Workplace reviews and discussion: 十三行互動有限公司

Hardware Engineer Interview Experience

-

1. Responsibility-based system (must respond to messages at any time)

The main work is assigned by the supervisor and involves installing computers at different exhibition venues.

If there are hardware issues after work or on weekends, you must respond to messages in the group chat at any time. There is overtime pay for going to the venue after work on weekdays or working on weekends; otherwise, there is none.

-

2. Performance assessments (must pass technical tests)

The company requires certain skills to be completed within a set time, such as edge-blending two projectors and calibrating interactive walls.

For example, exhibitions commonly use two or more projectors, which must be edge-blended together using specific software. You must also calculate the projection range and the resolution of the projected area. These tests must be completed within the specified time.

-

3. High work intensity (especially during peak seasons)

The workload is very heavy during summer vacation and the second half of the year. For an exhibition that is about to open, you will stay at the venue to install computers and perform projector edge-blending. Multimedia is usually the last team to enter the venue, so work often exceeds 12 hours before an exhibition opens. The projects come one after another.

-

4. Must be able to drive (needed to transport computers to exhibition venues)

Most exhibitions are in northern Taiwan, so you will need to drive a company vehicle to various venues to install computers.

If the destination is too far away, the company has partnered freight services that can transport the equipment. However, you will almost always need to drive to the venue yourself and move the computers and equipment.

-

5. Company culture (high degree of freedom)

Because this is a responsibility-based system, you can arrange your own schedule as long as you complete the work on time.

Whether this system is suitable depends on the individual: some people like it, while others do not. The department supervisor is reasonably approachable, but you need to find an effective way to communicate with them. Both the owner and the supervisor have hardware engineering backgrounds.

-

6. Career development (cross-departmental hardware communication and feasibility assessment support)

Those without experience need to become familiar with the multimedia systems the company has developed, including computer installation and software configuration. Once proficient, the expectation of this position is that you can provide different business teams with hardware requirements and assess the feasibility of actual implementation. Of course, this experience generally takes about three years to accumulate.

If you leave this industry, you may want to continue working in this field as a multimedia hardware engineer. This is probably the most valuable experience and the ultimate outcome of the job.

If these are not skills you want to develop for your future career, you should consider whether the experience will carry over to your next job when looking for related positions.

-

7. Salary (generous; the company is willing to pay those with ability. The following is for reference; the actual amount depends on the interview)

There is a contract commitment for N years (the period varies by position), with a base salary plus a monthly employment bonus.

For example, with a one-year contract commitment, the monthly salary is NT$30,000 plus a monthly employment bonus of NT$10,000, for a total monthly salary of NT$40,000.

If you resign before the contract commitment ends, you must repay the employment bonus (be sure to clarify this during the interview).

For example, if you work for 11 months, you must repay the employment bonuses received during the first 11 months.

Simply put, entry-level hardware engineering mainly involves gaining hands-on technical experience at exhibition venues, where you will learn many video-related and computer-related configurations.

To protect employees’ jobs, the company usually provides a good signing bonus after you have been employed for a certain period or have passed an assessment. In simple terms, you receive the bonus upfront, but if you voluntarily resign within the specified period, you must repay it.

The company does not provide year-end bonuses or bonuses for the three major festivals.

I hope this interview experience can be useful to those interested in pursuing a career as a hardware engineer.