Workplace reviews and discussion: 馨昌股份有限公司

The meeting room air conditioning was very cold.

They were the ones who proactively invited me. After I agreed to the interview, I first had to fill out an online application form and take aptitude and personality tests. On the day of the interview, I arrived ten minutes early. After the receptionist at the entrance guided me into a meeting room, they gave me a company introduction booklet (printed in black and white, wrinkled, and looking quite old). About 15 minutes after the scheduled time, Assistant Manager Chen, who was supposed to conduct the interview, appeared and began asking questions based on my résumé (also printed in black and white). However, I could not sense any HR professionalism in the questions. They did exclaim at the salary for each of my previous jobs, though (my salary was around average—how low are the salaries at this company for them to react that way?). During the process, they explained the company's expectations and requirements for the position and asked whether I had searched for information about the company owner's background. As for why they had proactively invited me to interview, I was told that I would have to wait for the owner to explain personally. After about 40 minutes, once they confirmed that I had no other questions, they asked the owner to come into the meeting room. When the owner came in and I began introducing myself, Assistant Manager Chen came back into the meeting room to ask whether they should invite the hiring manager in. The owner agreed, so I had to repeat my self-introduction. The owner favors National Taiwan University graduates, but throughout the interview he displayed a traditional, old-fashioned Taiwanese business mentality: lecturing the applicant and questioning my work experience. You were the one who proactively invited me, yet you still criticized me for making such a major industry switch—even though the company's products, including electronic components, wine, and biotech skincare products, are completely unrelated to one another. He questioned my reason for leaving my previous job and asked, “Have you never reflected on yourself?” I had simply encountered an exploitative boss. I tried communicating upward, but it was ineffective. Once I realized that people over 40 would not change, I chose to resign rather than waste my life. He also asked about my leisure activities after work. After I answered, he pressed further, asking whether I had taken any continuing-education courses to improve my professional abilities. The owner's own academic qualifications were also obtained only after he had already achieved success at work. As for the value of an EMBA, everyone has their own yardstick.