between men are so popular nowadays, are you one of those people too? Because I’m very opposed to that. If you are, then I can’t hire you.”

To clarify, although I can’t reproduce the exact wording of the conversation with 100% accuracy, this was the situation and this was the meaning.

I can understand that she must have had her reasons for making me wait an hour without proactively calling to say she would be late.

I believe in this company’s professionalism, and I believe that the cases they handle involve very large sums of money.

I could accept a handover period of only one week, and I was confident that I could do the job well.

But regarding such a rude question, I’m sorry, but your company and I are not a good fit.

I’m writing this post not to complain, but simply to describe what happened to me, so that job seekers who need to know can understand the situation. If you can’t accept this, don’t waste your time. If you share her views, you can hurry over there and work for them. I hope everyone can find a job that suits them and happily be themselves.