“Rude and unprofessional” interviewers
Are interviewers in Singapore “rude and unprofessional”? There’s one guy who certainly seems to think so.
In a job interview workshop for PMETs conducted by JobsDB, speaker Steven Cheong says that interviewers in Singapore are known to be “rude and unprofessional”. (The statement is made around the 0:50 mark in the video).
Ouch. That seems like a gross over-generalisation of all the interviewers. While I wouldn’t deny that there are lousy interviewers in Singapore who could use a bit more professionalism, to say that all interviewers are “rude and unprofessional” is too far-fetched and cannot be applied to everybody.
What do you think? Is the speaker right? Do you have any horror interview stories to share?
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Lisa Cheong
Lee Xieli
mavelltan
Yes, I have came across a situation which a group of interviewers was – insisting on – the exact dollar and cents of my current pay cheque ! I can remember the round figures, but the team of interview was rude to insist on the exact cents – they claim, that if you do not know the the exact cents, you are not into details of things.
Think they are just rude and over board !
Desmond
February 3, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Wow, that is extreme.
I know some companies that ask to see your previous payslip as part of their due diligence. But to claim that exact cents be stated as well?
Lisa Cheong
February 3, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I once met an interviewer who was quite rude. She already had answers to her own questions. So when i couldn’t give the answers she was looking for, her face turned black and she said abruptly, “ok end of interview.” I was so shocked! I was expecting more professionalism from someone her level.
Jessie
February 3, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I went for a job interview, for a retail position a few years back. Everything went fine until the interviewer started obsessing over my race. She kept asking me if i’m at least half Chinese! When i said no, she kept insisting that at least one of my grandparents MUST be Chinese. She was just so persistant in establishing my race…to her own liking! It got a little scary. The last thing she said to me after wrapping up the interview?
“No, no, you cannot be fully Malay. You better go find out your origins.” Er, OKAY!
nasirah
February 4, 2009 at 10:30 am
It will be unfair to say its something particular to to Singaporeans. I have always had a good time interviewing. But once this global head honcho of a big company (not a Singaporean) chose to answer all my questions in a yes or a no or just one word. It was horrible as eight questions were answered in 12 minutes! Later I got to know he had just been off a 10-hour international flight!
Rayana
February 4, 2009 at 10:44 am
I went for a job interview a year back, a lady director came in to the room. Haven’t even started my introduction, she was looking at my CV and told me that i not suitable for her department but more to another department. Thus since I was there, i give myself a little more introduction and i saw her digging her nose right in front of me. The company is a big and known organisation located in river valley. I was totally disgust by their professionalision and manners.
Alex
February 19, 2009 at 9:56 am