This is the third installment of Breaking In Asia’s “The Asian Dream” series. In each new episode, we take a first-person look at Westerners’ work, love and life interactions in Asia. This week’s installment examines one mid-career American man’s attempt to land a job with a tech startup firm in Singapore.
By Michael DuPay
These are the actual interview questions I was forced to answer during my chat with Talent Acquisition Specialist Jennifer Chang, Procyon Corp, Hong Kong, for the position of Content Hub Specialist (Thanks so much for calling!) Although I answered each question to the best of my ability, I have left out the answers so as not to jeopardize a possible callback.
Q: If you could be any fintech app, what fintech app would you be and why?
Q: When you were alive during the last century, did you ever wonder what working and living would be like during this century? Describe the major changes you have seen, without talking too much about rotary phones or how great it was to be a hippy on Bali back then.
Q: Please describe your previous work experience in 280 characters or fewer.
Q: Who is your favorite cosplay/anime character and why? Describe what that character would do if confronted with allegations of sexual harassment in the office.
Q: We currently have an employee who is not meeting our work expectations. Without getting into too much detail, please explain the steps you would take to retain this person, given that our company policy is to never confront anyone over potential work-related incompetencies.
Q: We see you have some hair growing out of your ears. Please tell us about that.
Q; We see from your application that you know several nontraditional foreign languages. How difficult are they to operate on your iPhone and what relevance do they have for blockchain technology?
Q: You are a company executive interviewing a prospective candidate for an open position at your company. During the interview, the interviewee looks at you in a knowing but office-appropriate way. Do you:
- Put your hand on his/her/their thigh and take things from there.
- Immediately invite him/her/them on a trip to Berlin/Acapulco/Bangkok
- Hire him/her/them as the head of HR
Q: Do your goals include not dying within the next 10 years?
Q: Being an old person with a different microaggression set, how do you deal with much younger employees who criticize your interpretation of “business casual” office dress while staring at their smartphones and picking the scabs off their new tattoos?
Q: Without looking at your smartphone, can you tell us what day of the week it is?
Q: You are at your standing office desk and notice a floral scent wafting over from your younger colleague’s space. You peer over the non-boundary partition and see he/she/they are vaping. Do you
- Comment that you have never had the pleasure of inhaling such an exotic floral hemp scent
- Tell the person their vaping is bothering you and to please take it outside
- Unleash a Bob Marley-type blunt you used to smoke back in the day and ask they person if they wouldn’t prefer to “get so high you’ll forget what a shit era you’re living in.”
Q: Please describe how you felt when you opened your first email account with AOL.com and what steps you could have taken to advance your technological skillset instead of clinging on to old concepts like “sticking with what you know,” dedication, compassion and civility.