Série: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend
Título: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend Chapter 6
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06 : The Stress Interview
Tae-seok sat down with the other two candidates.
From the left, there was a handsome man, an average-looking woman, and then himself.
There were also three interviewers.
One of them began to speak.
“Mr. Kim Tae-seok!”
Tae-seok was about to respond when Director Choi Gi-dong cut in.
“Just a moment. I’ll go first.”
“Ah, of course, sir!”
Choi Gi-dong appeared to be the oldest of the three interviewers.
Instead of Kim Tae-seok, he called the name of the man on the far left.
“Mr. Kang Min-woo!”
“Yes.”
“Could you please stand up for a moment?”
Kang Min-woo stood up at Choi Gi-dong’s request. As he did, his white socks became visible between his black shoes.
“Black shoes and white socks. What are your thoughts on that?”
“……”
Kang Min-woo froze, caught off guard by the unexpected question.
He had no idea how to respond to a question about the color of his socks and shoes.
Still, he was quick-thinking. He gave the answer he believed the interviewer wanted to hear.
“I believe it’s a mismatch.”
“And you came dressed like that, knowing it was? How do you feel right now?”
“……”
Tae-seok was surprised but let out a quiet inner sigh.
What if he had been asked that question?
He would have surely given the same answer as this Kang Min-woo fellow.
That was it.
This was exactly the stress interview
The system had warned him about
a tactic meant to rattle candidates and force their true personality to surface.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You don’t know how you feel? Are you unable to control your emotions?”
The questions came one after another, relentlessly.
Hesitating here would seal his failure.
Kang Min-woo couldn’t bring himself to say what he was really thinking.
‘I’m annoyed as hell. What do you want me to say? That I’m pissed off? Right here, right now?’
He held it in.
Kang Min-woo believed the interview was testing his patience. The interviewer, however, scored him poorly for it.
‘This kid folds under pressure. He can’t express himself clearly and lacks situational awareness.’
“Please sit. Next, Ms. Kang Hee-jin!”
The questions continued. Tae-seok realized the true intention behind Director Choi Gi-dong telling him to sit.
It was a considerate gesture, a way of telling him to prepare himself for how the stress interview would proceed.
Realizing this, Kim Tae-seok began to observe how the woman sitting next to him would answer.
“Your GPA is very high. You must have been dedicated to your studies.”
“Thank you.”
“But it seems you’ve lived a comfortable life.”
“Excuse me?”
“How is it that you have no social experience whatsoever? Did you not have any part-time jobs? No volunteer work?”
“I was focused on my studies rather than….”
“Right. You only studied. That’s not the kind of talent our company is looking for….”
It was painful to watch. Both candidates, still in their twenties, were falling apart under the barrage of questions.
“Ah….”
“Ah, what?”
“N-no… that’s not what I meant.”
“Speak clearly! Are you going to act like that with clients? Can you handle customers with such an indecisive attitude?!”
“…*Sniff*…*hic*…”
Large teardrops rolled down Kang Hee-jin’s suddenly blank face.
Never in her life had she been subjected to such openly aggressive questioning.
Lacking experience, Kang Hee-jin didn’t know how to deal with such questions.
Was that why? Her tender heart was so flustered that she burst into tears.
Having had little interaction not only in society but also with her peers, she couldn't just laugh off a situation like this.
And that seemed to be more than enough reason for her to be eliminated.
Tae-seok sensed that his turn had come.
Choi Gi-dong was now the interviewer who would evaluate him.
He looked like he had no intention of going easy on him.
As expected, a barrage of harsh questions followed.
“What school did you attend?”
“I earned my degree through the credit bank system.”
“So you’ve never attended a university?”
“Technically, yes.”
“Technically, yes? It sounds like you have more to say.”
Tae-seok looked the interviewers straight in the eye.
He knew what he had to say. If he backed down here, he would fail.
Therefore, he thought he had to lay his life bare with sincerity to capture the interviewers’ hearts.
Tae-seok answered calmly.
“I had to earn money.”
“Yes. I see. That’s the same for all of us. We work at a company to earn money.”
“That’s why I started working at construction sites right after graduating from high school.”
“Construction sites! So you couldn’t go to university?”
“That’s correct. But I don’t regret it. In the evenings after work, I invested that spare time in studying. I have never been negligent with my life. I’ve obtained two computer certifications, and I’m also recognized as a junior technician at construction sites after acquiring a craftsman license. And now, I am here to become a new employee of Elseong Group. While I didn’t attend university in the traditional way like others, I tried to make up for what I missed during that time, and I believe the result of that effort was earning a bachelor’s degree through the credit bank system.”
Director Choi was surprised by Tae-seok’s answer.
He nodded and turned his gaze to the other interviewers.
It was a gesture of sorts, telling them it was their turn to evaluate.
“Mr. Kim Tae-seok!”
“Yes.”
“How far are you willing to go for Elseong Group?”
The question was difficult.
How far could I go? No. It wasn’t difficult. It was something I had already thought about.
The reason I wanted to work for a large corporation.
As long as it wasn’t manual labor, as long as it paid well! So I could pay for Mom’s hospital bills and not have to worry about supporting myself, I could do anything!
So he answered.
“As long as it doesn’t break the law or go against social norms, I’m willing to do any kind of work.”
“You’re adding conditions like ‘as long as it doesn’t break the law’ and ‘social norms’? Why?”
Tae-seok already knew the answer.
Because he had deliberately guided the interviewer’s attention in that direction.
“Because that would be to tarnish the image and future of the company that gives me orders. I support the integrity and social credibility of Elseong Group. And I highly value Elseong Group’s contributions to the Republic of Korea, a nation governed by the rule of law. While I doubt that this company, which is both the most successful and the most exemplary, would ever give me such an order, if it were to happen, I would unequivocally recommend once more that Elseong Group proceed in the right direction, in accordance with its corporate motto and goals.”
It wasn’t a perfect answer.
There was no single “correct” answer in a stress interview anyway.
It was a matter of whether you could convince the interviewer or not.
That was a stress interview.
Did he convince the interviewer with his answer to the second question?
That could be inferred from the fact that the third interviewer asked a question without another word.
The last man spoke to Tae-seok.
“Alright. Next question. Do you have a girlfriend?”
Tae-seok smiled inwardly at the question. He answered in a calm tone.
“I do not.”
As expected, the interviewer followed up with another question.
“Why not?”
The smile Tae-seok had been holding inside escaped.
“There aren’t any women around me. If you happen to know anyone good, sir, please introduce me. I’ll make time to meet them.”
“Ha-hahaha, this guy is hilarious!”
“He really is. That was great!”
Laughter erupted from the interviewers at Tae-seok’s witty response.
After laughing for a while, as if embarrassed, the interviewers’ expressions turned stern again. One of them addressed the three candidates.
“The interview is over. All three of you may leave.”
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