There aren't really any advantages. So ordering lunch boxes together at noon can be considered a company benefit? ??
HR asked a lot of questions (giving the impression of being very professional) and said that everyone would be notified whether they were hired or not, but in the end there was no response either (if you can't do it, then don't bring it up).
The manager asked some questions about career development during the interview. When my answer about my future career development was not what the manager wanted to hear, they responded with an dismissive reply and attitude. Then, regarding my personal career development, they acted like they were some kind of elder and told me to think carefully about what I really wanted?! (How I plan my own career is none of your business. I've interviewed with so many companies, and this is the first time I've encountered someone like this.)
All in all, it was a very bad interview experience!!
RMA Engineer stationed in the United States:
The company provides housing (the advantage is that everyone gets a private room; the disadvantage is that there is only one kitchen, so everyone needs to coordinate when cooking, otherwise people will get in each other’s way).
There is a company vehicle, and fuel expenses are reimbursed based on actual costs (there were two vehicles in the early days, but later one old vehicle was scrapped. The supervisor then kept refusing to purchase a new one, forcing everyone to travel together and come and go as a group. The supervisor also kept encouraging people to buy their own cars, saying they could then go wherever they wanted without having to compete with others for the vehicle; however, it was unclear whether fuel expenses would be reimbursed).
RMA Engineer stationed in the United States:
The job role is unclear.
Although the position is nominally an RMA engineer, in addition to analyzing (including machines with abnormalities found during production-line testing and machines returned due to customer complaints) and repairing the company’s products, you also have to handle shipment testing, prepare spare parts requested by customers, and prepare spare materials.
You are also expected to lead the production lines (four production lines were planned: some for refurbishing and shipping products with large numbers of returns, and others for reworking and shipping products with widespread factory shipping abnormalities or machine problems), train operators, write SOPs, produce and maintain fixtures, and maintain production-line equipment.
The approach to compensation is inequitable.
When negotiating salary with the Taipei office, it was clearly stated that the compensation consisted of the base salary (negotiated individually with the company; to junior colleagues who may read this, I strongly suggest negotiating a higher salary if possible, because you have to know and do everything here) plus an overseas assignment allowance (approximately NT$41,000, adjusted according to fluctuations in the U.S. dollar, though not by much. It is mainly intended to subsidize the cost of living in the United States, with some compensation for being far from home and for benefits not received in Taiwan). However, the female department manager in the United States (a Taiwanese national) treated these two components as one, constantly saying that we earned so much more than people in Taipei and therefore should do more and perform better than others. She then dumped a pile of oppressive tasks on us (although she herself also loved accepting assignments from all over the place).
Performance bonuses and year-end bonuses are distributed unfairly, with no open or transparent evaluation criteria; everything depends on the supervisor’s personal preferences.
An engineer who had been there for three years and another who had been there for two years received only about one to 1.1 months’ salary as their year-end bonus, while a newcomer who had been there for about half a year received more than two months’ salary.
The year-end bonus here is calculated based on base salary and does not include the overseas assignment allowance.
In addition, the company has a separate performance bonus. At the end of each year, employees first conduct self-evaluations, which are then reviewed through multiple levels. The results affect salary increases and performance bonuses in the following year.
It feels unfair because everyone here is actually being pushed extremely hard. Naturally, this eventually causes some pushback, which in turn affects work attitudes and related issues. If that is then used to conclude that someone has not been working, I honestly have to ask: are you serious?
There are major problems with work assignments.
As mentioned above, every day involves dealing with a pile of tasks (in addition to the production lines and operators). Because assignments are constantly changing, the supervisor will continually dump tasks on you, and expects every one of them to be completed within the required timeframe. At best, she will even tell you that some tasks can be taken back to the dormitory to do, because she does not want to approve overtime (overtime here can only be compensated with time off; there is no overtime pay).
Because so much work is dumped on you, when earlier tasks are not completed on time, she starts targeting and questioning you, and expects you to stay behind and work overtime to finish everything. Of course, she will not approve compensatory leave for that either.
There are actually many more issues, too numerous to list.
You can wait for yourselves to come and slowly savor the experience.
The professional knowledge questions were quite interesting.
An extremely poor interview experience—an utter waste of time.
The interview started with HR, but the HR representative did not introduce themselves or explain their role, nor did they explain that the interview process that day would directly include an English test, a professional knowledge test, and an interview with a second group of interviewers. All of these stages, including the time spent with HR, took an extremely long time. If you are going for an interview, you should allow plenty of extra time to avoid delaying your subsequent plans.
The HR representative was arrogant, and both their tone and the questions they asked made me uncomfortable. They asked numerous highly detailed personal questions that were completely unrelated to the job, and when I refused to answer, they aggressively pressed me for an answer. However, when I asked the HR representative for details related to the job, their answers were very vague or deliberately sarcastic (for example, when I asked whether the job responsibilities included a certain aspect, they not only failed to explain, but also said: “The job responsibilities are clearly stated. Did you apply without knowing anything at all?”).
Later, they repeatedly emphasized, “We weren’t the ones who asked you to come; you were the one who submitted your résumé.” If they thought my résumé was unsuitable, what was the purpose of inviting me to this interview?
1. The interview process was well managed. The seating arrangement for interviewees in the meeting room seemed to have been discussed in advance, with everyone seated near the door.
2. The position and the company's future direction were explained in great detail.
1. The entire process—from submitting the résumé, résumé review, interview notification, and second interview to notification of the result—was very long, nearly two months. According to what the manager conducting the second interview said at the time, the hiring result would be communicated in approximately one to two weeks.
2. The initial interview with HR was extremely detailed, but I felt that some less important questions were explored in excessive detail.
3. It was not possible to find out the approximate salary range for the position; it would only be disclosed if selected.
There are vending machines, so you can let your figure go downhill in a straight line.
There is no overtime pay, but there is an NT$80 overtime subsidy. However, you have to apply for it to receive it. If your application gets approved, it would probably take a miracle. A very stingy company.
Suitable for coasting until retirement
There isn't much structure, and some managers need to be flattered and are overly sensitive
The vending machines have everything, making it hard to leave the company.
The seniority system is very strict. Older employees dump their work on newcomers, and you can't leave work earlier than they do, or you'll be ostracized.