Biggest waste of time and the shadiest interview I’ve ever had in Hong Kong
Review body:
Biggest waste of time and the shadiest interview I’ve ever had in Hong Kong.
• Changed the interview time 4-5 times, always last-minute via WhatsApp
• First round was supposedly “in their office” (a small unit in Causeway Bay), but the place was almost empty — literally only 2-3 people there, felt like a complete shell office
• The lady who interviewed me first gave super weird vibes — kept asking very basic questions like she knew nothing about online education or teaching, felt like she was just reading from a script
• After that, 100% of communication was only WhatsApp (never once a proper company email). At the time I thought “okay, maybe just China-company style”, but later realised it’s because they don’t want anything traceable in writing
After the third round, the HR suddenly started talking about onboarding date, salary, etc., acting like the job was already mine. Then out of nowhere he sent a follow-up message asking if I would be “comfortable letting the company use my name and HKID to apply for government funding” (TVP / BUD Fund type).
When I asked why they don’t let senior management or the bosses do it, their exact reply was:
“Because we are a listed company, the bosses are too busy for this kind of small thing, so we usually set up a separate company under one employee’s name. Don’t worry — all the money still comes from the original company’s cash flow.”
They kept saying “it’s very common, many employees are already doing it” and tried to brush it off as totally normal.
I was only applying for a regular mid-level teaching role — not a director, not a shareholder, not even officially hired yet. Why on earth would I agree to become the legal nominee and take all the liability for an entire company set up just to grab government subsidies?