Chapter 2 — Recruitment Spots Stolen

"So can you repeat the questions you just asked in Chinese?"

The entire meeting room suddenly fell silent. The young male interviewer immediately raised his head. Phuong Man stared at me. She finally realized something was wrong.

"What do you mean?"

I haven't been able to answer yet. In the hallway, footsteps were heard. Getting closer and closer. Immediately afterwards, the meeting room door was pushed open. Ha Minh Xuyen stood at the door, behind him was the secretary of the General Director's Office. As soon as he saw me, his face immediately changed.

"Khuong An Ninh?"

The contemptuous expression on Phuong Man's face stiffened. Ha Minh Xuyen walked in, his eyes fell on the resume placed on the table. He picked it up, just glanced at it, his voice immediately lowered.

"Who told you to use this file to interview her?"

Phuong Man unconsciously grabbed the armrest of the chair.

"General Manager Ha, she is the candidate coming for an interview today."

Ha Minh Xuyen turned to look at her.

"Candidate?"

He put the file on the table.

"She was the one I personally invited."

Phuong Man's face turned pale little by little. Ha Minh Xuyen spoke again, his voice cold.

"Just now... you used English the whole time to insult her?"

Phuong Man's lips moved slightly. But she was speechless. The arrogance and superiority from earlier seemed to have been wiped away by someone on the spot. Ha Minh Xuyen did not sit down. He stood next to the conference table, one hand on his resume. The paper is very thin. But when placed on the table, it looked exactly like an indictment.

"Manager Phuong."

His voice was calm.

"Answer me."

Finally, Phuong Man also spoke up.

"General Manager Ha, I did not insult anyone."

She took a deep breath and quickly regained her usual professional look.

"I just follow the position's requirements and check the candidate's English communication ability."

"For the International Business Department, English is a basic requirement."

"If the candidate does not meet the requirements, I have every right to judge him as unsuitable."

Having finished speaking, she glanced at me. There was still a trace of resentment mixed in his eyes. As if I had intentionally harmed her. I don't explain. Just quietly zip the bag. Then he took out a small tape recorder from inside. Phuong Man's eyes immediately changed.

"You... recording?"

Her voice suddenly rose high.

"Recording the interview, have you gotten consent yet?"

I put the recorder on the table.

"Before entering here, I asked the receptionist if the entire interview area was videotaped and recorded."

"She replied that to ensure compliance with regulations, public interview areas by default have audio recording and surveillance cameras."

"Manager Phuong, as a member of the Human Resources department, you must know this regulation, right?"

The young male interviewer's expression also changed. Obviously he knows. Phuong Man also knows. She just didn't expect me to bring my own recorder. Ha Minh Xuyen turned to look at the secretary.

"Immediately notify the Legal Department and the Inspection Committee."

The secretary nodded and immediately walked out. Phuong Man was frantic.

"General Manager Ha, even if she recorded it, it still can't prove that I insulted her."

"The interview inherently includes a pressure test."

"If a candidate can't stand the pressure, you can't blame him interview."

She spoke very quickly. Just as fast as when speaking English just now. Only this time... The last word in his voice clearly revealed his lack of confidence. I pressed the play button. The first thing that came out of the tape recorder was the sound of a chair being pulled out. Next was a series of questions in English from Phuong Man. That English paragraph is very long. Grammar is absolutely correct. But the content is very interesting. She never asked about the work situation. Also don't ask how to handle emails. But asked about changes in regulations supervising mergers and acquisitions activities in the London capital market in the last three years. There are even two specialized terms that even ordinary employees of the International Business Department may not have come across. Hearing this, the male interviewer's face became extremely unsightly. The recording continues. My voice rang out.

"Sorry, can you say that again?"

Next is Phuong Man's English voice, deliberately speaking slower. The contempt hidden in that tone was recorded extremely clearly. Immediately followed by her statement in Chinese.

"This position of our company requires English as a basic skill. If you don't understand even these things, I'm afraid it's inappropriate."

The entire meeting room fell silent. The tape recorder continued to play.

"There are people who think that getting into a big company can change their lives."

"But big companies are much more realistic."

"If you don't have enough ability, no matter how beautiful you are, it's useless."

When those three sentences rang out. Phuong Man's face completely lost all color. She raised her hand to turn off the recorder. Ha Minh Xuyen just glanced coldly.

"Don't touch it."

Phuong Man's hand immediately stiffened in midair. I pressed the stop button.

"Manager Phuong."

I looked straight at her.

"You said this was a pressure test."

"So I ask you."

"The English question just now... was taken from which company's competency assessment test?"

Phuong Man did not answer.

"Who approved that set of questions?"

She remained silent.

"If the candidate cannot answer, I conclude they are not qualified."

"So if the candidate can answer... do you have enough capacity to determine whether the answer is right or wrong?"

The young male interviewer raised his head to look at her. Just that one look... It said it all. Phuong Man could not answer. She simply uses questions that go beyond the actual requirements to pressure candidates. Press until the other person can't say a word. Then use that as a reason to eliminate them. That trick is very crude. But extremely effective. Because most candidates do not dare to debate. Don't dare record either. Don't even dare to question it back. Phuong Man gritted her teeth.

"Miss Khuong, if you understood, then why did you deliberately pretend not to understand just now?"

I smiled softly.

"Because I want to see, when faced with someone you consider weak, whether you can still maintain the minimum respect or not."

Phuong Man's face was sometimes blue, sometimes white. Ha Minh Xuyen's eyes also became colder.

"What about the results?"

He looked at me and asked. I looked straight at Phuong Man.

"The results... were obvious."

At that moment, the meeting room door was pushed open again. This time entering is the manager of the Inspection Department and the head of the Legal Department. Both of them held documents in their hands. Just saw them, two legs Phuong Man is really soft. She had to hold on to the edge of the table to keep from falling to the ground. Ha Minh Xuyen did not give her any chance to regain her composure.

"Immediately extract all camera recordings of today's interview."

"At the same time, check all interview records hosted by Phuong Man in the last six months."

Phuong Man immediately raised his head.

"General Manager Ha!"