If you earn the boss’s appreciation, the salary is within a reasonable range for the design industry. The relationships among colleagues are very good because everyone has a strong consensus about the problems with this company.
When you first join the company, the boss acts as though he has very high expectations of you and greatly admires you, appealing to your emotions by telling you that he wants to train you to become his successor and so on (several people received messages like this). But in reality, it truly is a rotten design company. The internal system is disgusting, with a scoring mechanism that is like an elementary-school child receiving “good job” stickers: points are deducted for being late, one point is added for presenting a proposal, one point is deducted each time the boss revises your work, and many points are added when the boss selects your work. It does not matter if the client dislikes it; it is entirely about currying favor with the boss and fulfilling his personal dreams. The boss has no professional design training, and judges whether a design is good or bad entirely according to his own outdated, old-fashioned “aesthetic.” All projects remain at the conceptual stage, with no concepts ever actually being implemented, so even when people working under him see problems, they cannot communicate with him about them. I was there for ten months and did not see a single project reach completion. Often, after the design was finished and the boss revised it into a version he considered good, it was simply impossible to execute, resulting in no follow-up. The boss also would not compromise with clients because they really are very wealthy; he takes the attitude that “if you don’t understand and won’t listen, you’re the ones who lose.” Finally, the male boss frequently sexually harasses female employees verbally, using uncomfortable language and repeatedly acting as though he wants to “be friends” with you, but it feels as though he is simply enjoying this kind of verbal flirtation.
Just like the person below said, you get to meet a group of great colleagues.
Other than that, nothing at all.
Terrible, and still terrible.
None of the things promised before joining the company were provided.
Even when you remind them, they say, “Did I ever say that?”
There are only PCs and one Mac desktop, and you have to bring your own. The subsidy is also paid extremely slowly—it's always uncertain whether they will pay it at all.
The company's overall environment is extremely unsuitable for office work. The dry powder in the fire extinguishers has never been replaced, and the filter in the first-floor café's water purifier had not been changed for more than a year. I reminded them to replace it; they agreed, and then simply ignored it.
Who exactly are you trying to get killed?!
Now, let's talk about the COO, who I hear makes money by playing the stock market.
◉ Salaries are paid late. And even on the day they are paid, not everyone receives them—whoever pushes for it gets paid first. What kind of logic is that?
◉ They have failed to pay labor insurance, health insurance, retirement contributions, insurance premiums, electricity bills, water bills—in short, every kind of expense you can imagine. The electricity bill was overdue to the point that, after multiple notices, the power was nearly cut off.
◉ They absolutely love calling employees in for meetings. Each one lasts one or two hours, and the content is empty. Basically, they are trying to brainwash you with a bunch of pointless, nonconstructive nonsense. If you raise an objection or question, they cover it up with an even more outrageous line of reasoning. They simply want you to listen to them, wasting employees' time.
◉ They think they treat you very well and often ask you to promise extremely strange things, such as not changing jobs for several years or saying that you like your work, blah blah blah. It's not just speechless—it leaves you utterly stunned.
◉ They will never think they are at fault. As the person responsible for managing the company's funds and operations, they have no understanding of these areas whatsoever, yet think they are amazing. They habitually owe vendors money and use concealment to disguise their inability to handle these matters, in order to secure vendor contracts. If something really happens, they find an excuse, or even push the blame onto employees to resolve the issue.
◉ Their breath is unbelievably bad; you have to stand at least a meter away when speaking with them.
◉ There are too many shortcomings to list. The salary statements are unclear, and nothing in the entire company is clear!
Now let's talk about the CEO.
◉ They should be looking at the big picture and leading everyone, but they are always fixated on trivial details that do not matter at all, wasting everyone's time.
◉ They think other people do not understand their designs and even force others to follow their design “aesthetic.”
◉ When instructing others, their guidance is neither here nor there—it's the same as saying nothing—yet they think other people simply lack the insight to understand.
◉ Even when they make a mistake, it is always someone else's fault, and they push the blame onto others, just like the COO.
◉ They do not protect employees. When something happens, when someone complains, or when a customer raises a question, they always put the blame on the employee. They completely absolve themselves of responsibility: “It's not my problem; blame them.” Then they claim they are working very hard to clean up the mess. It's utterly despicable.
In short, this is a company that dismisses employees whenever they do not get their way.
It is a design company, yet it respects other people's professional expertise even less than everyone else. It also criticizes other people's work, employees, vendors, and collaborating clients.
But when it makes a mistake, it is never at fault.
There is no path to promotion, no year-end bonus, no holiday bonuses—nothing at all.
There is no overtime pay either. They make you work to death, treating it as learning and as something you are supposed to do. They are always dumping their messes on their own employees and then telling you that this is “training.”
Training my ass!!!!
Everyone, please do not make the mistake of joining this company!
It is a design company that is unbelievably stingy and nothing special, yet carries itself with extreme arrogance while being rotten on the inside.
Everyone deserves better. Skip this company, protect your future, and do not let yourself become a victim.
The colleagues get along very well; the only motivation for staying here is the lovely coworkers.
1. The boss is not very good at being a boss and often gives extremely unclear instructions, leaving you at a loss and forced to guess what they mean. Simple things easily become very complicated, which is mentally exhausting.
2. The boss is eloquent and likes to make grand promises (such as high salaries and subsidies), but cannot provide any concrete commitments, leaving people working in a state of uncertainty.
3. The boss’s hobby is creating group chats. You may be required to join more than a dozen groups, and there are many messes you will be asked to help resolve through communication. They claim that treating unreasonable situations as opportunities for growth is part of the training, but this disrupts your mood at work.
4. No computer equipment or software is provided (in principle, nothing is provided—only a desk and chair). The work area is on the third floor while the boss is on the first floor, so you will be required to go up and down to discuss work. This is not suitable for people without a Mac.
5. Experienced people who come here will be stunned; inexperienced people who come here will question their lives.
6. The thinking is extremely old-fashioned. The boss is always reminiscing about the past and does not accept any suggestions to establish work SOPs or procedures. There are only endless meetings, while the problems remain.
This is a company that cannot make people stay for long. There is a reason everyone treats it as a stepping stone.
The colleagues get along extremely well!
I genuinely met good friends here whom I can maintain long-term friendships with.
The boss's quotes:
1. At one meeting, the boss said in front of all four designers: “Is money hard to earn? No! I think money is really easy to earn!”
(We each earn a monthly salary of 22–26K, while you receive 4 million a year in consulting fees, so of course it's easy for you to earn!)
2. The boss, interviewing a new employee: “I think 22K a month is more than enough for young people!”
3. The boss: “As far as I'm concerned, whether you have experience or not, I consider you all to be starting from zero. I haven't even charged you tuition!”
Office environment:
1. There are mice, and you have to catch them yourself.
2. It's extremely hot in summer, and even working overtime, use of the air conditioning may be restricted.
3. A design company using pirated Adobe software.
Finally, what the person downstairs said was absolutely right!!
There is no such thing as a bonus or promotion—only the company's own coffee, which you can't afford to buy with your salary.
1. The interviewer was a woman, and the interview was conducted one-on-one in a café downstairs. The interviewer’s voice was soft and gentle, and with the noise of traffic outside, it was actually a little difficult to hear.
2. The interview process was very relaxed, so there was no need to be too nervous. The main thing was to introduce the work in your portfolio that you were satisfied with.
3. They asked about my thoughts on design. Just answer honestly. The interviewer emphasized that the designers at their company need to read extensively, saying that it is related to the content of subsequent proposals.
1. There was a second interview. The first was only an interview and did not cover salary, benefits, or leave policies. They said that if I was notified of an offer, they would explain everything in detail then.
2. They are selective about their clients, though I’m not sure whether that counts as a drawback.
I really want to give the two comments above an infinite number of likes! The only good thing about that company was getting to know some great colleagues!
The company painted such a beautiful picture during the interview, yet they didn’t even understand proportions or construction drawings, while still considering themselves masters. When forcing me out, they were unwilling to provide even a certificate of involuntary termination; it took several days of standing my ground firmly with them before they finally did so. You really need to be very careful if you’re considering joining this company.
None
If you’re good enough, you really don’t need to come here to rate the design manager.
It’s not worth it! They basically expect you to do everything—design, copywriting, and space planning?
It’s not even a big company, yet they put on such airs~
Everyone is very nice, and the colleagues get along extremely well.
How can this stingy little company be so arrogant for no apparent reason?
The company only provides desktop PCs. If you want to use a Mac, you have to use your own, with no subsidy. There are no holiday bonuses and no year-end bonus!
What they call the year-end bonus is actually a profit-sharing bonus. Take that promise with a grain of salt—you supposedly have to work as a full designer for a year before you can receive it～～～
This company really likes to create a hierarchical structure. People with less experience progress from Design Assistant > Junior Designer > Designer > Design Supervisor. The head office does not have many employees, and the salary for junior designers is pitifully low, starting at NT$24,000.
It is more suitable for people who already have design experience and skills.
The company thinks that its projects offer plenty of valuable things for you to learn. Since you did not pay tuition, and they still pay you a salary, isn’t that good enough～
The company constantly monitors everyone’s situation. Those they consider “unsuitable” will be let go. You are notified and dismissed on the same day. They usually give you a choice, but in effect, it means you leave voluntarily, so the company does not have to provide any severance or other allowances.
They say that if you want to resign, you should give advance notice, so why can they dismiss people and have them leave the same day?
For a company with such poor compensation and benefits to maintain such an arrogant attitude, consider whether you really need to let them judge you.
Don’t expect the company to teach you anything. You have to learn everything yourself and learn from your colleagues. The company has no SOP for handling projects, only progress meetings. Their idea of “learning” is looking through previous designers’ cloud files—which are also just the SOPs those designers created for their own projects.
In conclusion, it is not very suitable for job seekers who want to start from scratch. Being scrutinized and labeled feels terrible.
It is a responsibility-based system. They say clocking in and out is only for safety reasons, but then they comment on what time you arrive at the company? There is no overtime pay!
Extremely contradictory—the standards are whatever they say they are. Those who want to hone their skills can give it a try.
The next step is to look for a company with better compensation and benefits⋯