I still lay in bed at night laughing hard when I recall that one interview I had for a publishing company, which became my permanent job for four years. Thank God I resigned.
Yes, four years ago I was sitting at home, jobless, doing whatever I used to do back then at 3 p.m. Good old times, when my cell phone suddenly rang. I ran as fast as I could, tripping over everything on my way, and… well let me show you what happened exactly.
Me: Hello
Caller: Were you cooking or something?
Me: Excuse me, who is this?
Caller: My name is Waleed, I am the HR at the publishing company you applied for, so tell me, what were you doing?
Me, confused: Nothing, so what is this about Mr. Waleed?
Caller: Well, Hend, we received your CV and you have an English and business writing test tomorrow at 3. Do you know what business writing is?
Me: No
Caller: Well, Google it. You will be tested in it.
Me: Okay, Thank you. Tomorrow at 3 then.
Caller: Great, okay. I will leave you to whatever you were doing. Bye, Hend.
Me, laughing inside: Thank you, bye.
The next day I went before 3, as a usual interviewee would do, and I met “Waleed” a funny guy – as you have already witnessed in the above conversation – he broke the ice, guided me to a small room and told me to wait. Ten minutes later, a girl with papers greeted me and told me that this was the exam and I should go to her in the next office as soon as I finish.
The English test was below average – to be fair – and the business writing; well it’s writing, isn’t it? So you guess the rest.
It took me an hour and a half to finish, went to the girl in the next office as instructed and gave her the papers. She said: “You will be hearing from us within a week.”
In less than two hours, I received a call from friendly Waleed who delightfully delivered the message that I passed the test and have an interview tomorrow. To be honest, I was surprised, is this normal or what? But who am I to question the great HR system and their procedures!
I went the following day for the interview where friendly Waleed was once again present to welcome me and we had a little friendly yet awkward chat. During this chat on our way to my interview, he told me that two people will interview me, and to my amazement, he told me what they will ask me in the interview! “What is going on here? Are you people in a desperate need for employees or what?” my inner voice started questioning.
Anyway, the interview went well, they did the exact steps that Waleed told me they would do. To my great surprise – AGAIN – I didn’t even get the chance to stop a taxi when my phone rang. It was Waleed telling me I was accepted and I have a final interview with the CEO next week.
“It’s all going way too fast, is this normal? Oh, Hend, you must be awesome and they can’t handle losing such special candidate like you!” My delusional inner voice assumed.
Days later, I went for the final interview with the CEO. It was a very general interview; she seemed as if she wanted to talk and get to know me better. You know these kinds of interviews; they always leave you feeling like a big bag of air walking around.
Ah, I forgot to tell you that company was breathtaking; huge, five stories and very spacious. It looked like these people are actually doing something big here.
Of course you know the rest; I got a phone call telling me I was accepted and informing me with the offer – which was great back then – and I had a month to prepare my paperwork and become a part of this huge entity.
My first day was okay, I guess. We were a very large group of newly hired employees and we sat in a meeting room for the next 3 days. Some of the HR staff came and explained how the system works, and to be honest, it all seemed too good to be true. That is until one of them explained the salary and the entire offer. It was all a big shame, I was not told the correct payment I will get and I found out that they informed all the interviewees this misleading piece of information.
From this moment on it was all a big scam.
Hend Salah
EDITOR: Mennat-Allah Yasser Zohny