mijobooks Chapter 334 Expanding Enrollment
Chapter 334 Expanding Enrollment
Lu Ran stood by the window for a while, his mind wandering between EA, Sakura Games, and League of Legends.
As he went around in circles, he realized that all of these things ultimately pointed to the same problem—not enough manpower.
This wasn't the first time he had realized this problem.
When League of Legends was launched, Lao Wang led the technical department to work non-stop for three days, eating and sleeping at the company. It wasn't because Lao Wang didn't want to leave, but because there was really no one to replace him.
Xiao Yang's operations department is the same. It only has a few people. They have to keep an eye on the data and user feedback of "League of Legends", prepare for the public beta of "Three Kingdoms Kill", and also communicate with streamers, do community operations, and handle various emergencies.
Xiao Yang hasn't left work on time for a week now. Every day he's the last one to leave, and when he leaves, he sends a message in the group saying, "I'm leaving now, don't stay out too late." Then, two hours later, he pops up again saying, "I forgot something, I'll come back and take care of it."
Needless to say, Zhou Mingzhe is now doing the work of three people all by himself.
He has to manage strategic matters, coordinate with Tencent, and handle all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, including legal, financial, and administrative matters.
Lu Ran sent him messages several times around 10 p.m., and he replied instantly, which meant he was still at the company.
As for Lu Ran himself, he has a lot of things to do every day he wakes up.
Games, music, platforms, collaborations—one after another, they lined up, waiting for him to handle them.
His right leg is still not fully healed. The doctor said he should rest more and walk less, but he walks far more steps every day just from home to the company, from the office to the meeting room, and from the meeting room to the technical department than the doctor advised.
When Shen Yuege pushed the door open and came in, Lu Ran was standing by the window in a daze.
She put her water glass on the table, walked over and glanced at him: "What are you thinking about? You've been standing here for ages."
"Thinking about something." Lu Ran turned around, limped back to his desk and sat down. "Yuege, I have a question for you."
"ask."
"What do you think our company lacks most right now?"
Shen Yuege sat down opposite him, thought for a moment, and said, "Money?"
"Money is not a problem. The revenue share from Tencent has already arrived, the revenue from League of Legends is also good, and there is also the revenue from the previous Seven Heroes Jianghu. Funding is not a problem in the short term."
"What's missing?"
"People." Lu Ran leaned back in his chair, his right leg resting on a footstool. "We're short-staffed. We're short-staffed a lot. The tech department is short-staffed, the operations department is short-staffed, the marketing department is short-staffed, even the receptionists are short-staffed. Brother Zhou complained to me last week that the number of people interviewing each day is less than the number of people leaving, it's a net outflow. If this continues, the company will become an empty shell."
Shen Yuege frowned: "Is it that serious?"
"It's more serious than you think." Lu Ran picked up his phone from the table and flipped to a report Zhou Mingzhe had sent him last week. "Look, the tech department currently only has twelve people, but based on Lao Wang's workload, at least twenty-five are needed. The operations department is a little better, with fifteen people, but Xiao Yang said she needs at least thirty to get everything running. The marketing department is even worse, with only five people. Lao Zhao is doing the work of three, and the other two are working overtime every day."
He put down his phone and sighed, "I was so busy making products and creating content that I neglected team building. Now the product is finished and the content is up and running, but there's no one to operate, promote, or maintain it, so it's all for nothing."
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a moment, then said, "Then why don't you hire people? It's not like you can't find them. Your company is so famous now, there must be plenty of people who want to join, right?"
"There are quite a few people who want to come in," Lu Ran said, "but the person I want can't get in."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not looking for someone who just takes any job and coasts along; I'm looking for someone who has real ideas, ability, and is willing to work together. These kinds of people are hard to find. I've looked at a lot of resumes from experienced hires, and most of them have been working at big companies for a few years and want to change their environment. It's not that they're bad, but they carry the habits of big companies, doing things methodically and lacking that drive and creativity."
Shen Yuege looked at him and suddenly laughed: "You have pretty high standards."
"Of course," Lu Ran said matter-of-factly. "I'm not running a charity, so of course I want to find the best people."
Shen Yuege thought for a moment and said, "Have you considered campus recruitment?"
Lu Ran was taken aback: "Campus recruitment?"
"Yes. We'll recruit recent graduates from universities," Shen Yuege said. "Didn't you say you wanted people who are driven and creative? That's exactly what college students have in abundance. They've just come out of school, they have fewer preconceived notions, and they dare to think and act. Moreover, they learn quickly and adapt quickly. If you give them a task, they might not do very well at first, but they'll get the hang of it in no time."
She paused, then added, "And the salaries for campus recruits are also lower than those for experienced hires. It's not about exploiting them, it's just that the market price for fresh graduates is inherently lower than for experienced people. With the same budget, you can hire more people. As they grow, your team also expands, killing two birds with one stone."
After listening, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a while.
Shen Yuege makes a good point.
He had been focusing on hiring experienced people, thinking that they could start working immediately, but he overlooked the fact that experienced people also have their own mindset.
College students are different; they are like blank slates. They learn whatever you teach them and don't have the habitual thinking that they are seasoned veterans.
Moreover, college students are indeed very hardworking.
Lu Ran recalled his past life when he had just graduated. He was always the first to arrive at the company and the last to leave, and he would even voluntarily work overtime on weekends, not because the company required it, but because he genuinely wanted to do his job well. That kind of drive couldn't be bought with money.
Take their company for example, they had many employees who were recruited by issuing internship certificates, but in the end, they stayed on.
Some of them have grown into the backbone of the company.
However, Lu Ran had been dealing with various large companies all this time and had forgotten about the campus recruitment route.
Another issue is salary. Although Lu Ran wouldn't exploit his employees, in today's society, you can't hire a single migrant worker for 3000 yuan a month, but you can hire a lot of college students.
However, Lu Ran was also a college graduate, and he didn't want to offer too low a salary at the beginning.
You can't just make the horse run without giving it grass.
"You're right." Lu Ran sat up straight. "Campus recruitment is fine. But key positions still require experienced people. You can't expect a recent graduate to lead a team and make strategic decisions; that's unrealistic."
"Then let's take a two-pronged approach," Shen Yuege said. "We'll recruit entry-level employees and management trainees through campus recruitment, and recruit managers and senior experts for key positions through social recruitment. We'll do both simultaneously without any conflict."
Lu Ran nodded, picked up his phone and sent a message to Zhou Mingzhe: "Brother Zhou, let's have a meeting tomorrow to discuss campus recruitment."
Zhou Mingzhe replied instantly: "Campus recruitment? It's not graduation season now."
"We can hire even outside of graduation season. Senior students have already started looking for jobs, and starting before the new year means they can enjoy paid leave for the Spring Festival, which is attractive to them. We'll discuss the details tomorrow."
"OK."
Lu Ran put down her phone, looked at Shen Yuege, and smiled: "When did you become so knowledgeable about recruitment?"
"I don't know anything about recruitment, but I understand you." Shen Yuege stood up, picked up the empty water glass on the table, and said, "I've heard you say the kind of person you want so many times. Someone driven, creative, and willing to work together—isn't that exactly what a college student should be like?"
As Lu Ran watched her retreating figure, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.
Shen Yuege is right, that's exactly the kind of person he wants.
Those people whose eyes shine, whose minds are full of ideas, and whose hands are willing to work.
Such people are not uncommon in large companies, but they are extremely difficult to find.
There are more college students, because they haven't been smoothed out by society and haven't learned the survival philosophy of the workplace.
He picked up the phone on the table and dialed the human resources department's number.
The phone rang several times before someone answered, their voice sounding tired: "Mr. Lu?"
"Manager Li, how many positions are currently open in the company?"
The sound of flipping through a notebook came from the other end of the phone. After a while, Manager Li said, "The technical department is short thirteen, the operations department is short fifteen, the marketing department is short eight, the design department is short six, the administration department is short three, and the legal department is short two. A total of forty-seven people are needed."
Lu Ran gasped after hearing this.
He knew there was a shortage of people, but he didn't expect there to be so many.
"Okay, I understand. Get ready, we'll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss campus recruitment."
"Campus recruitment?" Manager Li's voice rose noticeably by half an octave. "President Lu, it's not campus recruitment season right now. The autumn recruitment fairs at various universities have already ended, and the spring fairs won't be held until March or April next year."
"I know. We won't attend job fairs; we'll contact the schools ourselves. Please compile a list of contact information for the career guidance centers of local universities in Shanghai and give it to me tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
Forty-seven people—that's just the current shortfall.
Once "Three Kingdoms Kill" goes into open beta and new games begin development, this number will only increase.
But he wasn't afraid.
If we need people, we'll hire them; if we can't hire them, we'll train them.
He has plenty of time and patience.
It's okay to hire more, since there will be other games coming out later.
The next morning, Lu Ran arrived at the company and started making phone calls.
The first person I called was Director Wang of the Career Guidance Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
After the call was connected, Lu Ran introduced himself: "Hello Director Wang, I am Lu Ran from TuTu Technology."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by an overly enthusiastic laugh: "Mr. Lu! Hello, hello! I often see you on the news, I didn't expect you to call me personally. How can I help you?"
Lu Ran cut to the chase: "Director Wang, our company is currently expanding its recruitment and would like to recruit a group of recent graduates from your university. Would that be convenient for you?"
"Convenient! So convenient!" Director Wang's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "President Lu, approximately how many people do you need? What are their specialties?"
"We need people from all disciplines, including technology, operations, marketing, design, and administration. The initial plan is to have 20 to 30 people, but we can increase that number if the quality of applicants is good."
Director Wang grinned from ear to ear on the other end of the phone: "President Lu, don't worry, you can absolutely trust the quality of our Jiaotong University students. When are you free? I'll arrange for you to come to our school to give a presentation. The students are really interested in your TuTu Technology. Last time, a student posted a gameplay video of your 'League of Legends' in the group chat, and the whole group went wild, everyone was asking how to download it."
Lu Ran smiled: "I'll have my colleagues in the marketing department coordinate with you about the presentation. Director Wang, there's something I'd like to tell you in advance."
"Please tell me, please tell me."
"We don't look at transcripts when we hire people."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Not looking at grades?" Director Wang's tone carried a hint of surprise.
"Yes. We want those with good grades, and we also want those with poor grades. What I look for is whether a person has ideas, drive, and is a good fit for our company. The numbers on the report card don't tell us these things."
Director Wang was silent for a moment, then smiled: "President Lu, your recruitment method is quite novel. Okay, I understand. I'll go and inform the counselors of each department to distribute your recruitment requirements. I'm sure many students will be interested."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ran made a note in his notebook: Jiaotong University, 20 to 30 people, all majors are needed.
Then he dialed a second number: the Career Guidance Center of Shanghai University.
The call was answered quickly. A middle-aged woman's voice answered, her tone gentle but with a hint of businesslike politeness: "Hello, this is the Career Guidance Center of Shanghai University."
"Hello, I'm Lu Ran from Tutu Technology."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, then the gentle voice suddenly became enthusiastic: "Mr. Lu? Oh, hello, hello! I was just reading your League of Legends news yesterday. My child plays this game too, and keeps telling me, 'Mom, do you know how fun this game is?' I said I know, this game is made by TuTu Technology."
Lu Ran got straight to the point: "I'd like to recruit a group of recent graduates from your university. Would that be convenient?"
"Convenient, convenient! How many people do you need, Mr. Lu? I'll arrange it for you right away. The students from our school's Computer Science, Design, and Media departments are all of very high quality, so you can rest assured."
"The exact number of participants hasn't been decided yet; I'm just letting you know. In a few days, I'll have a colleague contact you to organize a recruitment presentation and collect resumes."
"Okay, okay, I'll wait for your message."
After hanging up, Lu Ran dialed a third number.
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. He needs some graduates who understand finance and management. The company can't be full of tech geeks and operations fanatics; it also needs people to manage money, people, and processes.
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