This is part of the transcript of my job interview in 2005 with the Human Resource head, an expat, with my prospective expat boss in attendance.
HR Head: “What are the major categories of steel?”
Me: “Longs, flats, specialty.”
HR Head: “Oh my . . . this one doesn’t know anything about steel! Could you elaborate.”
Me: “Longs consists of billet, wire rods and the like. Flats are slabs, hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils, strips, tinplates. Specialty are steel with additives used for special applications, like electrical components, car parts, etc/”
HR Head: “No, no, no … Steel is categorized into slabs, coils, strips and billets!”
Me: “If you say so!”
HR Head: “How is steel made, from input to output?”
Me: “Steel is made up of iron and additives melted in a blast furnace, made into a slab, transformed into a hot-rolled coil which is further processed into a cold-rolled coil for parting as strip or processing into a tinplate or galvanized sheets.”
HR Head: “Since you are applying for this position [Business Strategy Analyst], you should know the technical details how steel is made. What are the specific resources used by steel?”
Me: “I have been with a steel company for almost 15 years. The resources used by steel are: Iron, coal, electricity or gas, water, steam.”
HR Head: “What are the steel additives?”
Me: “Manganese, carbon, silicon . . .”
HR Head: “You forgot HBI,” butting in.
Me: “HBI? You mean hot-briquetted iron? That’s the main ingredient of steel, thus not an additive!”
HR Head: “What country is the biggest economy today?”
Me: “The U.S.A. . . “
HR Head: “Wrong again,” he cut me off. “China is the biggest economy.”
Me: “China is the biggest economy in terms of potential consumers, but the U.S.A. is the biggest economy in terms of GDP.”
HR Head: “What are the competitors of steel?”
Me: “Paper, plastics, other metals.”
HR Head: “You said you have more than ten years experience in steel manufacturing, yet you don’t know its competitors! Paper is never a competitor of steel. Plastics, maybe. You don’t consider Galvalume as a competitor?”
Me: “Galvalume is made from steel. It’s basically a mixture of galvanized iron and aluminum.”
HR Head: “Okay . . . make a written paper on that. Itemize the competitors of steel and compare their characteristics to steel. Submit it to me tomorrow.”
Me: “Okay. I need to research on that. I need about three days to prepare the paper.”
HR Head: “Three days, then.”
Two days later after I was hired, I completed the paper on the competitors of steel. I submitted it to my expat boss for his comments prior to its submission to the HR Head.
A week later, I chance upon the HR Head in the elevator coming down from the fourth floor who asked me, “Where is the report I asked you to write? It’s been a week now and you have not submitted one. When I said I need it now, I meant I need it yesterday!”
I meekly replied: “I gave it to my boss for comments, and he promised to send it to you.”
The HR Head announced: “You are directly reporting to me,” then boasted: “I could even fire your own boss!” Before alighting the elevator, he said: “Give me that paper this afternoon . . . or else . . .” The elevator door closed behind him.
The “or else . . .” could meant fire me! So, I enquired with my expat boss, “Were you able to send the paper the HR head told me to write? He said that was due a week ago and that I was directly reporting to him, could you clarify that?”
My boss said: “There is no need to send out that paper to him. And you are NOT directly reporting to him, but to me!”
Notes:
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