Chapter Twenty-Two: The Interview Scene

  Deng Peng walked out of the office without saying a word, his heart burning with anger. This small matter didn't even give me any face, and I had boasted about it in front of friends. I think Chen and I were born to be at odds with each other - why was he born if not to make my life difficult? It's frustrating. I used to be a leader in the earthquake bureau, but now I'm not even a regular staff member, completely marginalized, having to report to the director like everyone else.

  Deng Peng found a secluded corner, "Hey, brother, this time the quota is really tight. How about this? I'll give you 50,000 yuan first, and if it's settled, you can return it to me. If not, I'll keep the remaining 50,000 yuan intact and return it to you. You know, now that the situation has changed, you also know he's my father-in-law, not my dad. Alright, alright, I'll do my best."

  Deng Peng's ability to make money is top-notch, if he really takes charge of a region, I reckon he can sell anything, including tangible and intangible things.

  Everyone knows that without a special skill, it's impossible to cheat on the written test. Although Chen Gong didn't care about his score at all and only cared about the next step - the interview. Even though the written test can't select truly excellent talents, the interview is very important. Even if someone performed poorly on the written test, as long as they made it to the interview, Chen Gong would try to find a way to put them in front if they were capable.

  This time, the seismic bureau only recruited two people, so in a ratio of three to one, a total of six people participated in the second round of interviews. Chen Gong didn't care about the list and just asked about the male-to-female ratio of the six people, which was one woman and five men.

  Actually, the current government departments, with the rapid development of economy and politics, have surpassed enterprises to become one of the most tiring jobs. Of course, this is only for most departments, while a few are still "clear water offices" because they can't manage anything, so nobody goes to them to do things, naturally there are much fewer tasks and no pressure at work.

  So, many departments now are willing to recruit males. Males are indeed much stronger than females in terms of work ability. Even among top-level PR masters, males are stronger than females. In terms of efficiency and quality, males are at least 50% higher than females, except for a few exceptional female strongholds like Song Huiyun and Xiao Xingya.

  Because the Seismological Bureau was originally a place to support idle people, Chen Gong also understood that apart from those who did technical work and some old ladies in the office, although they could do their jobs well, they were far from efficient. This is because they had entered this system very early on, so he didn't have the qualifications to fire them, and could only let them continue to muddle along here.

  What Chen Gong couldn't stand the most was that the female employees' absenteeism was very serious. One moment they would say this place wasn't comfortable, and the next they would have to go buy some vegetables. Divorced women also had to go on dates. Chen Gong had already had enough. If he hadn't managed them strictly, it would have been chaotic long ago.

  So, Chen Gong also wants to take this opportunity to recruit two men. He requires them to work persistently on the front line and quickly become the backbone of the organization. Half a year is enough time for an intelligent person to familiarize themselves with the business.

  Chen Gong found Yang Qian, asking to take one of the four examination seats. The interview had only one chief examiner and four examiners. The chief examiner was generally a leader from the Organization Department or Personnel Bureau.

  Yang Qian didn't have any problem, he is now extremely inclined to the Seismological Bureau, he told Chen Gong that as long as the Organization Department and Personnel Bureau agree, there won't be a problem, this would be even easier, Chen Gong made a phone call to Song Huiyun and settled the matter, and he only applied to replace one of the six candidates who were going to take the interview for the Seismological Bureau.

  Chen Gong himself almost had a tragic experience when taking the civil service exam, so Chen couldn't let similar things happen again. He couldn't control other departments, but he had to personally oversee the earthquake relief efforts.

  The interviewer in charge of today's interview is a deputy director of the Xin Qiao District Personnel Bureau, along with three other personnel from the bureau. Although they had not seen Chen Gong before, they had heard his name, as every step of promotion would be recorded in the personnel file. The deputy director of the personnel bureau also thought that Chen Gong was an assigned marginal cadre.

  Chen Gong sat down and nodded to the examiner and a few others as a greeting, then began the interview with the six candidates.

  The examiner may not know that all six interview questions today were given by Chen Gong.

  The first question is testing interpersonal relationships and adaptability. If you have a not-so-good relationship with the deputy director of another office, or if that person has biases against you, how would you go about improving internal unity when you are transferred to their office as the director?

  The second question tests a person's adaptability and morality. If an earthquake occurs, as the leader of the seismic bureau, what would you do first? The second question was written by Chen Gong after much deliberation. On the surface, it appears to be about how one arranges post-earthquake rescue work, but in reality, it is meant to reveal which aspects a person prioritizes through their arrangements. If they choose to rescue leaders first, or students on campus, or go to hospitals for inspections... each answer will reflect the examinee's inner thoughts.

  The third question is about the issue of integrity, if you become the head of a department, how much money can make you violate regulations, and how much money can make you break the law. This question is also an important test for Chen Gong to examine the candidate, if you answer that no amount of money can buy you off, then Chen Gong will only think that you are an extremist or a liar, or a fool, because nobody can resist the temptation of money, and if he cannot be swayed, it only means that the temptation is not enough.

  Apart from the chief examiner and Chen Gong, the other three examiners on site found the questions unbelievable when they saw them, especially the third question. What kind of question is this? Which leader with character came up with it? Since there was no standard answer, everything depended on the examinee's response to make a judgment.

  The first five candidates were all male, and the answers of two candidates caught Chen Gong's attention. He felt that they spoke from the heart and made sense, especially when talking about post-earthquake work arrangements, which seemed to be based on foreign experiences. Chen Gong thought that these two candidates had done their homework in researching post-earthquake relief work and also showed rich experience in answering the other two questions.

  Chen Gong nodded, the two candidates were very satisfied with themselves, and there was only one female candidate left. Chen Gong had not thought of recruiting a woman into the organization, but when this woman walked into the examination room, Chen Gong once again verified the information form of this candidate, and looked at her again. The female candidate also smiled at Chen Gong, then sat down in the candidate's seat.

  Her speech is elegant and refined, her temperament is very good, her appearance is generous, and the questions she answers are also very brief, but they all hit the point.

  Her answer to the first question is to find out the main problem that affects the relationship between the two, analyze the reason, start from oneself to improve, and then communicate with each other, try to communicate more from a work perspective, gradually deepen familiarity in life. If the deputy director still does not cooperate, it can only be suggested that the department leader transfer him away.

  As for the second question, she did not specify which place to arrange for rescue first, but instead found people to disperse and investigate, and rescued the places with the highest population density first. After contacting the government, follow the instructions of the superior department. If there is any mistake in the instructions from the superior department, handle it according to the situation.

  She was also very candid about the third issue of integrity, nothing is unbuyable in this world, because sometimes even relationships and emotions can be measured with money. As long as there's a 200% return, one would dare to violate regulations, and with ten times the return, one would dare to break the law. Finally, she made some personal suggestions: first, eradicate corruption and bribery by imposing severe penalties - if receiving a red envelope of 5,000 yuan could result in a 10-year prison sentence, who would dare to accept it? Second, increase the transparency of administrative power, as the masses are the best "disciplinary committee members".

  Although Chen Gong knew the female candidate, he did not expect her answer to be so satisfactory. He took another look at the name on the information sheet - Chen Wanrou, and thought that the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Chen, had raised a good daughter.

  After the six-person interview, Chen Gong, as the head of the Seismological Bureau, wanted to confirm the results of several candidates here. The two male candidates performed well earlier, and Chen Wanrou also did very well, which made Chen Gong a bit difficult, after all, he couldn't be biased towards her just because he knew the girl.

  Just as several examiners were preparing to score and rank, the deputy director of the personnel bureau said he wanted to go to the toilet and come back to study. As he walked to the door, his mobile phone on the table rang. Because he was sitting next to Chen Gong's seat, "Director Chen, help me answer it, tell him I'm going to the toilet, and I'll call him back when I return."

  Chen Gong picked up his phone, just about to speak, when a voice came from the other end, "Boss, is it settled? My two nephews have been studying the exam questions and memorizing the answers for days, no problem, right?" Chen Gong remained silent, wanting to hear him continue, and indeed, the voice came again, "What's wrong, boss? Won't there be any problems? You did take the money and guaranteed 100% success."

  Chen Gong's anger reached the sky, and he didn't care about answering other people's phones, saying it was immoral. "Originally, there was nothing to it, but now things have gotten big!" Chen Gong angrily hung up the phone.

  The other three examiners all cast puzzled glances at Chen Gong, who ignored them and crossed out the name of the "excellent" candidate with the same surname from among the six candidates' interview scores.

  The deputy director returned with a smile, "Let's continue the study. I think the second and fourth answers just now were quite brilliant. Although the last female candidate was not bad, she seemed to be too straightforward as a person. It's not easy to work in government departments, what do you think?"

  Chen Gong expressed his opinion first, "My view is different, I think the last female candidate's answer was very good, she should take up one spot."

  Deputy Director Chen had previously handled Gong's file and was familiar with some of his basic information. After taking a look at the female candidate's information sheet, he said, "I've already guaranteed two spots for this position, I absolutely can't give up one," "Director Chen, what you're saying might be a bit too much, I know you're from Beijing and so is this female candidate, aren't you making everyone suspect that there's some kind of relationship between you two?"

  Chen Gong slapped the table and said, "Hey, Master Officer, are all these people related to you? I see that all six candidates are from Fuhai City, aren't they all connected to you?"