Since people started dreaming of joining Jungle, this is what many job applicants have heard:
- “The Jungle interview is beyond imagination. If you go in as if you’re preparing for a regular company, you’ll get rejected!”
Jungle’s interview, known for its unique format and content.
The problem is that it’s difficult to prepare for.
Although there haven’t been many interviews so far, the method changes every time there’s an open recruitment.
So, pre-study is practically useless.
However, today, their mental state was shaken from the beginning.
It was because of what they heard at the end of the first interview.
- “In this open recruitment, we have specially adopted a drinking interview. However, this interview is optional, so please inform the interviewer whether you agree or not shortly. Keep in mind that while you can gain extra points in the drinking interview, you can also lose points. So, there’s no need to participate if you don’t want to.”
It was said that those who match the intentions of the test maker do well in exams.
In other words, if you don’t know the test maker’s intentions, you’re likely to fail.
For those who applied to Jungle this time, they might have known the test maker’s intentions, but it felt like a trap.
In fact, if you know it’s a trap, you can avoid it, but for those who felt they didn’t do well in the first interview, it was a difficult decision.
“Since I’ve already messed up, should I try to make up for it in the drinking interview?”
“This is a chance to turn things around. I must take the drinking interview.”
“I think I did okay in the first interview, but what if I lose points by participating unnecessarily?”
“I turn into a mess when I drink.”
There wasn’t much time to hesitate.
As they left the interview room, an interviewer followed them and asked if they wanted to participate in the drinking interview.
“Please let us know if you will participate in the drinking interview.”
“Oh, yes, I definitely will.”
“Yes, I want to participate.”
While some answered normally, there were also unique responses.
“Absolutely, yes.”
“I’m the type who wakes up even from sleep to drink.”
“This sounds fun.”
“If there’s a ‘yaja time’ (reverse seniority time), that would be even better. Hahaha.”
On the other hand, there were various ways to refuse.
“Sorry, but I’m not good with alcohol.”
“This is a bit disappointing. No matter how unique Jungle is with its interview methods, hiring people through a drinking session?”
“I really want to participate, but something urgent came up.”
“I’m not feeling well today. If I get the chance later, can I buy you a drink instead?”
Listening to the responses, the interviewers realized that the world is vast and there are indeed many interesting characters.
Naturally, they tried to integrate the applicants who accepted or refused into the organization.
In fact, can we talk about organizational life in South Korea in 1998 without mentioning drinking sessions?
Especially in sales jobs, it’s not an exaggeration to say that business is done with alcohol daily.
However, since it’s often difficult to drink for personal reasons, it’s also important to refuse without offending the other party.
The same goes for the workplace.
Sometimes a superior, a colleague, or a junior may suggest a drinking session, and it’s not possible to always refuse.
When they applied the refusal methods to the situation, it wasn’t difficult to score.
About half of the applicants participated.
Since it wasn’t easy to find a bar, they had to prepare three existing Jungle buildings.
Then, at the drinking interview, CEO Lee Hyun-woo, the board of directors, and team leaders all showed up.
Although they didn’t score directly, they observed the applicants’ reactions to unexpected situations and scored accordingly.
It was easy to score by drawing a scene from organizational life.
Would you always have a perfect match with your boss and colleagues at work?
The probability is higher that you wouldn’t.
Given that everyone grew up in different environments and cultures, how could they fit together like a perfect match?
Especially in Korea, where military culture is prevalent in workplaces, the concept of hierarchy and obedience is widespread.
Originally, Jungle was one of the places where such culture was less prevalent thanks to CEO Lee Hyun-woo’s clear philosophy and communication skills, but he couldn’t control all employees.
Moreover, since there were employees who joined later, it wasn’t easy to change their style, so you could say the hierarchical culture was being improved while mixing.
In any case, the management, board members, key advisors, and executives having a drinking session with the applicants today had very diverse personalities.
So, if the applicants later joined Jungle and met these people, they could see how they would adapt and cope.
“If you were the CEO of Jungle, what is the first thing you’d want to do? You have 30 seconds.”
Lee Hyun-woo posed a very challenging question at the first table he sat at.
It was clear that depending on the answer, one could gain extra points.
The applicants’ thought processes were in overdrive.
“Lee Hyun-woo is the icon of innovation.”
“I can’t give an ordinary answer.”
“But it can’t be something outrageous…”
“If it’s feasible and innovative?”
Courageous applicants started answering.
“When I was young, there was an American drama called Knight Rider. It featured a car controlled by artificial intelligence. I am convinced such a time will come. So, I would increase R&D funding for technology to control cars.”
“I also want to invest in artificial intelligence. Because…”
Perhaps because Jungle is known for its innovative information technology, the applicants tried to showcase their knowledge.
However, while Lee Hyun-woo and the interviewers acknowledged that the answers were decent, they couldn’t help but think they were too far-fetched.
But as they moved on to the second and third tables, better suggestions started emerging.
“Personally, I was thinking of using Jungle’s corporate resources a bit more. What if we calculated the MP3 download rankings not by country, but globally? Then we could see the most downloaded songs in real-time across Korea, the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.”
It’s been almost two years since MP3s appeared in the world, and in Korea, a new way of calculating popular music rankings emerged.
It was based on download counts.
Initially, Jungle Music compiled these counts and posted the top 100 songs every Monday on their website.
Recently, it switched to a real-time ranking system, updating every hour.
“Not bad.”
While such a system might be adopted someday, it wasn’t currently in use.
Naturally, those who suggested feasible ideas scored extra points.
So, were there better candidates at the later tables than at the first?
Not necessarily. As some applicants adapted to the atmosphere with a few drinks, more practical and innovative ideas emerged.
This was the positive aspect of the drinking interview.
However, not all interviews are without flaws, and the negative aspects of the drinking interview also appeared shortly after.
“Your questions are too much for applicants who know nothing. What does asking about workplace romance have to do with joining Jungle?”
A male applicant who received a question from Oh Min-woo at one table raised his voice, somewhat intoxicated.
The interviewers were cold. Such behavior also affected the score.
“Lack of self-control.”
Of course, one could get drunk during organizational life.
And mistakes could also happen.
But what if this were a meeting with key figures from a foreign company?
Especially since such meetings often occur in Japan or China, team leaders would ask difficult questions to reveal the applicants’ personalities.
“Avoiding traps is also a skill.”
The interviewers were diligently writing notes on their score sheets.
Meanwhile, interesting discussions were happening at the table with Hwang Do-hoon.
“There are four types of employees in a company. First, those who are capable and hardworking. Second, those who are capable but lazy. Third, those who are incapable but hardworking. Fourth, those who are both incapable and lazy. Which type do you think is necessary for a company?”
“Of course, the first type… right?”
“It must be the first type, right?”
“Then which type is the least necessary?”
“The fourth type, I guess?”
“Isn’t it the fourth type?”
“What about a fifth type? Incapable, lazy, but good at sucking up?”
Here, too, as the drinking session became comfortable, people started saying anything.
However, when one applicant mentioned the fifth type, Hwang Do-hoon shook his head.
“Mentioning the fifth type is not bad, but such people are also quite necessary in an organization. A company is a community of people, and if everyone is the same, it’s hard to pursue diversity.”
“Oh, yes…”
“That’s true…”
“For your information, the correct answer is the third type. If someone is incapable but hardworking, they consume the company’s resources. For example, if that person is a team leader, they could mobilize subordinates for inefficient work and eventually put the company at risk.”
“Oh… that makes sense.”
This table had a professor-student atmosphere.
Since the applicants’ reactions in various situations were important, scores were also being noted.
Meanwhile, at one table, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
It was where design team leader Jang Kang-hyun was.
He rarely asked questions and didn’t drink.
Then.
“Anyone have any questions?”
Even with this prompt, the atmosphere felt so difficult and challenging that no one opened their mouth.
Finally, someone managed to ask a question.
“Are there frequent drinking sessions at Jungle?”
“Not in our team.”
“Okay…, then is it okay not to participate in teams where there are many drinking sessions?”
“Yes.”
Interviewers faced the most challenging criteria to score.
However, as team leaders rotated and sat at tables, this drinking interview was considered successful.
Lee Hyun-woo felt the same.
After the drinking interview ended, feeling slightly tipsy, he called Gu Man-hoe and gave a thumbs-up.
“This was the most unique and fun interview so far. Please continue to use diverse interview methods in the future.”
Receiving praise, Gu Man-hoe nodded with an elated expression.
At the same time, various interview methods were floating in his mind.
“Overnight interviews might be good. Or maybe bringing in actors to create specific scenarios.”
Various interview methods to draw out the applicants’ characteristics and quick thinking were a challenge for him.
