GBP Chapter 341 The Final Interview
Chapter 341 The Final Interview
The next person to come in was the girl who ran the campus forum, named Lu Xiao.
She was wearing a white sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers today, with her hair tied in a ponytail. She looked more like she was just dropping by than coming for an interview.
Lu Ran actually had a strong impression of Lu Xiao. She was a famous circle leader on TUTU, and Lu Ran even awarded her the unique guardian medal. At that time, he even extended an olive branch to her, but Lu Xiao did not accept it.
This time, another interview came, which surprised Lu Ran quite a bit, but the interview process proceeded as usual.
"Sit down." Lu Ran gestured to a chair. "Lu Xiao, journalism major, senior. Your resume says you increased the daily active users of the school forum from 300 to 2,000. How did you do that?"
Lu Xiao sat down and counted on her fingers, saying, "Three steps. First, address the pain points. The original forum post review took half an hour, so I shortened the review time to five minutes. Second, optimize the user experience. I wrote a front-end page myself and overlaid it on the forum's data interface to make the interface look less like a product from ten years ago. Third, create buzz. I planned several online events, such as the 'Most Beautiful Corner on Campus Photography Contest' and the 'Café Dark Cuisine Rant Session,' which aroused users' enthusiasm for participation."
After listening, Lu Ran asked a question he was very concerned about: "How long did it take you to write that front-end page?"
"Two days," Lu Xiao said. "Actually, it's not difficult. It's just adjusting the CSS, changing the layout, and adding a few interactive effects. The school forum already uses an open-source framework, so the front-end code is readily available. I just need to modify the styles."
"You studied journalism, how do you know these things?"
Lu Xiao said matter-of-factly, "I learned it on my own. When I was a sophomore, I wanted to make a personal website, but I found that the school courses didn't teach these things, so I found tutorials online and learned by watching them. After a month of struggling, the website was finished, and I also learned how to do it."
Lu Ran wrote a line in his notebook: Strong learning ability, even stronger hands-on ability.
What do you consider your biggest weakness?
Lu Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Sometimes I'm too impatient. I want to do whatever comes to mind and I can't wait. When I was working on the forum, I finished writing a new front-end page and wanted to launch it the next day. But the teachers at school said we had to test it first, and it could only be launched after a week of testing. I couldn't wait that long, so I secretly changed the page on the third day."
"Was it discovered later?"
"I found out." Lu Xiao curled her lips. "A teacher happened to be browsing posts on the forum that day and noticed the interface had changed. He called to ask me what happened. I said it was an automatic system update, but he didn't believe me. He investigated for a long time but couldn't find out who did it, and in the end, it was left unresolved."
Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh: "Aren't you afraid of being punished?"
"I'm scared," Lu Xiao said, "but I think it's worth it. The sooner it goes live, the sooner users can enjoy a better experience. If we wait a week to launch, it'll be too late. At most, I'll get a demerit, which won't affect my graduation. But the user experience is real and tangible."
Lu Ran wrote another line in his notebook: Be responsible and dare to make decisions.
"One last question, and the one I most want to ask: you were unwilling to come before, so why do you want to join Tutu Technology now?"
Lu Xiao replied without hesitation, "Because I graduated this year, and our company doesn't require clocking in."
Lu Ran was taken aback: "Just because of that?"
"Not entirely," Lu Xiao said. "Not having to clock in is a plus, but not the deciding factor. The real reason I came here is that the products you make make me feel that this is a company with ambition. It's not the kind of company that does whatever makes money, but a company that does what it believes has value. I want to work for a company like that."
"And I genuinely like Tutu Technology."
Lu Ran extended his hand: "Then welcome to join Tutu Technology."
Lu Xiao grasped his hand and shook it vigorously: "Thank you, Brother Lu!"
"You're welcome, I still remember you," Lu Ran said with a smile.
Lu Xiao was also somewhat surprised, but not too much of an astonishment, since it wasn't the first time she had met Lu Ran.
Lu Ran smiled and said, "Okay, so can you start work next Monday?"
"Sure!" Lu Xiao stood up. "I'll finish my thesis for school tomorrow, pack my things over the weekend, and be there on Monday sharp!"
She turned to leave, but stopped at the door, turned back, and said, "Brother Lu, um... we really don't need to clock in at the company, right?"
"Really. But if you're late every day, I'll have a talk with you."
"No, no," Lu Xiao waved her hand. "I'm never late. I just don't like being told what time to arrive. I can manage myself."
After she left, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, laughing for a long time.
This group of people is getting more and more interesting.
Next up for the interview was a male student from the Computer Science department named Zhao Yiming.
It's the one that does open-source projects.
When he walked in, the first thing Lu Ran noticed was his clothes—a plaid shirt, dark blue, with the buttons on the cuffs fastened in the wrong place, one side longer than the other.
The typical image of an IT guy.
"Sit down." Lu Ran gestured to a chair. "Zhao Yiming, Computer Science major, senior. Your resume says you participated in an open-source project, ranking third in code contributions. Could you tell me specifically what you did?"
Zhao Yiming sat down, placed his hands on his knees, and looked at the table, not daring to look at Lu Ran.
"I...I fixed more than twenty bugs, added three new functional modules, and optimized the performance of two algorithms."
He spoke very slowly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth.
Lu Ran didn't urge him, and waited quietly.
Lu Ran greatly admired this kind of technical expert.
Zhao Yiming continued, "That project was a game engine, and I was responsible for the physics collision detection module. The original algorithm had performance issues in complex scenes, so I refactored the algorithm, which reduced the collision detection time by about 30%."
"How did you do that?"
Hearing Lu Ran's follow-up question, Zhao Yiming's eyes lit up, and he spoke faster: "The original algorithm used bounding box hierarchical detection, but I replaced it with a combination of spatial segmentation and bounding boxes. First, the scene is spatially segmented, dividing the objects into different grids, and then the objects within each grid are detected using bounding boxes. This reduces the number of object pairs that need to be detected from O(n²) to O(n log n), and the performance improvement is significant when there are many objects."
When he said these things, he didn't stutter at all; it was as if he were a completely different person.
It seems that only in this familiar area can he completely relax and be himself.
As a fellow tech expert, Lu Ran could immediately tell that this person truly understood technology.
"So what do you think is your biggest weakness?"
Zhao Yiming regained his nervousness, his voice becoming softer: "I...I'm not very good at interacting with people. I get very nervous when talking to people, and I don't know what to say. But I don't get nervous when talking to a computer."
"Do you think this issue will affect your work?"
Zhao Yiming thought for a moment and said, "Yes. But I can try my best to improve. I didn't know how to code before, but I learned it. It's the same with dealing with people; I can learn. I might learn slowly, but I can master it."
Lu Ran wrote a line in his notebook: Honest, self-aware, and willing to learn.
"One last question, why did you want to join Tutu Technology?"
Zhao Yiming looked up at Lu Ran, then lowered his head again: "Because what you guys did... is amazing. I've read analysis articles about the technical architecture of League of Legends; the network synchronization algorithm is 30% more efficient than the industry average. I don't know how you did it, but I want to know. I want to work with the people who made these things."
Lu Ran extended his hand: "Welcome to Tutu Technology."
Zhao Yiming paused for a moment, then stood up and extended his hand.
His palms were dry, and his handshake was just the right firmness, neither too strong nor too weak.
"Thank you, Lu... thank you, Brother Lu." His voice was still a little shaky when he said this, but it was much better than before.
He turned to leave, but stopped abruptly at the door, turned back, and said, "Brother Lu, um... we really don't need to clock in, right?"
"Need not."
"Okay. Thank you." He pushed open the door and went out.
Lu Ran looked at the closed door and couldn't help but laugh.
Another person attracted by the "no need to clock in" feature.
In the subsequent interviews, Lu Ran became more and more relaxed.
Those who make it this far rarely disappoint him.
A female design student showed Lu Ran her League of Legends fan art skin design on her tablet during the interview.
There are five sets in total, and each set is drawn in great detail, from concept art to detailed displays to special effects demonstrations. They are even more professional than the company's internal design drafts.
Lu Ran asked her, "Do you think players will like the skins you designed?"
She said, "Definitely. Because before I started designing, I went to the forums to read players' comments on the existing skins and analyzed what they liked and disliked. Then I looked at popular skins in other games and studied their common characteristics. Only then did I start designing. I didn't draw based on feelings, but on user needs."
Lu Ran gave her an offer on the spot.
This was practically his cash cow in the later stages of his career.
A male math major told Lu Ran during an interview that he had developed an optimization scheme for the matchmaking algorithm in League of Legends.
Although he hasn't started working yet, he has already spent two weeks studying the matchmaking system of League of Legends and written an analysis report of more than 20 pages.
Lu Ran asked him, "Why don't you post this report on the forum? If you do, you'll be a legend."
He said, "I want to confirm whether my analysis is correct first. If it is, I will post it; if it is, I won't. I don't want to mislead others."
Lu Ran also gave him an offer.
During the interview, a girl majoring in English showed Lu Ran her translation of the English version of League of Legends.
She translated all the hero lines, skill descriptions, and equipment descriptions in the game herself, and even made a comparison table, marking the reasoning and basis for each translation.
Lu Ran asked her, "Why did you do this?"
She said, "I found that some of the English translations in the game were not quite accurate. Although it didn't affect gameplay, it did affect the overall experience. I think such a good game deserves better translations."
Lu Ran asked her, "You studied English, why don't you go work for a foreign company?"
She said, "What's the point of working for a foreign company? Writing emails and holding conference calls every day is so boring. Making games is so much more fun, challenging and rewarding."
Lu Ran also gave her an offer.
After interviewing more than forty people, Lu Ran finally eliminated only five.
By the time it came to Lu Ran, the elimination rate had indeed dropped significantly, and most of them had been retained to become the reserve force for Tutu Technology.
Thirty-eight people.
With the addition of existing employees, Tutu Technology's total headcount will exceed one hundred.
In the internet industry, a company with 100 employees is not considered large.
Tencent has tens of thousands of employees, Alibaba has hundreds of thousands, and ByteDance has over a hundred thousand.
A hundred people are nothing compared to these giants.
But for Lu Ran, these one hundred people represent the culmination of more than a year of hard work in his business.
He personally interviewed and selected each person, and he remembered each person's name, face, and what they said during the interview.
Shen Yuege pushed the door open and came in. Seeing him in a daze, she asked, "Are you done making noodles?"
"Okay." Lu Ran patted the folder on the table. "Thirty-eight people, starting work next Monday."
"So many?" Shen Yuege walked over, picked up the folder, and flipped through a few pages. "Is there enough room for all of them in your office?"
"If there's not enough room, we'll squeeze in," Lu Ran laughed. "We'll move once we find a new office space. Brother Zhou is already looking around; there are a few pretty good spots. We'll go check them out next week."
Shen Yuege closed the folder, placed it on the table, and sat down opposite him: "How long do you think this group of people can stay?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. Some people might stay for two or three years, some for five or six years, and some for more than ten years. But no matter how long they stay, I hope their time at Tutu Technology will be memorable."
Shen Yuege looked at him without saying a word.
Lu Ran stood up, limped to the window, and said with some emotion.
"Yuege, do you think we should start giving our employees some perks?"
"What benefits?"
"It's the kind of perks that aren't just about giving money." Lu Ran turned around, "like a coffee area, a gym, a lounge, and a fruit and snack area. Employees spend more time at the company than at home, so if you make the environment nice, they'll be more motivated to work."
Shen Yuege thought for a moment: "These don't cost much, but they greatly enhance employees' sense of belonging."
"Right?" Lu Ran walked back behind his desk and sat down. "That's what I think too. And the holiday benefits can't be too stingy. New Year's Day is coming soon, and although these new employees are still in their probationary period, they can't be shortchanged on the benefits they deserve. We can't let them feel like they're second-class citizens after joining Rabbit Technology."
"What are you planning to give?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "We'll give out shopping cards for New Year's Day and New Year's gift packages for the Spring Festival. They don't need to be too expensive, but they should be practical. The shopping cards can be used to buy food and other necessities, and the New Year's gift packages will include nuts, snacks, drinks, and the like. Also, we'll hold an annual party before the Spring Festival holiday, the kind with a lucky draw. The first prize is a brand new mobile phone, the second prize is a tablet, and the third prize is a pair of headphones. Everyone should get a prize; no one should go home empty-handed."
After hearing this, Shen Yuege laughed: "You certainly know how to handle people."
"It's not about being a good person, it's about what we should do," Lu Ran said. "Employees work hard all year, and when it's Chinese New Year, the company doesn't even offer any recognition. Who would be willing to work hard for you? If you give employees some benefits, they'll be happy, and when they go home and tell their families, 'Our company gave us such and such,' their families will be proud. When they come back next year, they'll be even more motivated to work. This little bit of money is well spent."
Shen Yuege nodded: "So when do you plan to start?"
"Let's get started now." Lu Ran picked up his phone and sent a message to Zhou Mingzhe: "Brother Zhou, I have a few ideas about company benefits. Let's have a meeting tomorrow to discuss them."
Zhou Mingzhe replied instantly: "What kind of benefits?"
Lu Ran replied: "Coffee area, fitness area, relaxation area, fruit and snack area. We'll give out shopping cards for New Year's Day and New Year's gift packages for Chinese New Year. We'll have a lucky draw at the annual meeting; everyone should win a prize."
Zhou Mingzhe sent a string of exclamation marks and then said, "Are you trying to turn the company into a resort?"
"It's a resort then," Lu Ran replied. "As long as the employees are happy."
Zhou Mingzhe sent an "I'm impressed" emoji, then said, "Okay, we'll discuss it in a meeting tomorrow. I'll go research the coffee machines on the market first and see which brand is good."
Lu Ran put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.
The campus recruitment is all settled, and the benefits are also being worked out.
Zhou Ge is looking for a new office space, the data for League of Legends is steadily increasing, the Three Kingdoms Kill game is about to be released for public beta, and Shen Yuege's album has also been released.
Everything is moving in a positive direction.
But Lu Ran knew that the real challenge was yet to come.
Sakura Games' Sengoku Musou is still gaining momentum, and EA's new game is also about to be released.
These foreign investors are no pushovers. They have money, manpower, technology, and experience; they're eyeing the lucrative Chinese market.
Lu Ran was not afraid of them.
Because he had cards in his hand. Not just one or two, but the whole deck.
Every single card in those great games from my past life was a royal flush.
He's not taking it out now not because he can't, but because he's not ready yet.
There was no manpower, no team, and not enough resources and time to refine it.
But once these newcomers have grown up, and once he has enough manpower and a team, he will make these games one by one.
Lu Ran's lips curled slightly upwards as he picked up the pen on the table and wrote a line in his notebook:
Give the world a little shock.
Shen Yuege walked over, glanced at the line he had written, and laughed: "You're bragging again."
"I'm not bragging," Lu Ran said, closing his notebook. "It's a preview."
"What's the announcement?"
"The best is yet to come."
...