Workplace reviews and discussion: 威進國際資訊股份有限公司

Actually, I’m quite surprised that our small company has received a fair amount of attention.

By way of introduction, my name is Darren Hsieh.

I don’t use a pseudonym, and I take 100% responsibility for what I say.

I joined the company in 2014. I started in sales, later became involved in projects, and am currently the head of the PM department.

This was not my first job. I changed career paths when I joined and had no experience in a related field.

During my first six months, I invested a great deal of effort and endured considerable pressure while adapting to this environment.

I took over quite a few messes left behind by colleagues, and also dug quite a few holes for myself to jump into.

I am an employee, and at the same time one of the bridges between employees and management.

I. Regarding comments such as those from “engineers”:

Engineers do not report to me, so it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.

However, a small number of engineers take three months to complete work that an ordinary engineer would finish in one month. If they are placed under a supervisor’s monitoring and follow-up, that should not come as a surprise.

II. Regarding comments such as those from “PMs”:

If you want to work as a PM at our company, and I am the one interviewing you, I will definitely make the difficult parts clear upfront (I would say the same even if I were not the person interviewing you).

1. In the information-services industry, a PM is the person who shoulders responsibility for a project’s success or failure. If you do not have that sense of responsibility, please do not apply.

2. Our company is very busy, and the pressure is also considerable, but we are not busy all year round. Projects have peak and off-peak periods.

When I stand up, I often see colleagues on PTT, YouTube, mobile games, Facebook, Mobile01…

Basically, as long as I believe the work in hand can be completed and they are earning their working hours, I do not ask too many questions.

3. The company is not a school. If you want to learn, you have to rely on yourself. The company pays you a salary to hire you to solve problems.

Everyone is happy to exchange experience and ideas, but implementation still depends on each individual’s methods. It is impossible to guide someone step by step—we are not apprenticeships.

4. A PM is not merely a messenger between clients and engineers.

A PM must understand, filter, coordinate, communicate, integrate resources, and work with clients from a win-win perspective.

Therefore, you need empathy, communication skills, and a brain.

5. No two projects are exactly the same. You will inevitably face changes and risks.

If you want fixed work with regular hours every day, our type of work is not suitable for you.

If you always say, “I saw that this was how it was done before, so I’ll just copy it…,” you will be reprimanded.

6. A good PM plans in advance, assigns work clearly, communicates acceptance criteria, and ensures that the work is completed on time and to the required quality.

Working late to finish documents, taking the morning off, or not returning to the office after going out for a meeting… these are examples of the consideration and flexibility given to PMs.

7. To sum up, our work is indeed not easy, but what you can gain in return is that many of our projects are highly significant.

You will work with important clients, manage important projects, build a solid project track record, and interact with senior managers and executives…

This can help you pass yourself off as experienced (just kidding?), and claim outside that “I did that awesome OOO project” all by yourself (just kidding?).

In addition, I think you can gain a great sense of accomplishment from clients’ recognition (that’s how I see it, anyway—work should provide money, interest, or a sense of accomplishment, at least one of the three).

Finally,

Discuss the “compensation” carefully with your boss. Do not agree to it and then complain bitterly after joining the company.

Taiwanese people are genuinely not very good at this. If you have the ability when job hunting,

make an effort to demonstrate your value and fight for the compensation you believe you deserve.

It is true that our company will “proactively adjust salaries” based on work performance.

As for “raises,” I believe no one ever feels that they are “enough.”

If, after working here, you feel that you are very capable, have performed well, and are underpaid,

fight for your own interests yourself.

Do not give up your rights and then simply accuse the boss of being stingy!

Learning how to negotiate between labor and management is a discipline.

Your career is long. If you always carry a sense of grievance with you, you will encounter grievances wherever you go.

P.S.

Looking at these negative comments, I wonder whether you may have experienced any of the following situations:

．How many days did you actually work overtime? How long was the overtime? Were you doing other things during work hours? Did you use an excuse to hide away?

．As a PM, were you unable to delegate work and always ended up stuck with it yourself?

．As a PM, did engineers always feel that you did not even look at the client’s requirements and simply bounced them back?

．Was your client complaint rate 100%, causing me to be summoned by clients’ superiors to stand at attention and be disciplined on every project?

．Were deliverables repeatedly rejected by the client, eventually forcing the company to pay extra to outsource the work…or something similar?

．As a salesperson, did you constantly quote the wrong prices?

Honestly, I do not think “Weijinn” is such a bad company.

There are rewards you can gain for yourself (experience, expertise, connections…), as well as costs you may have to bear (pressure, time…).

The comments above are mostly directed at sales and PM roles, for reference.

As stated above