nyslfriends Chapter 336 Unconvinced by Solo
Chapter 336 Unconvinced by Solo
Lu Ran closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
My mind started wandering back to campus recruitment.
Students from Jiaotong University, Fudan University, Tongji University, East China Normal University, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics—the quality of these schools is definitely not an issue.
But he didn't just want good students; he wanted the kind of "restless" students.
The kind of person who can't sit still in class, always has strange and unusual ideas in their mind, doesn't get high test scores, but has a lot of ideas when doing projects.
Those kinds of people thrive at Tutu Technology.
Lu Ran opened her eyes, picked up her phone, and sent a message to Manager Li: "Add a clause to the job posting: We welcome people with entrepreneurial experience, even if they have failed. You can attach links to projects you have done in your resume, not limited to internships and coursework, personal works are also acceptable."
Manager Li replied with a "Received" emoji, then asked, "Mr. Lu, where should I put this?"
"Place it at the top. Bold."
"clear."
Lu Ran put down his phone, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He wanted to see just how many "prodigies" this round of campus recruitment could bring in.
...
Lu Ran originally thought that contacting universities would be a very difficult task.
After all, it's not campus recruitment season now. The career guidance centers of various universities are busy wrapping up the fall recruitment season. Who has time to deal with a small company that suddenly comes to recruit people?
But the reality was completely the opposite of what he thought.
He made ten phone calls, and the employment officers from all ten universities answered, replied, and made arrangements immediately.
Some even said directly on the phone, "Mr. Lu, you can come anytime, we will fully cooperate," their tone as warm as if they were visiting relatives during the Lunar New Year.
After hanging up the tenth call, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but sigh, "If I had known campus recruitment was this easy, I would have done it a long time ago."
Shen Yuege, who was sitting across from him looking at documents, looked up and glanced at him: "You think it's because you have a lot of influence? It's because your company has a big reputation now."
"Big fame?"
"Look at TUTU's daily active users now," Shen Yuege said, putting down the documents. "One hundred million. A platform with one hundred million daily active users ranks among the top five in the national internet industry. Your company, which has been in business for less than two years, has reached this scale. Which university wouldn't want to cooperate with you? If students graduate and get into TUTU Technology, it reflects the quality of employment for the university. Good employment quality is something they can use to justify their admissions next year. That's why the directors of the career guidance centers are so enthusiastic about you—not because of your reputation, Lu Ran, but because of the TUTU Technology brand."
After listening, Lu Ran nodded: "You're right. Then I need to do an even better job with this campus recruitment. We can't let people think that TuTu Technology is just a company that only talks big."
"You weren't originally," Shen Yuege said, picking up the document again. "You just have a limp."
Lu Ran was taken aback. He opened his mouth to retort, but then realized that he was still limping, so he swallowed his words.
The campus recruitment process is progressing much faster than he expected.
Zhou Mingzhe finalized the time and location for the first batch of presentations in just one day.
Next Tuesday at 2 PM, Jiaotong University.
Next Wednesday at 2 PM, Fudan University.
Next Thursday at 10:00 AM, Tongji University.
Next Friday at 3 PM, East China Normal University.
Interspersed among them are Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Shanghai International Studies University, making the schedule very full.
Looking at the schedule Zhou Mingzhe sent, Lu Ran gasped, "Brother Zhou, are you trying to kill me? Visiting six schools in five days? My legs aren't even fully recovered yet."
Zhou Mingzhe sent a "You deserve it" emoji, then said, "You said you wanted to do campus recruitment, you said you wanted to personally give presentations. Now you're tired? How about I do it?"
"No way." Lu Ran refused decisively. "If you go, those students won't come. They want to see me, not a greasy middle-aged man like you."
Zhou Mingzhe sent a string of ellipses, then said, "Fine, you're the boss, so you call the shots. But don't be stubborn. If your legs can't take it, just sit down and talk. Nobody'll laugh at you."
Lu Ran replied with an "OK" emoji, then put down his phone and began preparing the content for the presentation.
He thought about it for a long time and decided not to use the PowerPoint presentation.
Those things like "Company Profile," "Development History," and "Corporate Culture" are boring to read.
If he stood on the stage and read from the PowerPoint presentation, half of the students would fall asleep, and the other half would be scrolling through their phones.
He wants to talk about something else.
He picked up a pen and wrote down a few keywords in his notebook: Who I am, What we do, What kind of people we need, What we can give you, What you can't expect us to give you.
After writing it, he looked at it and felt it was too serious, so he crossed out the last line and changed it to: We can't give it to you.
Then he looked at it again and felt it was still too serious.
He closed his notebook, tossed it aside, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and thought for a while.
Oh well, I'll just improvise on the spot.
...
Tuesday, Jiaotong University.
When Lu Ran arrived, the lecture hall was already full of people.
Not only were the seats full, but the aisles, the doorways, and both sides of the podium were also packed with people.
He roughly counted at least five hundred people, more than double the number reported to him by the school's career guidance center.
He waited backstage for a while, and then Director Wang came over, his smile even brighter than on the phone: "President Lu, look at this scene! The students are so enthusiastic. We originally only opened three hundred seats, but so many people signed up that we had to move to this large lecture hall. As a result, even the large lecture hall is full, and many students are standing outside unable to get in."
Lu Ran peeked out the window and saw a group of people gathered at the entrance of the lecture hall, craning their necks to look inside.
"Director Wang, could you arrange for a classroom to do a live stream? Students from outside can't come in, so at least they can watch the live stream in the classroom."
Director Wang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly nodded: "Okay, okay, I'll arrange it right away."
When Lu Ran walked onto the stage, the applause from below lasted for a full half minute.
He stood behind the podium, supporting himself with his right leg, holding the edge of the podium with his left hand, and holding the microphone in his right hand, waiting for the applause to stop before speaking.
"Hello everyone, I'm Lu Ran. I'm the founder of Tutu Technology, and also the person on TUTU who gets yelled at every day for 'Why did the server crash again?'"
The audience burst into laughter.
"I'm not here today to make empty promises to you. I can do that kind of thing with my employees at the company; I don't need to come all the way to Jiaotong University."
The laughter grew even louder.
"I'm here to find some people to do something interesting with."
He spoke calmly, but the students below fell silent, hundreds of eyes staring at him.
"I know that most of you here have played League of Legends, and some of you have posted on TUTU, watched live streams, or followed Super Girl. You probably know more about Tutu Technology than I thought. So today I won't talk about things you can find online; I'll talk about things you can't find online."
He paused, then changed his posture.
"What kind of company is Tutu Technology? To be honest, it's not a perfect company. Our servers crash, our games have bugs, our customer service is slow to respond, our offices aren't big enough, and the braised pork our cafeteria lady makes is too salty. These are all problems that happen every day."
Some people laughed, but most listened attentively.
"But there's one good thing about Tutu Technology—it doesn't pretend. The boss doesn't pretend, the employees don't pretend, and the products don't pretend. Tutu is what it is, and if League of Legends is fun, it's fun. If it's not fun, you can criticize me, and I'll accept it. We don't do any of those superficial things. We don't inflate data, we don't buy positive reviews, and we don't hire online trolls. If you make a good product, users will naturally come. If you make a bad product, users will naturally leave. It's that simple."
He glanced at the audience and saw several students in the front row with bright eyes, their pens still on their notebooks, listening intently to him without writing a single word.
"So the person I'm looking for isn't the kind who's good at pretending. I don't look at your transcript, because a transcript doesn't prove whether you're a capable person. I don't look at your major, because what you study has no necessary connection to what you can do in the future. I don't even look at whether you have a diploma, because in my opinion, a piece of paper proves nothing."
The audience was so quiet you could hear the hum of the air conditioner. I don't know what's wrong with this world, but the air conditioner is always quite loud when it's quiet.
"Then what should I look at?" Lu Ran held up one finger. "I should look at whether you have any ideas. When you encounter a problem, can you come up with more than three solutions? Even if two of them are bad ideas, as long as you dare to think, you're better than someone who can't think of anything at all."
He held up his second finger: "Let me see if you're motivated. If I assign you a task, do you procrastinate until the last minute, or do you get to work as soon as you receive it? If you encounter difficulties, do you bypass them or charge straight through? If someone criticizes you, do you give up or continue?"
He held up his third finger: "Let me see if you're a good fit for Rabbit Technology. What does 'suitable' mean? It means whether you can feel comfortable here. Our company doesn't have a clock-in/out system. You can come at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m., as long as you finish your work, nobody cares what time you come. But some people can't stand this kind of freedom. If nobody cares, they don't know what they're supposed to do. These kinds of people aren't a good fit for Rabbit Technology."
He lowered his finger and looked at the audience: "So what I'm looking for is someone who has ideas, drive, and can manage themselves in a free environment. If you have these three things, it doesn't matter if you studied computer science or Chinese literature, whether your grades are good or bad, whether you have a bachelor's degree or a vocational diploma, I want you."
Applause erupted from the audience, even more enthusiastic than before.
After the applause subsided, Lu Ran continued, "Of course, I also have to be honest with you. Tutu Technology can't offer you the high starting salaries of big companies. We're not Tencent, not Alibaba, not ByteDance. We're a small company that's been in business for less than two years, and every penny we have to spend is crucial. So your starting salaries will be lower than those of the big companies."
Lu Ran was comparing his salary to those of the very large companies, and it was true that his salary was not as high. However, if you look at the lower-tier companies, the salary Lu Ran offered was still much higher than the market average.
The atmosphere in the audience became slightly subdued, but Lu Ran immediately continued, "But we can give something else."
He held up one finger: "First, the growth potential. At Tutu Technology, you don't wait for seniority. If you do well, you can become a team leader in six months, lead a team in a year, and be in charge of a project in two years. You don't have to wait for your boss to retire, you don't have to engage in office politics, and you don't have to flatter anyone. If you have the ability, you rise to the top."
He raised his second finger: "Second, freedom. Whatever project you want to do, as long as you can convince me, I'll let you do it. You don't need to go through those tedious project approval processes, write dozens of pages of reports, or attend review meetings that last for months. Just tell me, 'I think it's feasible,' and you can do it. If it succeeds, you take the lion's share; if it fails, I'll cover the rest."
He raised his third finger: "Thirdly, and most importantly—everything you do at Tutu Technology will be seen by millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of people. The code you write will be run by millions of players. The activities you design will be participated in by tens of millions of users. The decisions you make will affect the direction of the entire product. This sense of accomplishment is something that people who tighten screws in big companies will never experience."
The students below the stage fell silent, but Lu Ran could tell from their eyes that they were seriously considering what he had said.
"So," Lu Ran concluded, "if you're someone with ideas, drive, and no desire to be a cog in a machine at a big company, come to Tutu Technology. I'll be waiting for you here."
He put down the microphone and bowed.
The applause from the audience lasted for a full minute.
After the presentation, Lu Ran was surrounded by students.
It wasn't the kind of crazy, celebrity-chasing crowd; they genuinely had questions to ask.
Some people asked about career paths in technical fields, some asked about the specific job duties of operations positions, some asked if applicants from unrelated majors could submit their resumes, and some asked about the length of internships and the conversion rate to full-time positions.
Lu Ran answered each question one by one until his voice became hoarse.
But he didn't find it annoying because the students' questions were all very practical, and none of them were a waste of time.
When he finds a suitable person, he will ask them to submit their resume. This time, he brought with him several relevant personnel from the company's main departments.
A male computer science student asked him, "Mr. Lu, my grades aren't very good; I failed two courses in my sophomore year. But I made a small game myself, and it has over 10,000 downloads on TUTU. Do you think I have a chance?"
Lu Ran looked at the boy, who was thin and wore black-rimmed glasses. When he spoke, he avoided looking at him and kept staring at the ground.
"What's the name of your game?" Lu Ran asked.
The boy said a name.
Lu Ran took out his phone and searched on TUTU.
It's a small game with simple graphics and not very smooth controls, but the gameplay is very interesting; it's a puzzle-solving mode he's never seen before.
The game has indeed been downloaded over 10,000 times, and the comments section is full of positive reviews, with many people saying, "Although the graphics aren't great, the gameplay is so much fun."
Lu Ran put her phone away and looked at the boy: "Send me your resume, and write the name of the game you made in the note. I'll review it myself."
The boy paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up, his eyes shining like two stars: "Really?"
"Really. But let me be clear from the start, my personal inspection doesn't guarantee you'll get in. I also need to see if you're a good fit for Rabbit Technology. If you're only good at making games but not as a person, then there's nothing I can do."
The young man nodded vigorously: "Mr. Lu, don't worry, I won't let you down."
Lu Ran laughed: "Don't call me President Lu, just call me Brother Lu."
"Brother Lu!"
Several students nearby also joined in, and for a moment, the voices of "Brother Lu" and "Brother Lu" rose and fell.
Lu Ran felt a little embarrassed by being called, and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, alright, stop calling me. If you keep calling me, I'll go deaf."
It was already dark when I left Jiaotong University.
Lu Ran sat in the passenger seat with his right leg propped up in front of him. Shen Yuege, driving, glanced at him and asked, "Is your voice hoarse?"
"Yeah. We talked for an hour, then chatted for another hour. Of course I'd be hoarse." Lu Ran leaned back in his chair, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing against glass.
"I'll make you some pear soup when we get home," Shen Yuege said. "How did today's presentation go?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "It's better than I expected. The students' attitude is completely different from those recruited by experienced professionals. The experienced professionals ask questions like 'How are social insurance and housing fund contributions paid?' 'How many days of annual leave are there?' 'How is overtime pay calculated?' Today, those students asked questions like 'Can I do this project?' 'Do I have the opportunity to lead a team?' 'What is the company's development direction?'"
He paused for a moment, then said, "It's not that asking about social insurance and housing fund is wrong; those things are important. But what a person focuses on at the beginning reveals what kind of person they are. People who focus on money and benefits won't last long. Only those who focus on the task itself are likely to do it well."
Shen Yuege nodded without saying anything.
The car stopped at the traffic light, and Lu Ran suddenly laughed: "You know what? Today a student asked me, 'Mr. Lu, when will your leg be better?' I said soon. He said, 'Then after you're better, can you play League of Legends with us?' I said sure. He said, 'What if you mess up?' Guess what I said?"
Shen Yuege couldn't help but laugh: "What did you answer?"
"I say I won't accept defeat, let's have a solo match!"
"Isn't this bullying?"
"So what?" Lu Ran said matter-of-factly, "If you can't beat me in a solo match, you have no right to call me a noob!"
...