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The interview location near Songshan Airport was honestly quite far away. Moreover, the company, Zhaoji, mainly handles property rentals, and I only discovered upon arrival that almost the entire building seemed to belong to them. Due to the pandemic, one of the entrances was closed, so it was only possible to enter through the entrance on Jianguo North Road. At first, I registered at the reception desk by scanning a QR code. After waiting about 10 minutes, a woman who looked around 20 to 30 years old and identified herself as an HR representative came downstairs and took me to a meeting room on the fourth floor. Once inside a meeting room with seating for about 10 people, HR gave me a standard résumé form and printed information from the recruitment website to fill out. One page was a personal-data authorization form, which essentially authorized the company to use the personal information you provided. Anyone who is not comfortable with this should take note. The form also asked for information about family background and personal details, as well as information about previous employers, including supervisors, and so on.
I finished filling it out in about 15 minutes. After HR collected it, she said she would take it upstairs to the interviewer. After waiting another 10 minutes or so, HR came back down and said that the interviewer had suddenly been summoned by the vice president, so I would have to wait a little longer. I went to the restroom and waited nearly another 20 minutes before the interviewer finally arrived. He was a middle-aged man who appeared to be over 50.
Rather than conducting an interview, he seemed more curious about me personally. He asked questions about my reasons for choosing jobs, why I had left my previous position, what I had been doing while unemployed, and so on. The conversation then shifted to my family background, which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. We spent relatively little time discussing the actual job. I also took two tests. One consisted of about 60 questions asking me to determine whether the numerical figures on the left and right were identical—a one-minute test of quick perception and attention to detail. The other consisted of four rounds of adding numbers, with a 30-second time limit for each round, testing reaction speed.
As for the job itself, they mainly mentioned that working hours were from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with the lunch break not starting until 1:30 p.m. Perfect attendance was worth 2,000, which I found difficult to accept, as it effectively discourages taking leave. Interestingly, when discussing the perfect-attendance bonus, he also mentioned that overtime or make-up work could be used to offset absences. Although this sounded like a remedial way to make up the hours, it sounded to me more like an indirect way of saying that overtime was actually very common. He said overtime was paid, but considering the working hours and the distance to the company, working overtime would mean being tied up at the office for even longer. In addition, he seemed to be looking for people capable of “teamwork,” which sounded more like everyone working overtime together until the job was finished.
Overall, I am very cautious about companies that need to collect personal information. The authorization form was clipped together with the forms that had to be filled out, which meant that regardless of whether you wanted to sign it, you had to complete it. I also personally regard interviews as formal and serious processes, yet the interviewer seemed to think I was not personable enough. Companies that try to act overly familiar do not feel like warm workplaces to me; they seem more like traditional companies that say on the surface that you are family but in practice expect you to make unpaid sacrifices and work yourself to the bone. Combined with the fact that the time I spent waiting after arriving may have exceeded the actual interview time, the whole process was somewhat uncomfortable and stressful. I felt like I just wanted to escape, and especially after it ended, I wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
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The interview location near Songshan Airport was honestly quite far. Also, Chaoji mainly operates in housing rentals, and I only discovered upon arrival that they seemed to occupy almost the entire building. Due to the pandemic, one of the entrances had been sealed off, so I could only enter through the entrance on the Jianguo North Road side. I registered at the reception desk by scanning a QR code, and after waiting about 10 minutes, a woman who appeared to be around 20–30 years old and identified herself as HR came downstairs and took me to a conference room on the fourth floor. After entering a conference room with seating for about 10 people, HR gave me a standard résumé form and printed-out information from the employment website to fill in. One of the pages was a personal information authorization form, which essentially authorized the company to use the personal information I provided. Anyone unable to accept this should take note. The information requested included family background and personal details, as well as information about my previous company, including my supervisor’s information, etc.
I finished writing it in about 15 minutes. After HR collected it, she said she would take it upstairs to the interviewer. After waiting another 10 minutes or so, HR came back down and said that the interviewer had been called away by the vice president, so I had to wait a little longer. I went to the restroom and waited for nearly another 20 minutes before the interviewer finally arrived. He was a middle-aged man who looked to be over 50.
Rather than an interview, it seemed that he was more curious about me personally. He asked about things such as why I chose to look for a job, my reason for leaving my previous position, what I had been doing while unemployed, and so on. The conversation then moved to my family background, which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. We discussed relatively little about the actual job. I also took two tests. One involved about 60 questions in which I had to determine whether the numerical figures on the left and right were identical—a one-minute test of quick recognition and attention to detail. The other consisted of four rounds of adding numbers, with a 30-second time limit for each round, testing reaction speed.
When we discussed the job, the main points were that working hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with the lunch break not starting until 1:30 p.m., and that the perfect-attendance bonus is 2,000. I found this difficult to accept, as it effectively discourages people from taking leave. Interestingly, when he talked about the perfect-attendance bonus, he also mentioned that overtime or make-up work could be used to offset it. Although this sounded like he was explaining a way to make up the hours, I interpreted it more as a roundabout way of saying that overtime is actually very common in this job. He said overtime would be paid, but considering the working hours and the distance to the company, working overtime would mean being tied to the company for even more of the day. In addition, he seemed to be looking for people capable of “teamwork,” which sounded more like the entire team works overtime until the job is finished.
Overall, I am very wary of companies that need to collect this kind of information. The authorization form was included together with the forms I had to fill out, which meant that regardless of whether I wanted to accept it, I had to fill it out. Also, I personally am used to interviews being formal and serious processes, whereas the other party seemed to think I lacked friendliness? Companies that try to get overly familiar do not feel like warm workplaces to me. They seem more like traditional companies that say on the surface that you are family, but in practice expect you to make unpaid sacrifices and work yourself to the bone. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the time I spent waiting after arriving may have exceeded the actual interview time. The entire process was somewhat uncomfortable and stressful. If the working hours are already this late and overtime is also required, they might as well not describe the position as a day shift.
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1. The interview process felt very disorganized.
2. There was a lot of information to fill out—I even thought I had already been hired.
3. The person conducting the interview was apparently a supervisor, but seemed very unprofessional. They kept asking repetitive questions and had very poor logical reasoning. This was probably the company that made me feel the most uncomfortable among the ones I’ve interviewed with recently.
I did receive a notification to report for work, but after thinking about having to work under 3, I no longer wanted to go.
The following experience sharing is limited to an administrative staff position in a certain area in northern Taiwan:
1. The leave system and leave-taking rules comply with the Labor Standards Act. (Administrative staff have public holidays off; sales staff arrange days off according to the number of holidays marked in red.)
2. The department occasionally holds group meals. (Depending on whether the department manager feels like initiating one.)
3. Snacks and refreshments are provided in the office. (But this depends on how each department manager prepares and distributes them.)
4. The computers used by administrative staff are quite good, with decent processing performance and not outdated.
1. Implicit pressure to work overtime.
The head office describes itself as “creating a comfortable work environment without overtime,” but staffing is kept lean (personnel expenses are saved down to the Earth’s core), while the workload is extremely high. Department managers do not like approving overtime, probably because they do not want the bosses at headquarters to see the amount of overtime. Therefore, managers refer to requiring you to work overtime as “voluntarily staying behind” to handle things. Working overtime on days off is the norm. If you officially report overtime, you can apply for compensatory leave or overtime pay.
2. No training or SOPs.
After joining, you have to rely on luck to see whether you encounter a senior employee who is willing to train you. If senior colleagues do not want to teach you, or employees who are about to leave have already stopped caring, you can only learn and work while being scolded. You must not show that you feel wronged or speak in a bad tone, otherwise senior employees and managers will think you are difficult to work with and have low stress tolerance. In this environment, if you make a mistake, it is your own problem: you must reflect on yourself and then “voluntarily stay behind” every day to demonstrate your ambition.
3. The company only values sales.
It is true that sales can make money for the company, but the managers and bosses have never considered how deals could be sent out without administrative staff. Unfortunately, they really have never thought about it that way. The managers were all promoted from sales, so they do not understand administrative workflows. They only demand that administrative staff meet their KPIs and accuracy rates, yet cannot articulate effective solutions. I cannot speak for branches in other areas, but at least in this area, administrative staff turnover is extremely high. The managers all believe that the departing employees are the problem, and that it has nothing to do with the company’s leadership or decision-making abilities.
4. Bonuses do not reach administrative staff.
Following from the previous point, because the company’s policy focuses only on sales, many different types of bonuses are available only to sales staff. For administrative staff to receive a share of bonuses, the department manager must distribute them according to personal preference. Unfortunately, the manager of the department where I worked allocated only NT$2,000 from the store bonus for the two administrative employees to share, which seriously creates a sense of frustration from giving one’s blood, sweat, and tears without receiving anything in return.
5. The company’s managers lack internal leadership skills.
Basically, as long as you flatter the right people, even those without ability can be promoted. During my time there, I saw that nearly 98% of the managers only know how to talk. When something happens, they first call someone over and scold them. Later, if they discover that the administrative staff member was in the right, they will not apologize; they will only tell you to go back and continue working. But if you actually make a mistake while working, the managers will not let the opportunity pass. They will keep bringing it up everywhere until everyone has to know about it. They are extremely gossipy, and embellish the story with added details. Having once been at the center of this tornado, I believe it reached the level of spreading rumors.
6. The company does not lay off employees.
Therefore, when managers dislike you and want to drive you out, they will unite to target only you, doing everything they can to force you to leave on your own. (It has reached the level of workplace bullying, and senior company management also participates in bullying the employee.) Although this did not happen to me personally, I witnessed it happen right in front of me and was powerless to help my colleague. I could only record it on Tianyancha, hoping that job seekers who see this experience sharing will think carefully.
7. A work environment that depends heavily on luck.
If you encounter a manager who looks after people, colleagues who can carry the team, a department with few sales cases, and a moderate-to-low workload, congratulations—you have landed an easy job.
(But it really, really, really depends on luck. I drew the worst possible lot when I joined.)
8. One person doing several jobs.
The managers all think administrative work is very easy, simple, and not plentiful. Therefore, administrative staffing is kept extremely lean and is not expanded much. One person may be given roughly the workload of three to five people. If you privately approach your manager to ask for some work to be redistributed, you will be considered incompetent and picky about your work. Pay raises are small (or rather, they also depend on whether the department manager is willing to approve one). If you feel that you want to gain experience and be tested in society, this position is a decent choice.
9. The year-end bonus is paid in three installments.
Therefore, do not think about holding on until you receive the full year-end bonus before leaving. Perhaps the people in charge at headquarters discovered that turnover was high, so the year-end bonus was split into three payments distributed at the year-end banquet, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. A genuine three-festival bonus does not exist. If you want to leave, just leave; holding on until you receive the year-end bonus is meaningless.
P.S. The company will congratulate employees on their birthdays and issue birthday cash gifts one month late. Of course, if you resign, they will automatically not issue them.
10. There are even more drawbacks, but I will not elaborate further. Job seekers who consider themselves resilient and talented are welcome to take over the vacancy I left behind (because every new hire they found escaped within a month). Wishing everyone a happy Lunar New Year!
1. The interview was relaxed. For certifications you don't have, they hope you can obtain them as soon as possible.
2. The Tainan region's divisions and introductions were very clear.
1. The application required entering an ID number. They called later to ask about it, but there was no further follow-up.
Not that many people are comfortable entering their ID number directly.
1. Try to comply with the Labor Standards Act as much as possible
2. Snacks are provided (as long as you work fast)
3. Every week, a master is invited to massage employees and relieve their muscle and bone pain (as long as you work fast)
4. Company dinners every few months
1. Some supervisors display the Dunning–Kruger effect and habitually judge others solely by their appearance, usually negatively.
2. Some people have poor emotional management and even take their anger out on others. The quality of some internal employees is very poor.
3. Senior management cares about employees’ physical health, so they do not want employees to work overtime and damage their health. However, anything assigned in the afternoon must be ready to be seen before the end of the workday.
4. Some people enjoy playing political games. Usually, it is people with little ability who do so, because if they did not, their incompetence would be exposed.
5. Some senior employees who graduated from less prestigious schools become wildly overconfident and attack others over their educational backgrounds, because the company has given them enough courage.
6. Senior management controls the benefits that should be provided to frontline employees, spending the company’s resources generously while believing they are being very lenient toward subordinates, and even using this to emotionally blackmail them.
7. You can live very well by talking big and flattering the right people. After all, some senior managers are not professionals by training; they will make people they dislike do the work, and if something goes wrong, that person is held responsible. They cannot even understand where the real problem lies, so the person who did the work bears full responsibility and is made the scapegoat. They have no desire to understand anything and will crudely deny a person’s value outright; any further explanation is dismissed as making excuses.
8. Precisely because many senior managers do not come from the relevant professional fields, it is difficult to communicate with them using technical terms.
9. When events are held, anyone who is available has to provide support. Some people can only watch other colleagues eat well and have fun, while they themselves must work overtime under a responsibility-based system and serve as their colleagues’ attendants.
10. If you have a dispute with someone, the company first looks at who has the higher position, then gives you only two choices: behave yourself or leave. The person with the higher position continues to enjoy the benefits, even if they have serious problems. The company will neither act as a firm arbitrator nor gently advise them or treat others with leniency; it will only say that this is their leadership style and that whether you accept it is up to you.
11. Some supervisors do not allow sufficient time for large volumes of work that require ample time to complete. If you cannot finish it, it is considered a lack of ability, and you are not allowed to apply for overtime pay.
12. Under a supervisor with no particular expertise, there are subordinates skilled in A, B, and C respectively. Without even taking eight basic courses, the supervisor treats themselves as a talent who has mastered all three professional skills. They may even look down on a subordinate skilled only in C—excuse me, that person also applied and got in based on the hiring requirements you set. Why not have the courage to open a position requiring multiple skills if you are only going to pay a single person’s salary?
13. If you are not favored by your supervisor, only point 1 of the above advantages is genuinely true; everything else is a fake issue, because the resources and the right to speak are controlled by senior management.
The company’s decor is quite comfortable.
The interviewer took leave but still asked someone to go to the company for an interview!!! July hasn’t even arrived yet, so who am I supposed to interview with... Dreamed of... the company’s special assistant.
1. You need to learn many skills, and in the future you can become a sub-landlord yourself.
2. It can improve your ability to handle the stress of having to work constantly. It is recommended for people who want to develop their resilience to give it a try.
3. Compared with working as a real estate agent, it is easier to get started, and you can also learn quite a few ways to negotiate with vendors and earn profits.
1. There is no training. New employees have to go straight into the field on their second day. If you have questions, whether anyone is willing to answer depends on luck.
2. Labor and health insurance may not be enrolled on the first day. One colleague found the job unsuitable and resigned before completing a week, only to discover that the company had not enrolled them in labor and health insurance at the time.
3. The salary and bonuses are relatively low. It is suitable for practicing and learning some money-making techniques that are socially inconvenient to talk about.
Most of the employees are young people
There are also quite a lot of women
A good place for young people to build their skills—worth a try
The salary is on the low side
Six days off per month, and you also have to rotate between morning and afternoon/evening shifts (until 10 p.m.)
Less than 38K (not sure whether there is overtime pay)
The HR manager explained everything in great detail and answered any questions.
The job description does not match. The guaranteed base salary should be 31,000, with 8 days off per month—not 36,000. As I recall, 36,000 is for around 4–5 days off per month. This is quite dishonest. Basically, it is a job similar to an outside sales position, requiring frequent trips outside to show properties and so on. You will spend very little time in the office, and there is performance pressure. Days off are scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays.