Recently, a woman from mainland China posted online that she was told during a job application process that she must accept the “unspoken rules” in order to be hired. This incident has sparked attention on the internet.
According to reports from mainland media, the individual, Ms. Wang, connected with a human resources (HR) personnel from a company through the lifestyle service platform “58 Tongcheng.”
The chat records between Ms. Wang and the HR personnel show that the company in question is a foreign company in the automotive industry. They provided her with salary information and inquired if she would accept work arrangements such as business trips, entertaining clients, and drinking. When Ms. Wang further inquired about the job details, the person mentioned that the position primarily involved recruiting the personal secretary of the chairman of the group and shared the WeChat ID of the so-called “chairman.”
Ms. Wang then added the WeChat of the “chairman” and had a conversation with the individual. She mentioned that the person sounded quite young, with only a video on their social media profile showing them driving a luxury car, which made her feel like it was “a bit like fishing online.”
During the conversation, as described by Ms. Wang, the person mentioned that going out might involve business trips or staying in hotels, and asked how she would handle potential relationships. Ms. Wang immediately expressed her inability to accept such arrangements.
Ms. Wang stated that she hopes to alert job seekers, especially young graduates, that when applying for positions such as assistants, they should be vigilant if they encounter similar abnormal dialogue.
In response to this, Mr. Li, a staff member from “58 Tongcheng,” stated that the WeChat chat records between job seekers and HR personnel are considered private communication, and the platform cannot access relevant data. Currently, the platform has received feedback on the issue and is verifying it. If such situations are confirmed, the platform will blacklist the implicated company within 3 working days. However, they generally do not terminate intermediary cooperation, as intermediaries are usually responsible for recruiting for multiple companies.