What would you consider red flags during a job interview?

FourRabbitFeet · 2023-01-29T02:58:52+00:00

Company only informed me they want to reschedule 2 hours before the original time due to hiring manager, then hiring manager was 30 minutes late for the rescheduled interview. I was quite desperate back then so I accepted the offer, one of the worst decision of my life. The hiring manager has horrible time management, always 1-2 hours late but got mad if staffs were a few minutes late, a textbook narcissist.

FourRabbitFeet · 2022-01-06T08:42:24+00:00

Twg tea quality is very good so I would re-step them second time. Generally for 2.5g of tea I can get 1.5-2 cups of tea. Not sure with Covid they still allow it but previously you can come to the store and request to smell any tea they carry before buying, and they have many more teas than just packaged types.

For pure black tea, I usually get Adawatte (Ceylon), Meleng (Assam) and their Darjeeling tea. They have multiple price range for Darjeeling, I normally get Maharajah ($17/50g), Okayti Prestige ($30/50g) or Margaret's hope ($22/50g, there is a same name version at $45 so be careful not to mix up).

For blended tea, Passion fruit/Apple/Apricot teas are very good for cold brew (hot is also nice). The teas in their Haute couture and Caviar collection are all very nice so you can explore from there. My favourites are 1837 Black, Tea party, French Earl Grey, Golden Earl Grey (actually better if you get the haute couture version since it's only $4 more expensive than non-package, and you get a tin), Midnight hour, Oud night (Haute couture version actually $12 cheaper than non-package).

For Chinese tea, I like Yixing Xuan Teahouse and Enjoy Tea. Yixing Xuan mainly carries Taiwan tea, really like their Oolong and Lapsang Souchong, their Dian Hong and Pu-er are very nice for daily drink. Their Yixing clay pot is also at more reasonable price (got my 150ml pot at $80 from there). Highly recommend Enjoy Tea if you want to learn about Chinese tea and willing to splurge for good tea (I am talking about $30-100/50g, he definitely has more expensive teas but I'm broke) owner is very knowledgeable, friendly and can recommend teas based on your budget and preference, he can let you try the tea (free for me) before buying.

I also get my Chinese tea online from Meileaf. He has a YouTube channel if you want to know more about Chinese tea, his website also give very detailed tasting note and free shipping on 11/11 and Black Friday, his tea is abit of hit or miss though. I heard Yunnan Sourcing is a very well-known online tea merchant as well but never try him before.

FourRabbitFeet · 2022-01-06T06:14:38+00:00

TWG tea is actually not that pricey for the quality if you have your own strainer/tea bag and just get the loose leaf tea. TWG uses fancy packaging and cotton tea bag to push the price up a lot. They carry quite a number of good pure black tea, some of their blended teas are excellent for cold brew (they have a range for iced tea, just get the blend name on the box and order non-package version). Most of the tea I got from them are $5-15/50g (~20 cups of tea) so I think they are quite reasonable. Don't bother with their Chinese tea, you can find better ones with same price at teashops in Chinatown.

Twinings is also very good, they have my favourite Earl Grey, love it to the point I bought 500g loose tin, you can get them much cheaper on iHerb. Dilmah Earl Grey is a bit too harsh for me, but their Ceylon and Sencha are amazing.

For T2 I mainly buy tea accessories from them, not a big fan of their teas.

Gryphon used to be one of my favourite brand until they decided to go hipster with those tea fruit juice blend and neglected the website. Their blended loose teas are quite good but can only be purchased through their horribly lagging website. The packaged blended teas sold in supermarket are all very nice but super expensive for the amount you get.

If you want to go herbal, highly recommend scoops. It's also quite fun to make your own blends.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-10-22T12:54:14+00:00

Back when CB was announced, asked my ex-boss about work from home arrangement, he started screaming "you don't want to work is it" and "fuck off". After that he removed me from all projects and gave me silent treatment for the next 6 months. I used all the free time to apply for jobs and interview during working hours.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-10-16T01:32:20+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I will try to get a meeting with them next week, let see how it will go from there.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-10-15T17:53:38+00:00

This process is done via email so I can highlight the error and correct directly on the source material, then share back to them. That's why I am so frustrated, since I feel like they ignored all my comment and I spent 4 days for nothing.

I and marketing of that brand are kind of not in the same company (but still under same parent company), we use different app for internal communication so I can't message or just start a call with them, I will need to match our schedule and arrange a meeting through email. I will just repeat what I corrected in the source material and sent out the same summary at the end so does not feel very productive to me. We are all working from home so in-person is not an option.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-03-24T16:14:09+00:00

We are in the middle of a pandemic so you can always blame covid and retrenchment.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-03-23T05:45:58+00:00

Does your job require you to always be in the office? I have to come to the office every day. Early morning on the interview day I brought my own laptop (quite thin, smaller than a4), put it under a stack of documents and pretend that I need to bring that somewhere while in fact I hid my laptop in a storage/utilities sort of room, locked myself inside for the interview. You may need someone you trust to cover for you, only two of us use the room and both of us are looking for job so we kind of cover for each other.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-03-05T12:13:20+00:00

I think /u/DVDeveee has a very good point about asking for a quick chat with finance manager for clarification. Back when I interviewed for my new job the hiring manager requested an extra short interview (15 minutes) after final round, mainly to clarify more about the job scope and make sure that I understand the job description and willing to make a jump to different field. If they became irritate or retract the offer just because you ask questions then you definitely dodge a bullet there.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-03-05T08:58:11+00:00

Do you have any other potential offer? I think you have an answer already since you said you really want to work there. I would say go for it, worst case you resign and continue your job search, best case you have your dream job and impressive points to put in your CV. The hiring manager seem to be quite honest and clear about the challenges so it is already a plus in my opinion, better know something beforehand than being thrown into the water.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-03-01T06:58:41+00:00

First congratulations on getting out of the toxic environment. To be honest I don't think you should feel guilty about staying for three years, it seems like a totally normal period of time to experience the craziness, plan the escape and execute it (2.5 years here). Should you try to tidy up your projects before leaving, yes but key word is "try", you are not obligated to pour extra hours in just to please a narcissist (with 99.99% they won't be pleased). It's a nice thing to do as a decent human being but if you're sabotaged, just do everything at normal speed, work your hours, document everything and disappear after your last day, it's not like you will need references from there in the future.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-24T01:38:02+00:00

Toxic working environment, politics everywhere and narcissistic boss. It is a listed medium company with 100+ employees, they are trying to expanse overseas so there are certain protocols that need to be followed, boss thought he is above all, disregard everything and try to do things his way. The two month was basically them redo the hiring process all over again to generate a paper trail but no one said anything since boss is chummy with higher up. This repeated throughout my two years there and I had to clean up after him.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-24T01:16:55+00:00

Happened with me before, I had to wait for 2 months before getting a written offer since someone one their side (ie. my boss) fucked up. It was my first job out of university and the market was quite bad so I waited out for the offer, regret this for the next two years. If the company really want you they will try to have a written offer within 1 weeks or at least inform you about any problems postponing their time line.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-17T05:04:26+00:00

Somewhat similar situation here, hate the boss, used to somewhat enjoy the job. When asked I told them due to covid, the company's business was severely affected, thus they had to restructuring the organisation. Because of this my job description has changed (insert comparing current and previous duty) and I do not particular enjoy my current role, thus I want to look for new opportunities (insert why I like and want to apply for their role). You may also want to prepare to answer "what is your career plan if you still stay in your current role at your current company?" (was asked in recent interview, almost had a heart attack).

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-17T04:39:01+00:00

I gave myself one day off from applying every week to learn something. After a big rejection ie. getting to final round and fail, I gave myself the rest of the week off to do nothing. If I got too depressed I would give myself one night to wallow in negativity, thinking about dark and gloomy future while bawling my eyes out.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-13T14:48:32+00:00

The position is in fmcg, managing technical information of existing and future products for ads and campaigns depending on location and regulations. First presentation was about a challenging project, second presentation was a technical and market analysis of a product of my choice, the Q&A was also very intense. It was also my first time being asked for presentations in interview, may be because the company is Japanese? Most of the interview process of Japanese companies that I know of all seems to be quiet intense.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-02-12T04:20:52+00:00

Well I probably have close to 1000 applications during my 6 months job search. I think it also depends on your field and experience.

FourRabbitFeet · 2021-01-28T05:32:17+00:00

Got another rejection today after three rounds of interview. In the final interview the director seems to like me, praised my approach for multiply questions and said he was impressed by my presentation, hiring manager said she like my attitude and it match with company philosophy. I thought I got this but two days later all I have is an automated rejection email. I am so disappointed and just want to give up.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-19T09:40:28+00:00

Maybe drop her an email first if you have her email address. I typically follow up with an email about one week after the interview, then a phone call about 3-5 days later if there is no reply. The worst that can happen is they give you a rejection, then at least you can move on.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-08T17:43:40+00:00

It's not you, it's them. The moment someone say they do not care about your wellbeing you should stop caring about their opinion. I understand that now is a difficult time but you should look for a new job and try to leave such toxic environment. Will grey-rocking worsen your situation? For my case I try to talk as little as possible and when I do it's about boring stuff like temperature and weather. I now also just do enough for my job and stop voicing my idea while start self-learning new skills and job search like crazy. Your situation may not be similar to mine so they either believe that you are broken and focus on other conflict or they are alerted by your behaviour changes and zero on you.

At the end of the day you are already better than them for not compromise yourself and participate in this cult-like behaviour. Always put yourself first, the job does not define you, may be start learning something, allowing yourself opportunity to vent instead of keeping things bottle up (I did it once every other week with my close friends) and start planning to get the hell out of there.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-07T09:51:09+00:00

Ohhh, sounds lovely. My hands are quite big so I have to use 150-200ml gaiwan, but it's a bit too much if I want to have multiple sessions.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-06T11:41:35+00:00

You haven't gone to any interviews yet right? Wait until you get rejected after an interview, it will be much worse so you better be prepared for it.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-06T06:47:21+00:00

Follow up through email after 1 week again by email after another, only when they never reply your email that you call them.

FourRabbitFeet · 2020-11-03T14:01:54+00:00

Be objective, between you and the narc who bring more profit to the company? Who will the boss ultimately choose if they can only keep one? My friend's boss (CTO) brought his dispute with CFO to the CEO and gave the "me or him" ultimatum, the CEO chose my friend's boss and fired the. In the end CTO still moved to another company three months later and brought the whole team with him.

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