Workplace reviews and discussion: 宜蘭囝仔活動企劃顧問有限公司

It may seem very free, but in reality it is chaotic and disorganized. Nearly all frontline employees have left, and this situation has remained unimproved for over two years. If you are from Yilan and returning home, a recent graduate entering the workforce, or an intern, please think carefully before joining.

1. The company owner engages in uncomfortable verbal and behavioral harassment. He will open his phone and show employees pornographic videos of female students performing oral sex on men, and even joke, “This could be made into another news story.” He favors more beautiful administrative secretaries and harasses them verbally and behaviorally, saying that he is very good at licking and repeatedly calling out, “Beautiful, come find me.” There is more than one victim, so be extremely careful.

The company primarily operates as an “event planning consultant,” taking on projects for local business clients and government offices. It also runs a media outlet. At first, it attracts you to join with an extremely appealing vision and may try to befriend and invite you, making you feel that it is very friendly. Shortly after you start, however, it will intentionally or unintentionally tell you how difficult and expensive the media outlet is to operate, and that otherwise it would have to rely on events to support the reporters, which is exhausting, making you feel that your joining the company is itself a burden.

3. The person in charge of the interview is the owner. He is extremely articulate, and people with limited social experience may find it difficult to handle or see through him. He habitually avoids discussing salary and steers the conversation toward topics you like, making you feel as though you have no responsibilities. But once you join, you discover that the scope of work and KPI targets differ drastically from what was discussed, sometimes increasing severalfold. Although you are a reporter, you are still expected to take responsibility for operations.

4. When discussing any compensation or sensitive matters, he will not provide anything in writing or send an offer letter. The salary stated before and after joining will differ. He habitually discusses matters by phone and avoids leaving a written record. As soon as the call ends, he denies what was said, or even pretends not to understand while issuing orders with a straight face, making you doubt yourself: “Didn’t we just discuss all of that on the phone? Did I misunderstand?”

5. He likes to handle news through any cheap or expedient method. Anything that can save money will be squeezed as much as possible. He is a businessman, not a media professional, and has no media experience. Regardless of how much time you spend, the person paying is treated as the boss. He does not even distinguish whether what he has in hand is a banana or a steak, and will ask you to do the work first without agreeing on compensation, then delay payment afterward. This is a commonly used tactic.

6. Once he discovers that an employee is dissatisfied with him, begins asserting their rights, or may have ulterior motives, he will place them on a watch list. The office is also always full of surveillance cameras. He will message you constantly, look at your computer screen, check whether you are working, and even keep track of you when you take personal leave and go home, subjecting employees to intense surveillance pressure. Colleagues have discovered monitoring software installed on their computers multiple times. The owner often knows what you are complaining about for no apparent reason, then calls you into the office to discuss your performance and current situation.

7. The more interns hired, the better, regardless of full-time reporters resigning one after another. Many people are called in to serve as unpaid writing machines, and no one has time for training or handovers. If a student realizes something is wrong and wants to suspend their internship, they will be scolded for being irresponsible, making them feel that every mistake is their own fault and that they are a “rotten strawberry.”

8. What is outrageous is a major taboo for reporters: one reporter worked themselves to the bone writing many interview articles for the company, but after they resigned, the company changed all the reporter bylines on those articles to the owner’s name or removed the names entirely.

9. During these processes, you will notice that something feels wrong as early as the interview or shortly after starting—for example, a small company with an embellished dream, but no discussion of how it will make a living; the compensation that should have been paid still has not been paid, while work keeps coming in; extremely rapid staff turnover; and job postings on 104 that remain open year after year.

⚠️The reporter position at this Yilan media company is still open on 104. Anyone submitting a résumé should be sure to avoid it.