WTF day.
I dedicated almost the entire day yesterday looking for a job, and there was this one particular firm that I was skeptical of applying to. I knew, if I had applied on that, I would MOST PROBABLY get the job or get an interview invitation. I don’t know why I felt like holding back, but my intuition was telling me that I should I apply LAST to this firm.
Maybe because I read their company profile and it did not make an impression on me?
So then, I clicked on ‘apply’ when I finished looking for work online. Took a short nap (about 3 hours), and by the time that I woke up, I got an interview invitation the next day at 8AM! 8AM FOR CHRIST’S SAKE! It was like a whirlwind!
The invitation was a text message, also telling me to send back a reply as a confirmation. I was still hesitant to do anything about this firm. I just had this gut instinct that I will not like it.
I didn’t send any confirmation of my attendance for their interview, I even stayed up late to watch Street Fighter - The Legend of Chun Li. Then I got the same interview invitation after a few hours saying I should confirm—I still didn’t do anything about it.
But then, my conscience was telling me this COULD BE my chance! Its an opportunity that I am ignoring without even trying! So I slept, setting my alarm at 5AM in the morning because I had to consider the travel time and traffic.
Woke up very early the next day. Got off the house on time but the traffic was ridiculous which made me half an hour late for the interview. I did manage to text a confirmation of my interview attendance on my way.
The building where the office was located was old and the outside seemed gloomy because of the dust.
I didn’t have a hard time looking for their office. There was a bond paper stuck on their clear doorway with their company name. I greeted the receptionist and she let me wait. I looked around to observe my surroundings. No Air condition. Just those fancy electric coolers. Two, for the tiny lobby that they have.
Finally, the interviewer came to see me. She shook my hand, which I did not expect her to do, but did it anyways and smiled at her.
She led inside the office which surprisingly was a spacious room—resembled that of an average classroom size. Whilest walking into the office, there were three other rooms that were again, behind glass doors. The one in the middle was a closest resemblance to a computer shop here in the Philippines. Wooden partitions in which the box monitors rested in between and people were quietly doing their business. On the wall next to the glass door of this room wrote: recruitment.
It seemed that the scenario was they were ‘playing’ online games like counter strike, except they were not playing. THEY WERE WORKING FOR RECRUITMENT! In those small wooden partitions!
In my thoughts, I shuddered in horror. No. I don’t want to be enclosed in there along with those twenty people that most probably were hunting in the internet for possible applicants.
The interviewer had led me into a spacious corner. Just a photocopy machine right next to her table and four red plastic chairs across it.
She spoke hastily and started to interrogate me about my work experience. I know that my previous work was not impressive at all. Because I wasn’t able to meet what is expected of me. I told her the entire truth about it. I didn’t bother explaining why or what I could possibly do for their firm. She never bothered asking anyway.
I saw this impression on her face that I did not like. Her brows furrowed as she read the company name in my resume. She did not read it correctly, but I did not bother to correct her. It was a teaching related work, and she asked why I wanted to pursue ‘recruitment’. So then I explained why.
Then, the interview was finally done. She said something like: “I will send your application to the lead team…” which I had to apologize for, because she spoke too hastily I needed to affirm what she just said.
“I’m sorry. Did you say you were sending my application to a client?”
She repeated her answer, only this time noticeably slower—as if mocking me.
I just ignored it but I certainly did not like the way she interviewed me. Does she even think that she is better than any other applicants that she is interviewing?
She then asked me if I had any other questions.
I asked if their office was new. Because seriously, it looked so empty. Shelves were empty and there were no machines nor telephones that I could see. Not even on the desk that we used during the interview. She said the office was up since 2004.
I’ll never go back to that firm again, and if I did not get the job, that’s fine. Its not my loss. I am competent and I know what I am capable of. Her interviewing skill was extremely poor and she could never know what a candidate can offer for any of their clients. Her interrogation skill was not efficient. She obviously thinks she is ‘actually’ good in english, I could tell by the way she mocked me when I kindly asked what she just said.
I feel mocked for what she just did. I know that some people in PH think that people who are capable of expressing themselves in english think that they are elite. But the truth is, no matter what—ENGLISH WILL ALWAYS BE A SECOND LANGUAGE especially to those WHO ARE LIKE ME. Born and raised in the Philippines!
Its ridiculous how this woman think highly of herself just because she thinks she speaks proper english! I bet she has never gone to any english speaking country anyway. I dare her to go and try visiting English-speaking countries and mock the natives of their native tongue if she thinks she is better than any other person or applicant she had!
