I find this intriguing...
that, in USA, while there are interviews like this---
My Job Interview @ Google
that, in USA, while there are interviews like this---
My Job Interview @ Google
"There were eight separate interviews total. The first three were over the phone (phone interviews) and the remaining five were on-site. The first interview was with the recruiter and was not very technical but the other seven were very technical."
-- there are Department of State (for which the big boss is Hillary) jobs that don't even require interviews. A friend just got an offer based solely on her application. I'm guessing the application process was long and convoluted and brain-picking. No no, I'm not pointing at Hillary. It's the system, and it's probably been there for a long time now.
But what I find even more intriguing is, the US Government asked her not only about the profiles of all her immediate family members (which is understandable, I had to do it for my Canadian Gov't job), but also all her relatives in China (some of whom she isn't even close to), and all the people she regularly interacts with in Manchester. Yes, that would include me. So she had to ask for my DOB, Canadian address, phone #, etc. I didn't mind but I just kind felt bad for my friend, because this can be so uncomfortable and, technically speaking, she's gathering info and giving it to the US Gov't in exchange for a job, so it's almost like some kind of trade. But no I'm not that much of a hater to call them info traffickers. I know they just don't want to be bombed again.
Apparently, after she gave them all the info, they called her and asked all these paranoid and ridiculous security questions, like
"What would you do if you go back to China to visit your relatives and, after a round of hot steamy dumpling dinner, they surround you in a circle with hot branding forks and communist flags and demand classified US Govt information from you? Would you yield to this barbaric inquisition and extreme pressure and spill all to your terrorist relatives?"
Okay, I had wee too much fun there. But something to that effect. What's she supposed to say? There's only one answer. NO. (and maybe with a bonus of 'No, not all 1.3 billion Chinese people care that much about destroying you. In fact there may be more people in your own country who want to do that more than anywhere else.' but no, that's mean)
That leads me to another tangent (thus the title of this blog) even though I was prepared to end this post there. US and Canadian governments really ought to just try to understand what the Asian countries are about. When I worked for the Canadian government and in that particular sector that dealt more with judging Asian things than other sectors, I felt so frustrated at the general level of ignorance. And when I tried to defend Asia and explain that a lot of these things do not cause harm and it's just a different culture and 'you know not everyone in the world thinks peanut butter or pizza is the tastiest food', they just kind of thought I was fobby (which I don't think I am). They need to hire people based on the internal diversity (instead of just color of skin, because most of who they do hire are very Caucasian inside) if it involves such international exposure. I was so surprised how little they knew and accepted the Asian culture, because I thought Vancouver was so Asianized to the point that all the non-Asians can use chopsticks correctly at sushi restaurants. And then I realized. That's all they know. Fake, Chinese-owned sushi restaurants, Vietamese pho, and maybe bubble tea. The rest is just 'weird' to them. This goes back to the conformism discussion (which I don't believe I wrote on this blog, but eventually I will). I was pretty pissed when they saw my homemade stirfry lunch and said 'gross' and saw someone else's diarrhea-like curry (okay I do love curry, but it was seriously more diarrhea-like than normal curry) and said 'that looks yummy'. Anyway, I should stop here. Point is already made.
-- there are Department of State (for which the big boss is Hillary) jobs that don't even require interviews. A friend just got an offer based solely on her application. I'm guessing the application process was long and convoluted and brain-picking. No no, I'm not pointing at Hillary. It's the system, and it's probably been there for a long time now.
But what I find even more intriguing is, the US Government asked her not only about the profiles of all her immediate family members (which is understandable, I had to do it for my Canadian Gov't job), but also all her relatives in China (some of whom she isn't even close to), and all the people she regularly interacts with in Manchester. Yes, that would include me. So she had to ask for my DOB, Canadian address, phone #, etc. I didn't mind but I just kind felt bad for my friend, because this can be so uncomfortable and, technically speaking, she's gathering info and giving it to the US Gov't in exchange for a job, so it's almost like some kind of trade. But no I'm not that much of a hater to call them info traffickers. I know they just don't want to be bombed again.
Apparently, after she gave them all the info, they called her and asked all these paranoid and ridiculous security questions, like
"What would you do if you go back to China to visit your relatives and, after a round of hot steamy dumpling dinner, they surround you in a circle with hot branding forks and communist flags and demand classified US Govt information from you? Would you yield to this barbaric inquisition and extreme pressure and spill all to your terrorist relatives?"
Okay, I had wee too much fun there. But something to that effect. What's she supposed to say? There's only one answer. NO. (and maybe with a bonus of 'No, not all 1.3 billion Chinese people care that much about destroying you. In fact there may be more people in your own country who want to do that more than anywhere else.' but no, that's mean)
That leads me to another tangent (thus the title of this blog) even though I was prepared to end this post there. US and Canadian governments really ought to just try to understand what the Asian countries are about. When I worked for the Canadian government and in that particular sector that dealt more with judging Asian things than other sectors, I felt so frustrated at the general level of ignorance. And when I tried to defend Asia and explain that a lot of these things do not cause harm and it's just a different culture and 'you know not everyone in the world thinks peanut butter or pizza is the tastiest food', they just kind of thought I was fobby (which I don't think I am). They need to hire people based on the internal diversity (instead of just color of skin, because most of who they do hire are very Caucasian inside) if it involves such international exposure. I was so surprised how little they knew and accepted the Asian culture, because I thought Vancouver was so Asianized to the point that all the non-Asians can use chopsticks correctly at sushi restaurants. And then I realized. That's all they know. Fake, Chinese-owned sushi restaurants, Vietamese pho, and maybe bubble tea. The rest is just 'weird' to them. This goes back to the conformism discussion (which I don't believe I wrote on this blog, but eventually I will). I was pretty pissed when they saw my homemade stirfry lunch and said 'gross' and saw someone else's diarrhea-like curry (okay I do love curry, but it was seriously more diarrhea-like than normal curry) and said 'that looks yummy'. Anyway, I should stop here. Point is already made.
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