"Hello! My name is Ren Yu, and this is my resume."
Ren Yu was a very young man, holding a printed resume in his hand, which is a basic courtesy for job seekers.
Gu Fan had already seen his resume online and was quite familiar with his background, so a brief glance was enough for him to get the measure of the man.
Despite looking young, he actually had three years of experience as a game tester.
Quite a match for the job requirements.
After asking a few questions related to game testing, Ren Yu responded smoothly and confidently.
"Rest assured, if there's a BUG in the game, no matter how deep it's hidden, I'm confident I can find it!"
Gu Fan smiled and nodded, "Hmm, not bad."
Though he said it was not bad, Gu Fan had already crossed him off in his mind.
His work ability was too strong, clearly not meeting Gu Fan's recruitment needs!
Although this ability to find BUGs might also be just bragging, Gu Fan didn't dare take such a risk.
What if you really found the BUG I painstakingly hid – to fix it or not?
But Gu Fan didn't want to reject this excellent candidate outright because it would be troublesome if Lilith found out.
Even though Lilith couldn't come to the Human World during the day, she was, after all, a cunning Hell Demon.
Gu Fan always needed to be cautious with his actions and leave no clear evidence behind.
Luckily, the contract Lilith signed with Gu Fan contained innumerable methods to dissuade job seekers.
With this in mind, Gu Fan said with a smile, "OK, I've fully understood your general situation. So, do you have any questions about our company? Feel free to speak your mind, and I will be completely open with you."
Hearing this, Ren Yu was overjoyed.
Clearly, this meant that the interviewer had recognized his abilities, and he was almost certain of landing the job!
As a rule, in interviews, it's best to respond to the question "do you have any questions?" with a standard answer, rather than actually asking sensitive questions.
But a job interview is, after all, a two-way selection process, so Ren Yu still asked a few key questions that he was really concerned about.
"I'd like to know precisely where our company's office is located?"
Looking out from the second-floor window of the coffee shop, he asked, looking at the old office community across the street, "Is it in that building?"
The office environment is quite important for workers.
Before coming, Ren Yu had wondered – the only thing close to an office building near the coffee shop was that old office community.
This gave him slight misgivings because he had experience working with large companies before, and the drop in office quality made it hard for him to accept.
If it were not for the fact that Nitiantang was an emerging game company with great prospects, and "Infernal Trajectory" a game that had just become popular, he might not have even considered attending the interview.
Gu Fan shook his head, "Of course the office isn't there."
"Oh?" Ren Yu couldn't help but feel a bit surprised, "Then where is it?"
He instantly speculated.
Clearly, the popularity of "Infernal Trajectory" had fattened the company's wallet, so they must be moving to a better place!
However, what Gu Fan said next took the wind out of Ren Yu's sails.
"Our office has always been here, it's all clearly written on the interview notice," Gu Fan pointed to the coffee shop beneath their feet.
Ren Yu didn't quite know what to say, "The, the coffee shop?"
Gu Fan chuckled, "Yes, this coffee shop.
"I checked it out, the office community across is outrageous, charging 600 yuan per workstation per month!
"That's practically like robbery.
"But this coffee shop is a great deal because it doesn't have many customers, so I negotiated with the owner, and it's only 300 yuan per month for a spot on the second floor.
"How cost-effective! Plus, when you're tired from work, you can just grab a cup of coffee on the go."
Ren Yu was dumbfounded.
Renting a spot on the second floor of a coffee shop as an office?
Man, even for a start-up company, isn't this cutting corners a bit too much?
As if reading his thoughts, Gu Fan explained, "Good steel must be put to good use! It's our company's principle to save on daily expenses and give more tangible benefits to the employees."
Ren Yu's mouth twitched slightly. As an experienced worker, he could smell the scent of "pie in the sky."
However, he didn't jump to conclusions and asked another question instead.
"So what is the salary range at your company?"
Gu Fan thought for a moment, "Oh, did you bring your pay stub with you?"
Ren Yu nodded, "I did."
After saying that, Ren Yu handed over the pay stub he had brought with him.
Nowadays, many companies would ask job seekers to bring a pay stub, pay slip, or income proof to better verify their actual income at their previous company.
Although it seemed a bit inconsiderate, it was indeed legal, since it was not uncommon for job seekers to exaggerate their salaries to raise the stakes.
For Ren Yu, he was quite satisfied with the salary that his previous company had offered, and he was also well aware of the salary cap for his position, so he didn't have any resentment towards providing his pay stub.
As long as this company could offer a slightly higher or at least equal salary to what he had before, he would be content.
Gu Fan glanced at the pay stub. Ren Yu's position at his last company was a Senior Tester and he earned about 9,000 per month.
For a tester, that was indeed considered a high salary.
Testers in game companies generally held the lowest status, as after all, this was a job without much technical content. Aside from test supervisors or Test Team Leaders, it was rare for testers to earn salaries over ten thousand.
Ren Yu came here for an interview hoping to succeed as a "Test Team Leader" in this startup, to earn a salary over ten thousand, and to make his resume look a bit more impressive.
That way, even if he went to job hunt at another company later on, he would have more confidence.
"Just a moment," said Gu Fan as he reached for a calculator on the side.
"Reset!
"9,000 times 0.8 equals 7,200."
Gu Fan stated very sincerely, "We can offer you a basic salary of 7,200."
"What?" Ren Yu's eyes widened, his mouth slightly ajar, shocked in the moment.
He had never seen such a shameless interviewer!
Without a word, you're just going to slash my salary by 20%?
And that's 20% off the actual salary I was getting at my previous job!
Logically, in China's gaming industry, oh no, in the internet industry generally, if workers want a raise, job-hopping is almost the only way.
Staying at the same company might only result in a salary increase of 5% or 10%, but job-hopping could result in 30%, 50%, or even doubling one's salary.
So most companies have an idea of this when recruiting and will at minimum offer a 15% to 20% increase knowing the candidate's real salary, otherwise it would seem like there's no sincerity at all.
If they only offer to match the salary of the previous job, why would anyone bother changing jobs?
But here comes "Nitiandang," not only not offering a raise, but proposing to cut down to 80%?
Not just a decrease, but to calculate it right in front of me with a calculator?
The sound of the calculator was so loud, I could hear it!
Ren Yu's lips twitched slightly, and in that moment, he was sure that the "pie in the sky" scent he had smelled was real. This was not the company to work for!
All that talk from the young boss about "using good steel on the edge of the knife" and "saving the company's daily expenses to give the staff a bit more real benefits" were clearly nonsense.
If they're not even willing to offer the basic salary, then there's no point in talking about other benefits!
Forget it, both this company and this boss seem unreliable. What a disturbance!
Even though he really wanted to express his thoughts, Ren Yu, after all, was a mature worker. With a smile on his face, he said, "Alright, I don't have any other questions then."
Gu Fan stood up, "OK, that will be all for today's interview. If we decide we can work together, I'll call you before 5 pm today."
The implication was that if there's no call by then, there was no chance.
Ren Yu nodded, "Alright."
He was nearly 100% sure that they would call, but he planned to reject it outright.
Joking aside, he had never heard of anyone taking a pay cut to switch jobs!
After seeing off Ren Yu, Gu Fan returned to his seat and continued to leisurely drink coffee.
See, there's no need to say much. The contracts signed by Lilith alone could successfully dissuade the majority of job applicants!