September 13, 2026

Log

I ate instant noodles with lots of chicken feet today. I hadn't had instant noodles like this in a long time. It was so good.

Thoughts

Interview prep and a hiring process that felt unfair

I had planned to help my girlfriend practice for an interview. Then I found something troubling about the so-called hiring exam for public institutions in Shanghai's Yangpu District.

ChatGPT Image Sep 13, 2026, 08_00_10 PM.png

I looked through the proposed hiring lists from the past few years. In the lists I read, all the proposed hires came from just a few HR companies in Shanghai. To me, the whole thing looked rigged. It is depressing to see this kind of bullshit hiring process in one of the most developed cities in China.

Could I build a website to make this information public and help people looking for a fair chance avoid these hiring traps?

Communication

I saw a post on WeChat Moments about how complicated communication is. It said that a conversation seems to involve two people, but there are six: me, who I think I am, who you think I am, you, who you think you are, and who I think you are.

I had seen this idea before. Good communication is hard, but I think there are a few rules I can follow.

Listen patiently.
Don't lecture people. Telling someone what to do over and over may teach them nothing, while one or two real experiences can teach them a lot. I should not assume my own view is right, either. Sometimes I need to let things play out and have a backup plan in case they go wrong.
Don't rush. Strong emotions can make a conversation even more confusing. Keeping my emotions under control matters.
Try to see things from the other person's side. I think this is very hard. I need to know something about their situation to understand their view. I cannot just make it up in my head.

Review

👍 What Went Well

I checked several years of hiring lists and noticed a pattern.
I put my thoughts about communication into four rules I want to follow.
⚠️ Challenges
The hiring process left me angry and disappointed.
Strong emotions can make communication harder. Understanding someone else's view is also difficult when I know little about their situation. ### 💡 What I Realized Today

Understanding someone else's view takes context. I need to learn about their situation before assuming I know how they think.