Workplace reviews and discussion: 歐凌股份有限公司

1. Harmonious relationships among colleagues

Since most colleagues have only been with the company for a few months, there is little seniority-based hierarchy.

2. A good platform for making friends

Because the turnover rate is very high, you can meet quite a few friends in a short period of time.

3. Opportunity to learn the expertise of different positions

The company's sales-related work includes sales assistance, purchasing, engineering, design, site supervision, cleaning, courier services, and other tasks, so you can learn about the expertise required for many different positions.

4. Opportunities to learn a variety of skills

Crisis management (the factory has an extremely high rate of errors)

Emotional management (when handling external problems, you must absorb customers' dissatisfaction; internally, some administrative colleagues have low emotional intelligence and become angry easily)

Financial management (because salaries are relatively low, you need to manage your existing funds carefully; there are also multiple records of late salary payments!!! June and August 2020)

5. Intensive training in sales skills

Contrary to the description posted on the job-search website, only a few of the company's products are developed in-house, and it does not have its own factory. Most products, like those of other companies in the industry, are purchased from factories. However, the company may set relatively high profit margins, and quotations to customers for identical products are often considerably higher than those of competitors. Since the products are the same as those offered by competitors and lack core value, salespeople must rely on their own abilities and methods to sell them at a high price.

6. Year-end banquet and spring banquet are both provided

Employees who have been with the company for less than one year cannot participate in the year-end banquet lottery and receive a NT$600 participation prize. Employees who have not yet become regular employees receive one NT$200 “Endless Hope” scratch-off lottery ticket. However, the lottery prizes are not very large, and there are also instances in which bonus prizes appear to be preassigned to specific colleagues.

1. Poor office environment

The interview venue is a relatively spacious showroom, but don't misunderstand—that is for customers to see, not your actual work area. The actual workplace is a nearby office. Although the company primarily handles space planning and design and sells office furniture, it places 30 employees in a cramped space with only one restroom. You can even see the unusual sight of women lining up to use the restroom as if at a tourist attraction.

2. Extremely long working hours and routine overtime

Working hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but sales staff are required to leave by 9:30 a.m. at the latest and cannot return to the office until 5:30 p.m., when they can finally begin preparing quotations and other paperwork. Even though everyone is already extremely busy, there are also piles of internal reports and data to enter. Working overtime until 8 or 9 p.m. every day is normal, and working until the early hours of the following morning is not unusual. The current record is delivering goods at 4:30 a.m.; naturally, you still have to clock in and work that day (without overtime pay). Calculated this way, you would earn more working part-time at 7-Eleven.

3. A seemingly transparent promotion path

The company appears to provide a well-planned promotion path, but once you achieve your targets, other explanations are used to block your advancement.

4. A seemingly systematic company culture

All policies are decided by upper management, but they are frequently changed overnight, leaving employees at a loss.

5. Company values: integrity, efficiency, and sharing

Integrity: There is no integrity at all. Promised delivery dates to customers are often changed repeatedly, and shipping quality frequently has problems, causing sales staff to become scapegoats.

Efficiency: Sales colleagues cannot handle the documents, quotations, and presentations required by customers in the office during working hours. It is also common for customers to request a simple change to data or an item on a quotation, but the response cannot be sent until the following day.

Sharing: The company provides a sharing mechanism. After sales colleagues are promoted and become eligible, when the company believes that enough people have accumulated (enough to cover the cost of the meal), one promoted colleague is compulsorily required to pay NT$2,000 to treat the boss and other sales colleagues to a meal, and must drink a pot of draft beer to entertain everyone. This sharing system is mandatory: participation is required, and the designated contribution must be paid without objection.

6. Annual leave

Company supervisors do not want employees to take leave on Mondays, Fridays, or immediately before or after long weekends, but supervisors themselves mostly take leave at these times!?!

7. Too many unnecessary meetings

Every Monday, a regular morning meeting chaired by the general manager is held. The content is basically the same each time, consisting of announcements about various reminders. Afterward, sales staff are routinely asked to continue into the conference room for another “spiritual education” meeting!? On Tuesdays through Fridays, irregular morning or evening meetings (after work) are held, mainly to review performance and promote how promising the company is.