Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Engrish

*edit - 16/01/2007* I took my last name off this post because my name kept coming up in google searches which then linked to my blog. I'm still trying to keep a level of anonymity =P
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Today was one of those days… it was already 5:55pm and I was ready to call it a day. As I was about to log off a candidate with a heavy Asian accent calls through in relation to this job.

The conversation went something like this:

Mai Ling: “Hello? Can I please speak to Emily Cong? It’s Mai Ling calling.”

Me: “Hello Mai Ling, it’s Emily speaking how can I help you there?”

Mai Ling: “I calling for role, I called before. Emily Cong where is he??”

Me: “It’s actually Emily Ch**g and yes, I did get your message but I was in a meeting and didn't have the chance to return calls yet”

Mai Ling:
“Emily Ch**g?!? Where is he?? When does he come out of meeting?!?!”

Me: “ No no, I’m Emily Ch**g you’re speaking to her”

Mai Ling: “But I need to speak to Emily Ch**g!! Is he out of meeting yet?!?!”

Me: “Emily Ch**g is a ladies name and you are speaking to her…”

Mai Ling: “EMILY CH**G!! Oh Emily is a WOMAN!?!?....hi Emily, I’m applying for your job...”

The conversation was very painful and went from bad to worse, needless to say that the candidate wasn’t successful.
*For the record I have not used original names to protect the candidates identities.

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