Workplace reviews and discussion: 大名設計有限公司

The colleagues are all very easy to get along with.

A small company with approximately 3–4 design assistants and 1 accountant.

The two bosses are one man and one woman. The male boss’s company is Da Ming, and the female boss’s company is Han Shi. The two companies merged later, so basically there is no distinction as to which branch’s project belongs to whom. They divide the work so that the female boss is responsible for design, while the male boss is responsible for checking (and yelling at people about) construction drawings and supervising (and yelling at people about) construction work.

The advantage is that the company’s project budgets are generally quite good (but there are plenty of companies with similarly good budgets).

First, regarding the normal nature of the work: it consists almost entirely of drawing construction drawings, which have to be extremely detailed. They must be understandable to the male boss and also withstand his questioning and nitpicking about the drawings. If he does not understand what you are drawing, he will first call you into the office to scold you and then tell you to draw it his way. For example, if the hatching, text placement, or dimension markings do not match his preferences, you will be called into the office and scolded (I once encountered a situation where I was scolded about a construction drawing for an entire morning). Even if you have already discussed construction structures or details with the construction crew, there will still be a hundred kinds of questions and nitpicking, because you are always the one who is wrong. Do not think you can ask when you do not understand: you will be scolded if you ask, and scolded if you do not ask. Basically, you have to deal with his emotions every day. It is extremely exhausting, and quite a few colleagues have left after being scolded away.

Next is 3D modeling. For each project, different people are assigned to create their own version—somewhat like a small design competition—but all the different versions are presented to the client for selection. Both bosses have high standards for design, but their approaches are different. If the female boss thinks a design is ugly, she will say so directly and speak very bluntly, but she will also give you direct feedback and tell you what to change. The male boss first completely rejects your work without telling you how to improve it. You have to keep drawing until he is satisfied, but his standards are different every time, so you never know what exactly will satisfy him. This is also mentally exhausting (wry laugh).

In addition to drawing construction drawings and 3D models, you also need to handle quotations. The advantage is that the accountant helps organize them, so it is much easier. You also need to supervise construction. You cannot stay at the construction site for too long, or you will be scolded. If you do not stay long enough and the workers make a mistake, you will also be scolded (the standards are really hard to figure out). The company claims to operate under a responsibility-based system, so overtime is considered expected, and there is no overtime pay or compensatory leave. As an aside, there are no bonuses for construction projects. Besides frequently being scolded, if something goes wrong on a project, you may even be threatened that the loss will be deducted from your salary.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. I simply want to advise everyone to keep their eyes wide open when looking for a job. They like to hire people with one or two years of experience, but not people with too much experience.

Work is already hard, so you should find a happy workplace. Do not end up earning no money while sacrificing your health.