GEOX SINGAPORE SUCKS
Written on 4:43 AM by c meridian
"Geoxy-moronic"
So I went for my second interview with Geox in Singapore today. The first interview was with a lady called "Miss C". Nice lady, it was pretty much a regular interview with her. No drama. It went well for both parties, from my point of view.
The person who interviewed me the second time was a pompous prick, a person who seems to have sentiments that Malaysians are lesser beings. This 'director', let's give him the name "Mr G" (is a fool by any other name btw). Conducts the interview in a brash, partisan tone. I am a mature, I would say pretty intelligible person. I know how the world works. I know that the world isn't always nice. I understand it's not your duty to make interviews pleasant, but you didn't have to be condescending and disrespectful. As an interview is a perfect opportunity for a person to know your company better, and for the interviewer to find out more about the candidate - a mutual discovery of each other, it never pays to play the "superiority" card. And what I've gathered here is that Geox Singapore or Opticsflair (the holding company) is led by a closed minded, prejudiced and shameful bunch of bigots in shirts and ties.
I would hate to transcribe the exact 40-mins interview into a long, long post. But here are some of the abridged examples of what went on...
Pompous Director: So do you have any retail experience?
Kenny T: As I have explained to Miss C before. I had some retail experience on an ad hoc basis in the past. I've worked in *** and *** and *** company during the holidays when I was studying...
Pompous Director: *raised eyebrow* *laugh* *shaking his head* That must have been like what 10 years ago?!!
Kenny T: ... in college. Yea, I suppose you can say about 8 years ago.
(he laughed in my face, discounting the fact that I have a bachelor's degree and other skills to offer)
Pompous Director: *shakes his head* *looks at me in a patronizing manner* We don't consider that experience.
Kenny T: Mmm. Ok.
Pompous Director: So what kind of articles do you write for the magazine?
Kenny T: I write mainly articles relating to technology, driving and sometimes lifestyle articles that touch on fashion, travel, food or entertainment.
Pompous Director: ...and this is all in Malaysia? *smirk*
Kenny T: Yes.
Pompous Director: Why don't you write for Singaporean publications?
Kenny T: Because I am currently looking to start a career in marketing instead of publishing. I think it's time for me to make the next step and move away from writing because my true passion is in marketing and fashion.
Pompous Director: *looking disinterested*
Kenny T: ???
All this is hard to explain in a dialogue because not everything happens in a turn-to-turn basis. But his expression was really awkward throughout the interview. He spoke in a condescending tone. Showed facial expressions that borders on disbelief and disinterested. At some point during the interview, I had to explain why I couldn't write as much articles when I am in Singapore. Duh, I am not physically in KL. So I gave the example of the Accor group contacting me recently about the possibility of a hospitality review. He asked me "Accor who?". I was thinking like you know Accor Hotels? Hello?! Mercure? Sofitel? Ibis? Novotel? Club Med? After I explained that it was a hotel chain... he still didn't know what Accor was. What a complete...
He then went on to ask question that seemed to verify the authenticity of my history. Peppering the interview with questions that backtrack to information I've said before and asking "I thought you said...such and such?" "I thought you have close family friends here?"... "Who are they?"... "I thought you had family friends here, why are you staying with a friend?" It's like I came from my mum womb, do you think I should climb back in there? Can't a man live anywhere he wants? I don't react adversely to these questions, I am quite indifferent with any of the personal questions in an interview... but if you think I am a Malaysian, therefore I am a liar... then you must really have serious issues.
Kenny T: If I may ask, what are my career advancement opportunities within the company, should I accept this job?
Pompous Director: We are not the civil service. We don't offer a clear hierarchy. Firstly you must be willing to do bla bla bla... We do not offer job advancements but you must first prove your worth before we can further add responsibilities to your job scope.
(FYI, Mr G, added responsibilities is not a career advancement)
Kenny T: Ok. I see. I do belief that every job or every task needs to have somewhat of a destination. In case I was driving, I would also need to know roughly where the destination is, so I can put down the speed of which to drive and what to expect from the journey. I think it's important for a person to have goals and ambitions within a company. The reason I asked is because I was wondering what is the outline of a brand executive's potential achievements, within the company?
Pompous Director: We can't just simply promote you. And the speed of promotion depends on how well you contribute to the company... bla bla bla.
Kenny T: Oh, the speed I mentioned was metaphorically speaking. But what I meant to ask was, what exactly will I be looking at potentially achieving, optimistically, in say 10 years time.
Pompous Director: Perhaps, if you do your job well... assistant brand manager. And consequently brand manager.
Kenny T: (this information I could only obtain after her went rhetoric for 10 mins) Ok...
At a different point of the interview, I asked Mr G what was the common problem related to the retail side of the business because he said that I will be handling the problems at the stores... I asked him "is one of the problems - store theft?" He looked at me puzzled and laughed like I was asking an idiotic question. He later answered the question but not without making me feel like a fool. Was that necessary? Really.
Kenny T: I believe this job requires a fair bit of traveling between stores and etc. Will there be any transportation allowance provided by the company?
Pompous Director: Nope. Basically the package is it. That's all you get.
Kenny T: ???
Ok, so this is a job with very little career advancement opportunity. I get it, it's a dead end job. I had a problem with this interview at various points because :
1. The pay is going to be peanuts.
2. No transportation allowance at all? Even if I were to be extra super duper frugal, I would still need to take the MRT to get to the stores everyday?
3. No career advancement opportunities
4. The director whom the Brand Executive reports to is a dick
5. Misleading advertising
The other problem I have with this company is that it advertised that it was looking for Brand Executives. You see, from his explanation during the interview, they are actually looking for someone who can work at the Geox stores nationwide in Singapore after 4:30pm and the peak hours during weekends. Mr G said "you can't just visit the stores for 30 minutes. You have to be at the floor selling the product with the sales assistants. And help out during the crucial hours of closing time. You need to be at the shops selling the shoes too". That plus, doing stock count at the warehouse and the stores. Inventory checks, sales projections, making sure the products arrive on time and handling complaints.
I have no problem with stress, tight deadlines and crazy hours ( I did work as an account executive at an ad agency before) but GEOX is looking for a store supervisor, not a Brand Executive. They have knowingly and with intent to mislead, embellished the job title! Even Miss C admitted that they are looking for someone to fulfill the responsibilities of a store supervisor. Then why the hell glam it up to Brand Executive? This falls under MISLEADING (recruitment) advertising!
The other question is... Do you think nobody would notice when they come for the interview?
The 5 GEOX boutiques in Singapore do not have store supervisors. They do however ask the current 2 "Brand Executives" to go around the stores to manage them on a day-to-day basis. They are looking to add one more, which is where my interview comes in. Yea, if I knew you were looking for a retail supervisor, I wouldn't have applied, you dum-dum! Geez, I hate misleading ads. Not only have you wasted my time... I gave you my time so you can ridicule me. WTF! And to add salt to the injury, he seems to have undermined all my "Malaysian" work experience and achievements as frivolous and unworthy of his Singaporean presence.
I am not an egomaniac or arrogant prick, I always enter an interview room with a smile, humility, honesty and positive attitude. I don't think interviews are fun, nor are they meant to be... but I understand that we must both get comfortable quickly and have a healthy discourse if we are to truly uncover whether the potential employer and employee are a good fit for each other.
It's unfortunate that this interviewer does not understand the concept.
Note: I can't believe I rushed back from my Jakarta trip for this.
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Kenny,
Seriously, you dont wanna work with someone in the fashion/lifestyle industry and not know Accor group. Maybe he's the Cina-pek who only know Sang-ger-lila.. LOL.
So did you get the job?! You can do better, Kenny! Be patient. Looking for the perfect job takes time. So no hurry.
You dont wanna end up in the plant like me.
came across ur blog entry...gosh...i feel the same way...i worked there less than a month and i find the ppl so crappy...wasted my time...luckily i was paid...haha
yikes! i found this site just now while looking for the Geox Singapore HQ because I was planning to apply as a Brand Executive as well. They mentioned in the newspaper ad that "the successful candidate will assist in the retail operations and management of the brand." So that really meant that I would have to be at the store selling items? Truly misleading.
Seems the company did not hire true professionals. sigh...
I was invited to an interview via phone call in august 2015, the lady with GEOX mentioned to follow up with an email. However, no email received, thus I dismissed the interview. The lady only called me back on the interview day, probably 10 mins prior to the scheduled time. I had to explained that I did not receive any email from her and did not have the contact to call back. The interview was rescheduled.
I came across this post while preparing for the rescheduled interview. Thought that the company might have changed for the better since it has been 7 long years...
While this post did discount the credibility of the company, I still decided to go for the interview.
To my digust, the hiring manager called me 1 hour prior to the interview, while I was making my way to their office, to inform me that the interview was cancelled...
She almost ended the phone call after informing me tht the interview was cancelled. I had to prompt her to ask if it is going to be rescheduled. Being not apologetic at all, she asked when would be a good day. I randomly gave her a date, while she said she had marked it on her calender giving me a protronising impression.
While I cannot be a judge on how the interview will go, but the hr practice is horrendous.
While I shouldn't judge the company just because of this post that was published years ago, my limited dealings with GEOX, had revealed how unprofessional they are.
Just my five cents worth, Now judge for yourself.