You work regular hours. If you work overtime, the boss will even ask why you’re working overtime—but doesn’t seem to intend to pay overtime wages.

1. During the interview, after you show your portfolio, the boss only gives it a cursory glance and then starts by saying the starting salary is 22K, because the work is very simple and doesn’t require particularly advanced skills (the applicant’s existing expertise is not highly valued). Bonuses are distributed based on performance, but the bonus allocations vary unfairly between departments.

2. After you join the company, the boss will ask supervisors to provide some pre-job training (such as software or work methods), but the supervisors themselves don’t really know how to do it either.

3. Your duties are entirely determined by the boss. It is completely normal for the work you do to be totally different from the position you originally applied for (for example, applying for a translation role but being told to edit product videos).

4. The boss has a scientist’s mindset: an experimental, trial-and-error approach that continually changes your work responsibilities, but without any clear direction—when one approach hits a wall, another is tried.

5. There is no year-end bonus, no holiday bonuses, and even the salary is inconsistent. The only thing that definitely increases is your workload.

6. The boss’s disrespectful attitude toward professional expertise is completely unapologetic. Employees are easy to replace: if you have ability but your performance is not good, you are simply considered inadequate.

7. There is a clear hierarchy. If you want to experience the realities of workplace social dynamics, you can give it a try.

8. Final pay upon resignation is calculated very precisely: they won’t let you lose money, but they won’t let you gain anything either.