Interviewed for a public-sector customer service position.
The advantage is that you can learn a lot of new information about the public sector.
The working hours are regular.
1. Because it was a public-sector customer service position, I often received calls from irrational members of the public.
2. One particular hotline happened to operate during the pandemic, and the line was flooded with calls every day. One person would answer more than 100 calls a day.
3. Repeating the same things all day long meant that I didn't want to talk at all when I got home.
Thoughts: I wouldn't want to work as a full-time customer service representative again—it was terrifying! Being bombarded with negativity every day was too much.
1. Department dinners every quarter
2. Clear channels for salary increases and promotions, with generous performance bonuses and year-end bonuses!
3. When requesting annual leave or compensatory leave, you won’t be excessively questioned about it
4. Managers and colleagues are all easy to get along with
5. Harmonious team atmosphere
6. Convenient commute to the workplace (Taipei Main Station)
7. For overtime, you can choose whether to receive overtime pay or compensatory leave
1. Some colleagues lack ability but are very good at flattering others. Because they have greater seniority and are older, their starting salaries are considerably higher than those of younger people with professional skills, even though they actually have no real ability. When they have less to do, they spend the entire afternoon sleeping, and the manager shows no reaction despite seeing it. Although the manager may say something about it, as long as that colleague pretends nothing happened and flatters the manager a little, the manager lets them off. This is extremely unfair to other conscientious colleagues.
2. Participating in activities is somewhat semi-mandatory. If you don’t participate, the manager will remember it and bring it up from time to time (emotional blackmail).
1. The employees are easy to get along with and help one another.
2. Convenient transportation: close to Taipei Main Station, with lots of good food in the rear station area.
3. There is a monthly meeting with snacks and drinks.
4. One domestic employee trip each year, plus holiday gift vouchers.
5. One month’s year-end bonus.
1. Before a salary adjustment, the number of projects increases according to seniority.
Don't believe the supervisor's sales pitch: taking on one more project supposedly comes with an additional bonus.
After a salary adjustment, you will have to take on endless miscellaneous tasks (including the supervisor's work) and projects.
For capable employees, the pace at which projects are added will be even faster.
2. Management positions are often filled by parachuted-in personnel.
Incompetent ones: They only give employees endless elementary-school-level assignments and throw the employees' problems back to them to handle.
Classless ones: They will force employees out; if you do not comply with their wishes, they will randomly cut your shifts.
Those looking for a partner: They put proper work last and like to take an interest in every detail of the opposite sex's affairs (with good looks preferred).
Theatrical types: They only pretend to be busy in front of senior executives and work overtime every day.
3. The company-provided communication software allows management to monitor the content of employees' conversations (depending on the manager's character). Managers who are petty and hold grudges will use it to retaliate personally.
4. If an employee is physically unwell, the supervisor may still require them to come to work while sick, simply because of their KPI.
Supervisors who usually empathize with employees will help cover the line (from another department).
5. Every year, the company plays musical chairs, making employees change seats (Taipei > Banqiao, or different floors in Taipei). If you encounter a troublesome supervisor, the department may also be changed from time to time.
The office in Datong District is very close when coming from Y17–19.
You can leave work on time.
You can coast until retirement.
The colleagues are all very easy to get along with.
It is very close to Taipei Main Station.
The company will not lay people off casually (because it costs money and they are reluctant to spend it), unless things have really gone too far.
There are particularly many parachuted-in employees; watch out for two managers whose names start with the same ㄧㄝ sound = =
Managers engage in a lot of petty maneuvering and deliberately bully employees who do not curry favor with them.
Salaries are kept very low.
There are many problems with the managers. Unless you just want to coast until retirement, do not expect much from working here.
There is an annual bonus, but you need to get a good manager; otherwise, points will be deducted arbitrarily in the performance review.
The Marketing team’s activities are all opaque and do not need to be used as references.
You are given assignments that only elementary school students would do.
If you encounter a bad project manager, all the benefits will end up in their wallets.
Work locations are constantly reassigned, and when a project ends, they do not say how you will be安排; you basically just muddle through and wait for death.
The dining area is used for meetings and meals, but if you go into a meeting room to eat, you will still be scolded and told that eating is not allowed there.
The pandemic-prevention measures are truly terrible; even when someone is confirmed infected, the company does not take it seriously.
No
1. During the second-round HR interview, they asked a whole bunch of intrusive personal questions unrelated to the job.
2. During the first round, I interviewed with two managers in succession. After the interview, the first manager thought I was very good and immediately asked a second, more senior manager to interview me. The second manager also thought I was very good, and we even discussed my start date and other details on the spot.
However, when I negotiated the salary with the first manager, they asked about my expectations. Naturally, it had to be better than my previous company’s salary (45,000 per month). But after hearing that, the manager started talking about things like “both sides taking a step back” and “the probation period for new hires”—the usual excuses from exploitative bosses—and offered 41,000. I pretended to accept it during the interview.
In the second-round interview with HR, however, HR said that the manager had told them the core salary was 37,000!
My inner reaction: “Holy crap, they really are exploitative bosses. My previous employer was a large, well-known foreign company, while you’re just a small, unlisted company. What makes you think you can push down employees’ salaries? I wouldn’t gain any benefit from having your company on my résumé in the future either. Honestly, even if the company offered me a salary of 45,000, I’d still have to think about it.
There are so many well-known major companies out there inviting me to interviews, and the salaries they offer are all quite good. Before exploiting employees and belittling job seekers’ abilities, maybe take a look at your own company’s social standing in the eyes of the public.”
The company has many customer service outsourcing projects (the following describes just one project)
Leaving work on time
A fixed year-end bonus equivalent to one month’s salary
One free day of domestic travel every year
Occasional company meal subsidies of NT$200
Colleagues are very easy to get along with and are always willing to help answer questions
You can learn about Labor Insurance and National Pension knowledge that will benefit you throughout your life
If you have no great ambitions, avoid making major mistakes, can tolerate working under a not-very-smart supervisor, have good endurance in your ears and throat, and can emotionally detach yourself from irrational callers, this may be a job you can stay in for a long time. The company is quite capable and takes on many customer service projects for government agencies and private companies, so there are always openings. As long as customer service work continues, you do not make any serious mistakes, and you do not anger your supervisor, you probably do not have to worry about being laid off
The company has many customer service outsourcing projects (the following describes just one project)
Calls are regularly selected and scored each month. The scoring method is overly rigid and may not necessarily be based on whether the caller’s problem was resolved
Paid leave is difficult to schedule; only one or two people can take leave each day, and sometimes no one can take leave on certain days
Occasionally, when calls that should be transferred to civil servants for answers are transferred, the supervisor may give a score of 0 or the civil servant may scold you
Sometimes the answers or requirements given by the government agency and the company differ, and they may change repeatedly
One colleague who communicates and relays information to other colleagues often easily angers them
If a customer complaint is verified and you are found to have done something wrong, the company will fine you (after the second offense, the fine can exceed NT$1,000)
During work, your phone must be locked in a cabinet. Even if you disable standby mode, you cannot use your phone even briefly when going to the restroom
The colleagues are all very nice. There is a monthly meeting, with drinks or snacks provided, and flexible working hours.
Generally, one person has to handle several projects at once, so it can sometimes be overwhelming. Also, for the same working hours, part-time employees earn NT$2,000–3,000 more than full-time employees. Every audio recording is reviewed and scored, but the evaluations are sometimes unprofessional and subjective, and you are then required to write a coaching form. Handling several projects at once also means that after a brief explanation, you are expected to go live immediately—the training feels like rushing people through onboarding. Shifts may also be cut: even when you have already been scheduled, your shifts may later be changed to all days off. The work location also changes frequently; sometimes it is in Taipei and sometimes in Banqiao, requiring travel between the two.
Convenient transportation
1. The supervisor is extremely unprofessional. When facing team members' questions, they only deflect responsibility and give answers that the team members cannot understand. Often, the team members understand the project better than the supervisor.
2. The company arbitrarily changes the work location, with no apparent reason—one moment Banqiao, then Taipei, then Banqiao again, then Taipei again.
3. Under the pretext of information security concerns, team members are prohibited from using LINE to access external websites, yet the supervisor can host parties, use LINE to video chat with their lover, browse shopping websites, and watch movies.
4. The company benefits are very poor, and the pay is low.
5. Some supervisors are truly very unprofessional. They are very good at pretending to understand things they do not, and at doing meaningless tasks. For example, the content of the training materials is incorrect and the problems are not resolved, but they make the materials colorful so that they look professional. Even higher-level supervisors praise them after seeing them. It is truly absurd.
1. Very conveniently located, next to Y19 in Taipei City Mall
1. The interview was scheduled with the company for 10:00, but it could not start until after 11:30, which was very disrespectful.
2. On the day of the interview, the interviewer demanded that the candidate immediately decide whether they were interested in joining the company, allowing far too little time to consider it.
3. Performance bonuses are paid once every three or four months, which is too infrequent.
Considering the above, I cannot accept the very first point alone. Mutual respect is a basic element of an interview. There was no explanation or apology when the interview began, which was a major negative. Presumably, the working environment would not be much better after joining the company.
?
The actual work location differs from the one listed on 104.
Pros
1. The administrative staff member who greeted me on the day of the interview was very friendly. The lighting and decor at the reception entrance were bright and welcoming. However, once inside, the office was a very typical office, with one partitioned cubicle per seat. It felt somewhat cramped, possibly because of the limited floor area.
2. Process:
“First interview”
1. Fill out the company’s personnel information form, including basic information, work experience, salary, etc. (This actually could have been left blank for privacy reasons.)
The first-stage interview was with the department manager. About 70% of the time was spent discussing the company and the duties and conditions of the position. The manager also asked about my previous experience and confirmed whether I was still interested in the job after hearing the details.
2. At the end, the manager said that they would discuss the salary with HR.
“Second interview”
1. The HR interview involved many prepared questions (written out on a sheet of paper) asked in sequence. What I found particularly notable was being asked: If I were to leave this company, what might the reason be?
1. The office felt very quiet, with little conversation.
2. There is a probationary period. After three months, the salary “may” be adjusted; it is not guaranteed and depends on discussions with HR and the manager.
3. There were slight discrepancies between HR’s and the manager’s descriptions of the job, although I am not sure whether HR and the manager had the same understanding.
4. Transportation and meal allowances of up to NT$1,000 are included in the salary.
Some colleagues are easy to get along with
The benefits are terrible
The managers are very incompetent. When the previous manager left, they casually promoted a scheming supervisor who doesn’t know how to lead people and only knows how to flatter others. They love to sow discord, exploit new employees, and give perfunctory training before expecting you to start working. A terrible company that doesn’t seem worth staying at
People are easy to get along with
Flexible working hours
1. Some superiors have difficulty distinguishing the relative priority and urgency of matters.
2. There are significant barriers when communicating with HR. For example, when discussing matter A with HR, it may be interpreted as matter B; or HR may have matter B in mind but use matter A as a way to persuade you.
3. The company places too much emphasis on courses and their effectiveness, making employees feel that other matters are not given enough attention.
4. Matters assigned within the company must be handled and followed up on personally; even when there is no time, you can only find a way to deal with them yourself.
5. Employee turnover is high, and time is not properly allocated for handovers in various cases, giving the impression that personnel matters are handled rather casually.
6. HR and superiors are slow to take action on certain employee-related matters.
None
1. Work objectives are not fixed, and the boss’s constant changes make it impossible to focus on one thing.
2. You have to communicate remotely with Nanjing, which entails high communication costs and makes it difficult to reach a consensus.
3. As a supervisor, hiring additional staff depends on the boss’s approval. If the boss does not approve adding staff, you can only work yourself to exhaustion.
4. There is a possibility of business trips to mainland China. Job seekers who do not want to travel should not apply. The travel benefits are also ordinary; you have to pay for the airfare upfront yourself or go through the company’s advance-payment process, which is time-consuming and financially burdensome.
5. You must complete 35 hours of training annually. HR supervises some in-house training sessions and does not allow people to doze off. There is an exam after the course, and scores below 80 do not count for credit. Even courses taken in a master’s in-service program can count for at most half of the 35 hours, making this a significant waste of time. Think carefully before joining this company.
6. Supervisors give reports every year, but the boss has already decided who should become a supervisor. Anyone not approved by the boss has no chance of becoming one. Someone who is a supervisor this year may no longer be one next year. Think carefully before investing time in preparing this report.
7. The salary is not particularly high compared with manager-level positions in the industry, although this company considers it very high. If you do not win the boss’s favor, be careful—you may be out of a job in less than a year and end up reporting to the employment service station.
1. Flexible working hours
2. Advance annual leave
1. Work objectives are undefined, and the boss’s frequent changes make it impossible to focus on one task
2. Remote communication with Nanjing is required; communication costs are high, and it is difficult to reach a consensus
3. Without a mature App Leader to provide guidance, even senior R&D personnel can be undermined by the boss’s decisions—an outsider leading experts
4. If the company is not making money in certain areas or an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory, dismissals will be carried out before the year-end
5. The boss’s decisions lack foresight. Mobile development is not the company’s mainstream business; the company primarily focuses on CRM, call centers, and supplying customer-service personnel. Think carefully before joining. Working in a non-core business carries the risk of lasting less than one year. Those who are not sincere should not apply
6. Even if you become a leader, hiring additional staff depends on the boss’s approval. If the boss refuses to add staff, you can only work alone until you are exhausted
7. There may be business trips to mainland China. Applicants unwilling to travel should not apply. The travel benefits are also ordinary: you must either pay for the airfare upfront or go through the company’s advance-payment process, which is time-consuming and financially burdensome
8. You must complete 35 hours of training each year. During some in-house training sessions, HR supervises attendees and does not allow them to doze off. There is an exam after the course, and scores below 80 do not count for credit. Even courses taken in a part-time master’s program can count for at most half of the 35 hours. This is extremely wasteful of time; think carefully before joining the company
9. Managers give reports every year, but the boss has already decided who will become a manager. Anyone not approved by the boss has no chance of becoming one. You may be a manager this year but not next year. Think carefully before investing effort in these reports
None
1. Work objectives are not clearly defined, and the boss’s frequent changes make it impossible to focus on one thing.
2. Communication with Nanjing is remote, resulting in high communication costs and difficulty reaching a consensus.
3. Without a mature App Leader to provide guidance, even senior R&D staff can lose out due to the boss’s decisions—an outsider leading the insiders.
4. If the company is not making money in certain areas or an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory, dismissals will be carried out before the year-end.
5. The boss’s decisions lack foresight. Mobile development is not the company’s mainstream business; the company primarily focuses on CRM, call centers, and providing customer service personnel. Think carefully before joining. Those working in non-core business areas face the risk of not staying employed for more than one year. Applicants without sincerity should not apply.
6. Even if you become a leader, whether you can hire additional staff depends on the boss’s approval. If the boss does not approve additional headcount, you can only work yourself to exhaustion.
7. There may be business trips to mainland China. Applicants unwilling to travel should not apply. The travel benefits are average, and you must either pay for the airfare upfront yourself or go through the company’s advance-payment process, which is time-consuming and financially burdensome.
8. You must complete 35 hours of training each year. During some internal training sessions, HR supervises attendees and does not allow them to doze off. There is an exam after the course, and scores below 80 do not count for credit. Even courses taken as part of a master’s program for working professionals can replace at most half of the 35 hours, making this a significant waste of time. Think carefully before joining this company.
9. Managers give reports every year, but the boss has already decided who should become a manager. Anyone not approved by the boss cannot become one. Someone who is a manager this year may no longer be one next year. Think carefully before investing time in this reporting process.
1. People who want to kill time can apply.
2. It’s fairly close to Warner Village; a little farther nearby is the Xinyi Sports Center.
3. The overnight, evening, and day shifts rotate monthly (but the job posting online did not say that the evening and overnight shifts would rotate).
4. It’s basically a 1999 hotline specialist position.
1. They may not be particularly short-staffed, because the person who interviewed me seemed to be an employee.
2. Unless you can accept rotating between overnight and evening shifts (the interviewer refused to tell me how often the shifts rotate. He only said it wouldn’t be often, which I don’t believe).
3. As for whether you’ll be assigned an overnight or evening shift, the other person told me it would depend on how often people are late. However, I assume that if neither person is late, the next comparison would probably be the number of calls answered, so I think you’ll definitely end up rotating shifts, especially as a new hire.
First, the process:
After going in, you have to fill out your personal information, including when you graduated and your work experience, as well as your salary (I personally dislike this part).
Then there are multiple-choice logic questions testing basic math and Chinese comprehension. For the math section, you can work backward from the answer choices. The Chinese questions are somewhat like brain teasers. Next, they test whether you can avoid misreading numbers. The final question involves listening to Taiwanese, after which you have to write down the question being asked and the request being made.
Next, you take a typing test using computer software. There is no restriction on the input method (I didn’t have time to look carefully; I only know that New Zhuyin, Cangjie, and Boshiamy were available). Finally, you use Excel to complete a self-assessment with 16 questions. Each question has four adjectives, and you give each one a score from 1 to 4 based on how closely it matches your personality. If you want to get the job, this section is probably meant to assess the personality traits suitable for customer service; if you want to be hired, you can’t answer it completely honestly.
Finally, I was taken to a meeting room in the back. I thought I wouldn’t get the job and that they would ask me to leave after a while. Instead, an interviewer who looked even younger than the person who had brought me in appeared. It turned into about half an hour of casual conversation, with some questions asked in considerable detail. Only at the end did they tell me that I would have to rotate between the evening and overnight shifts, so I said that wouldn’t work for me.
Unfortunately, I forgot to ask about the salary. Oh, and the actual work environment differs from what was posted online.
I don’t know whether to say this job is good or bad, but if you want to gain more interview experience, you can proactively submit your résumé (they will ask you to).
1. After joining, due to the high turnover rate among project managers, I was often reassigned to different projects to carry out management duties. Since the main R&D team is in Nanjing, there were no R&D personnel in Taiwan; when problems arose, we had to ask Nanjing for assistance.
2. In general companies, year-end bonuses are calculated proportionally based on the employee’s start date. At this company, however, the calculation takes effect the day after the new employee’s report is completed. The later the report is completed, the less year-end bonus the employee receives.
3. If a salary adjustment is available after completing the probationary period and the new employee’s report, it also takes effect the day after the report is completed. The salary adjustment for the month in which it is paid is additionally prorated. In my case, I completed the report on October 6, and it took effect on October 7. When my November salary was paid, six days’ worth of the adjusted salary was deducted.
4. The year-end period is when employee turnover is highest. The company carries out dismissals, and many employees also resign voluntarily.
5. This company provides a laptop subsidy paid over 36 installments. Employees who leave before completing three years must repay the laptop subsidy to the company. For example, if an employee leaves after two years, they must repay the amount equivalent to 12 installments.
1. After joining, due to the high turnover rate among project managers, I was often reassigned to different projects to handle management tasks. Since the main R&D team is located in Nanjing, there were no R&D staff in Taiwan; when problems arose, we had to ask Nanjing for assistance.
2. In general, companies calculate annual bonuses proportionally based on the employment start date. This company, however, makes the bonus effective the day after the new employee gives their presentation. The later the presentation, the less annual bonus the employee receives.
3. If a salary adjustment is granted after the probationary period and the new employee’s presentation, it also takes effect the day after the presentation. The salary adjustment for the month in which it is implemented is further prorated. In my case, I completed the presentation on October 6, it took effect on October 7, and when my November salary was paid, six days of the adjusted salary were deducted.
4. Year-end is the period with the highest employee turnover. The company carries out dismissals, and many employees also resign voluntarily.
5. The company provides a laptop subsidy spread over 36 installments. Employees who leave before completing three years must repay the laptop subsidy to the company. For example, if an employee leaves after two years, they must repay the amount for 12 installments.