I had an interesting interview experience that I hadn't had time to record. Today, I suddenly received an offer from that company, which brought me back to the day of the interview.
First of all, the result was quite unexpected. After the interview, I usually have a rough idea of how it went, and I even complained to my roommate afterwards, saying that I definitely wouldn't pass because I couldn't continue the conversation with the interviewer at all, or I answered some questions very poorly.
The interview process was routine, as usual. They started by digging into my resume, and then suddenly asked me a question: "Divide the people at your school into five categories using tags." This was very sudden, and I may have been caught off guard, so I fell into a trap and didn't answer well. I was answering under his guidance the whole time, and after it ended, I knew I was basically done for. Then he asked if I had any favorite celebrities. I guessed that the business assessment was starting, and combined with the major mistake I made earlier, I decided to honestly express my thoughts without using too many interview techniques.
I said my favorite celebrity is Li Ying Liu Yifei. Then he made a hypothetical situation and said, "If I were her manager, then..." At this point, I thought, it's time to test how to package and operate. However, the interviewer unexpectedly presented me with a scenario: Liu Yifei is currently in a slump in the industry, but she has received a movie offer that could make her popular again, with the condition that she has to sleep with the director. As her manager, how would you handle this?
I wanted to strangle him through the screen. He actually made such a joke! But I stayed calm for three seconds, and then gave my analysis. Taking into account the future, reputation, and the difficulties she would face, my conclusion was that I would not accept any hidden rules.
He sneered and started to refute me, saying I was too young, and then all sorts of "these hidden rules are so common" and so on. He even continued to argue with me by making more hypothetical scenarios and asking me to answer: "What if Liu Yifei is willing, what would you do?" I felt that my values were being shattered. I continued to argue that it was impossible, and even if it were true, I would advise her to weigh the pros and cons and not burden herself with such a big risk, and so on... Then, he continued with another hypothetical situation: "If she has already slept with him and come back, how would you handle it, negotiate or..."
I had finally had enough! I took the initiative to terminate this scenario, and the interviewer didn't continue. He said, "OK OK..." and then we talked about some other things. Due to the bombardment earlier, I was already a bit confused, and we just had an awkward conversation.
The interview ended, and it was the usual procedure to ask if I had any questions for him. After he had been challenging me for so long, I didn't hold back either and asked him directly how he would handle the scenario with Liu Yifei. I followed up with more questions, essentially switching roles and incorporating some of my doubts and dissatisfaction... Then I realized that we were actually having a good conversation, and he also managed to convince me a little.
Finally, I asked a question about the qualities needed for this position and what areas I needed to improve based on this interview. This question is usually asked in interviews and is helpful in figuring out what skills and abilities the position truly requires, preparing for the final interview.
He mentioned some required qualities, and one of them was high emotional intelligence. When he said this, I suddenly realized. I had looked down on him for making that joke about Liu Yifei, but now I realized I was wrong. All along, he had been testing my emotional intelligence and how I handle situations... I couldn't help but sigh, experience is truly valuable. All the questions were asked with a purpose, and in fact, this interview experience was quite interesting and of a certain standard in terms of assessment.