巨匠電腦股份有限公司(巨匠電腦)(巨匠美語)

I used to be a part-time online English teacher, earning 450 per hour.

Once I got the hang of it, I could schedule almost 2–4 classes every day.

As I recall, each class was about 1.5 hours long.

I could teach from home or at the cram school.

I really miss the time I spent interacting with the students!

It was only part-time, so I don’t know the full picture.

The teaching materials were quite frustrating, and I had to keep supplementing them to make them more comprehensive.

The placement process wasn’t precise enough, which resulted in students of different levels being placed in the same class.

The air conditioning is very cool.

A whole bunch of rules—if you don't meet the requirements, you have to attend a meeting, pay a fine, or come to work early.

Multiple layers of screening and many stages—it seemed like they were taking it very seriously.

After the demo lesson, they provided suggestions and feedback.

They gave me a cup of water.

The afternoon before yesterday, I went to interview for an academic affairs position. The job involves managing courses, local and foreign teachers, students, and consultants, as well as conducting demo lessons for students who come in for trial classes.

I had a brief interview with the academic affairs counselor, then started a 15-minute demo lesson. After it ended, the two of them (the academic affairs manager and the academic affairs counselor) went outside together to discuss it and asked me to wait. About five minutes later, the academic affairs manager asked me to go to another small room for an interview and gave me suggestions and feedback about my demo lesson. The academic affairs counselor said my pronunciation was excellent, but that it was clear I was a little nervous. After that, she began explaining the duties and nature of the academic affairs position to me. Her explanation was extremely thorough, and she also gave good answers to all my questions. It felt like they were taking the time to communicate the job responsibilities seriously so that I could understand them more clearly. Overall, after hearing everything, I felt it was okay and was quite willing to give it a try.

Then the two of them went outside together again and said there would be a second-stage interview. During the second interview, the academic affairs counselor presented “many” situational questions. They involved students, teachers, consultants, and how I would respond if students raised various kinds of questions.

I thought I had passed. After being tested with so many questions, both the original academic affairs manager and the academic affairs counselor nodded and said it was okay. Everything had gone quite smoothly overall.

Thus, the long second-stage interview came to an end. By then, more than an hour had passed. After I sat there for a while longer, the third stage began, with only the academic affairs counselor coming in. As soon as she entered, she started discussing the starting date. She hoped I could start as soon as possible, but I was still employed at the time and had originally planned to leave my job at the end of May. To accommodate the new company, we found a middle ground: I would start at the new company in mid-May. I thought that was fine, and we set my start date as May 14. However, on May 8, I needed to go to the Taichung branch to attend new-teacher training and sign the contract that day. The academic affairs counselor also reminded me what I needed to prepare and which bank I should go to open an account.

She said that, generally speaking, an academic affairs manager needed a TOEIC score of 900, but she felt my current score of 830 was acceptable and that I could take the test again after starting work. Once I reached 900, my monthly salary could increase by 2,000, and the company would also reimburse the full cost of the exam on which I achieved a score of 900.

When I got home the day before yesterday, I was very excited. It was a completely new challenge for me. Although I was worried that I might not be capable enough, I was even more determined to do the job well. Yesterday, after noon, I told my current boss that I was resigning, and she agreed.

In the afternoon, after finishing a busy stretch of work, I saw a message on my phone saying that the academic affairs counselor had something to discuss with me and asking me to call her back. I saw the message and, without suspecting anything, called her back immediately.

When she answered, the academic affairs counselor said there was a small matter she needed to tell me. She said that she had discussed it with her supervisor the previous evening, but the supervisor felt there were concerns about having me take on the teaching position because my score had not reached 900.

She asked whether I had considered another position within the branch.

I said, “What other position?”

She replied, “Consultant.”

I said, “Although I have worked in sales before, I don’t want to do sales again at this stage.”

She said several times that it was such a shame, but I don’t know whether she meant it or not.

Maybe her superiors really did not approve it, or perhaps they had found another, better candidate.

I kept my tone very gentle until the end of the call. It was only after hanging up that I felt the whole thing had been an absurd farce.

Now that I see the confirmation email she sent yesterday, it feels even more ironic. I don’t know what to say. Why were they so serious about everything the day before, only for none of it to count the next day?

As soon as I joined the company, I felt that it was a very positive organization. There are many training opportunities, and it also provides those who are willing to work hard with the chance to earn money. I like a company that is fair, competitive, and full of prospects. It must be said that the bonuses are truly substantial. I earned my first significant savings earlier than my classmates.

It really is a case of you get out what you put in. It’s truly not suitable for people who just want to coast...

Pros 0

I used to work at the Gjun branch in Miaoli. The work I ended up doing was different from what was discussed during the interview.

The supervisor was extremely biased, didn’t know how to lead or empathize with people, and pressured us to work overtime to pursue performance targets.

The senior employees didn’t know how to train others, pushed all kinds of miscellaneous tasks onto others, and acted very arrogantly.

They were arrogant and conceited, handled matters poorly, and when problems arose, they couldn’t explain things clearly and had no patience.

They were simply unfit to be a supervisor, and even made up their own rules—fining people for making mistakes?

What gives you the right? The work atmosphere was awful; it felt like jumping straight into a pit of fire.

Position: Counselor

If there is training, you can attend classes with pay

It is a good place to toughen your mind

Because one person has to take on multiple roles

You have to receive and assist interviewees, and you also have to help when there are equipment problems

You are also responsible for various administrative tasks in the back office, including cleaning the classrooms and restrooms

First, the most serious drawback:

You only get overtime pay after working two hours of overtime, and overtime must be reported in advance

This policy is more foul-smelling than shit

Who could know how long teachers and students will stay?

During the interview, they said the performance pressure for counselors was about 20%

But in practice, it felt like 90% performance pressure

Because there is a problem with not having enough new students

When that happens, you have to keep making phone calls, and if there are not enough new students to open a class, you will also be criticized

Also, the things you have to do will keep increasing, but the pay will not

At first, the interview only mentioned providing after-class care for students and handling administrative work

In the end, you are expected to master everything from equipment-related tasks, interviews, and learning support to social media marketing

But the most important thing is that the pay does not increase accordingly

The base salary stays as it is and will not go up; the output and compensation are completely disproportionate

Another particularly ridiculous point: this happened when I had been employed for less than three months

Human Resources came to inspect the situation at our site

They kept asking me about the courses before I joined

What??????????????

????????????????????????????????

This was the same HR person who interviewed me back then

If the previous employee had handed things over to me before leaving, that would be one thing

But I joined more than a month after they left

How was I supposed to know what had happened before I joined?

Ridiculous

There is another problem as well:

The company has a very serious gap in staffing

The turnover rate is extremely high

Out of a group of more than 30 new hires, fewer than 6 remained after three months

The senior employees are very experienced, while younger employees leave after only a short time

After all, offering this workload for this salary is practically treating people as worthless

The benefits are not particularly good either

My suggestion is: if this is your first job,

you can come here to challenge and train yourself

It will still help somewhat with your speaking and communication skills

Computer Maintenance Information Assistant, Equipment Engineer – Gjun Information Co., Ltd.

After reading the reviews here, I’m even more certain that the interview experiences shared on 104 are a harmonious fabrication. It can’t be helped—the companies are the ones paying, and offending the employer means losing your livelihood.

The following may serve as a reference for those working as front-desk or course-promotion staff. Since each store manager has a different management style, work assignments may also vary from store to store. As a result, you may or may not take on administrative duties outside your core business responsibilities.

Job duties

1. Responsible for managing and maintaining computer classrooms, with proficiency in troubleshooting computer hardware issues

(Responsible for maintaining the equipment in all classrooms at the branch. There are approximately three or more classrooms, depending on the branch size. This work is usually handled by only one person.)

2. Administrative duties such as student services and contact, class administration, course scheduling, opening new classes, and related tasks

(On average, one new class starts every 1–2 days. Each class has approximately 10–40 or more students. Each student requires 3–5 minutes of notification, answering related questions, and handling all relevant back-end administrative work before, during, and after the class begins. For example: Is an instructor available to teach? Is a classroom available? Can the classroom accommodate the number of enrolled students? Is there enough teaching-material inventory for the students who need it? Are the required software programs installed on the classroom computers? Does the number of software installations exceed the legally licensed quantity? Are all peripheral devices connected to the classroom computers functioning normally? Many aspects require attention. If classes are suspended or instructors postpone classes before, during, or after a course starts, the related workload increases accordingly. This work is usually handled by only one person.)

Work outside the responsibilities of business-related staff may be handled by only one or two employees, such as the duties listed above. Branch cleaning is handled internally; no external cleaning staff are hired. Public areas, classrooms, IT equipment, and restrooms are all cleaned by branch employees. Details depend on the branch, so you can ask about them during the interview.

Jobs not mentioned in the posting: Accounting—managing all accounts generated by branch operations and administration, such as digital-product purchases and sales revenue; warehouse management—handling course materials, digital teaching materials, gifts, and merchandise for sale; distributing promotional materials outside the store—everyone may need to set aside time to distribute flyers and tissues to mailboxes outside the store. It is physically demanding work. Branch employees may all be asked to take on the duties mentioned above, so you can ask about them during the interview.

3. Assist with promoting renewals to existing students; be lively, outgoing, and enjoy interacting with people

(Admissions and enrollment work, or recommending new courses to existing students to increase individual and branch-wide performance. Staff who are not responsible for sales may choose not to promote products.)

4. Two days off per week; day shift: 08:50–17:50

(It is difficult to leave at exactly 17:50. Under explicit or implicit instructions from supervisors, most employees must finish assisting students attending evening classes before leaving work. The two types of employees who leave on time are those with an urgent personal matter or those who are particularly stubborn.)

Evening shift: 13:30–22:00

If the branch’s performance is poor, employees may be required to work all day, from opening to closing—day shift plus evening shift—with no overtime pay. You can refuse, depending on your personal determination or financial situation. If the branch falls behind its target, there is a high chance that everyone will be fined by a higher-level supervisor without exception. The amount is not large, usually a few hundred dollars per month. Fines may be more common during the busy season, when the economy is weak, or when the branch is performing poorly. As for employees who do not participate in enrollment activities and earn only their base salary, opinions about this vary from person to person.

Compensation

Monthly salary: NT$30,000–50,000 (the base salary has remained more or less unchanged for over ten years)

This is a relatively high-pressure position that provides experience across many areas. It is suitable for people willing to challenge themselves.

The branch has a high employee turnover rate. Anyone who has taken classes there for a long time should be able to notice that the staff are replaced in batches. There are many aspects to managing a branch, but everything ultimately comes down to performance.

A sales company held back by its connection to the education industry. The highest operating principle for each branch is to generate performance and revenue. Each branch is responsible for its own profit and loss, so competition is intense within and between branches, and various problematic practices arise. For example, staff may create a sense of urgency by telling customers that a product will be discontinued next week and that the current discount will no longer be available. However, when customers ask another branch the following week, they may find that the product is still being sold. This may not necessarily happen, but it is something to be aware of. A branch is essentially a sales unit, so you can learn professional marketing skills. Regardless of whether you continue working in sales afterward, this can be valuable experience for your career.

If the branch consistently performs well and meets its monthly targets, the atmosphere naturally improves. If performance fluctuates significantly or the economy declines, the atmosphere will of course be poor. When the branch manager is under immense pressure, none of the employees at the branch will have an easy time, including those who are not responsible for sales. This is an industry in which monthly performance resets to zero and everyone starts over—for example, insurance, real estate brokerage, and direct selling—and this company is no exception.

If you are interested in becoming a branch manager, you can aim for an annual salary of NT$1 million. If the branch achieves its annual target, the head office will make up the difference even if the branch’s revenue is insufficient to provide the manager with a million-dollar annual salary. Some employees have advanced through the organization from sales representative to branch manager to district manager and beyond, though not many. Quite a few capable salespeople move into other fields to pursue higher salaries.

The employee turnover rate is far too high. Every few years, each store replaces nearly its entire staff, and less than one-tenth remain. The gaps in experience are too significant. Compared with other companies in the same industry, business-related and non-business-related duties could be separated, with each person handling their own responsibilities to ensure the branch’s basic operations. Performance is important, but every aspect beyond performance is important as well. The company should not let branches and employees fight among themselves over performance; when internal relations are poor, it is also difficult to present a friendly face to customers.

The usual benefits are provided.

A company that likes to test the limits of legality under the Labor Standards Act. I worked there for a little over a year and experienced many examples, such as:

1. Not allowing you to take compensatory leave for working on holidays, requiring you to use annual leave instead

2. Refusing to convert annual leave into money and pressuring people to take compensatory leave

3. Despite the fact that overtime was clearly worked, not allowing employees to claim overtime

4. When resigning, not allowing employees to take their remaining annual leave and requiring all of it to be converted into wages

They like to call themselves a “happy enterprise,” but in reality, the turnover rate among young employees is high, leaving behind a group of unproductive old-timers whose only job at work is to pass the buck. Although the company’s business volume is shrinking and it is increasingly unable to make money, management has not improved its products or services; they only want to make money through sales-training scripts ㄏ

Most managers do not like solving problems; instead, they like solving the people who raise them. Be aware that quite a few managers have serious emotional issues and enjoy verbally bullying people. Please ask around carefully before joining. If a department has high turnover and resignation rates, don’t go there...

The only advantage I can think of, besides sitting at my desk, enjoying the air conditioning, and listening to music while working, is nothing.

1. You only get half an hour for lunch.

2. There are fines of 30/50/100/500 for items that are not completed.

3. They did not mention the fines during the interview, so I felt like I had been deceived.

4. If you do not schedule the required number of appointments for the next day, you have to come to work early to go out and hand out tissues to businesses.

5. If you do not meet your performance targets, you will be publicly criticized during regional meetings. They will criticize you as if you are completely useless.

6. You have to attend at least three meetings every month.

7. You have to attend a branch meeting every day before work.

8. Supervisors do not provide you with any resources. They only look at whether you meet your weekly target during your first 10 days. If you do not meet it, you will be barred from receiving leads and will be unable to speak with customers. The first and second desks always have better resources, while the third desk has no resources to work with and only gets the leads that others do not want.

None, absolutely none

Many, far too many. There is a strong seniority system, with lots of internal intricacies and unwritten rules. Managers are nagging and like to lecture people.

None

Only a NT$500 raise after passing the probationary period—is this supposed to placate a child?

The company pays salaries on time, with a diverse range of bonuses.

None

If you want to work in sales in the future, you can come here to get your feet wet.

Anyone with basic conversation skills will be hired.

Very friendly to newcomers.

There are performance bonuses (but they’re not very high, and senior colleagues will also snatch the sales credit from you, haha).

There’s training very often, and you can get paid after just getting through a day.

There is a possibility of being transferred. In the southern region, for example, you could be transferred from Tainan to Kaohsiung or from Kaohsiung to Chiayi.

It’s not suitable as a job for more than two years (Would two years be too long? Even one year feels like a stretch).

Management is heavily influenced by personal preferences when assigning people; I’ve seen cases of employees being forced into retirement.

None

As soon as I joined, I felt that something was strange. How could all the senior employees have been there for at least 8–9 years, while the younger employees had only been there for a few months? There was a serious gap between them. From the moment I joined, I was not respected at all. Regardless of the position someone applied for, they would ultimately be asked to work in sales. The people inside also competed with one another for performance, and newcomers never had any opportunity for promotion. Work consisted of making phone calls and cold-calling customers constantly. What the previous commenters said was all true: they give you a huge list of contacts to call, and even after repeatedly calling the same contacts until they are exhausted, you still have to keep calling them. Every day at work was spent listening to gossip. Everyone claimed that the company was an excellent enterprise, yet privately they constantly complained that the pay was too low. As soon as a teacher who came to conduct a class had left, the people nearby would start badmouthing them. It is a company with an enormous amount of negativity. No wonder there are always more than 200 job openings listed on the employment website, regardless of the time.

The front desk is responsible for recruiting students as well as administrative work, but in reality everyone has to meet performance targets. The leave system basically complies with the Labor Standards Act. Apart from the pressure to meet targets, the work is fairly relaxed. You need to broaden your horizons and constantly update your knowledge of current affairs (the basic skills for sales work). The company provides a lot of training and opportunities to learn.

There is plenty of gossip to hear; people chat, make internal calls, send emails, and pass along tidbits during work.

Some of the veteran senior colleagues are not very friendly, and the salary and bonuses are not high.

Colleagues get along well...? (Not all of them.

The air conditioning is really cool?

Basically, whenever there are no customers coming in, you just make cold calls nonstop. You’ll be given a bunch of lists that have already been called to death and be told to call them again, until the customers get annoyed. As for the salary, the base pay is determined by educational background. University graduates are guaranteed a base salary of 26K, but labor and health insurance contributions will still be deducted from that 26K. You’ll eat two meals of takeout every day. The commission percentage is different from what was stated during the interview; no matter how you calculate it, the amount is not what you expected. After joining, you also have to pass an assessment to become a regular employee and receive regular-employee benefits.

The seniority system is somewhat strong. Good leads have to be given to senior colleagues, and if you accidentally perform better than them, they may make fun of you.

Unless you have a lot of perseverance and a very thick skin and can successfully take on the challenge, you’ll basically be living on the base salary plus meager commissions—which might leave you starving~

The interviewers in central Taiwan were very nice.

They even gave me advice when the interview was nearly over.

Overall, it was a good experience.

There weren't really any drawbacks to the interview.

I applied for the position of trainee elite store manager.

This job is very challenging.

The courses cost anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars.

You need to speak with customers face-to-face

and close the deal in person.

1. You can enjoy air conditioning.

2. You don't have to think about what to wear to work.

1. Basically, the senior managers are extremely unprofessional. All the rules are made up by one person, rather like personal vigilante justice. Headquarters knows nothing about it. They will also threaten you by saying that if you don't want to do the job, you should resign—and if you don't, they will force you to leave.

2. The manager directly badmouths former employees in front of the other managers, saying things like, “That bitch.” When chatting privately with teachers, the manager will also say, “She really is a bitch.” Not a single departing employee gets to leave on good terms; they are always spoken about extremely harshly.

3. They make up all kinds of strange rules, and you are fined for not following them. You can be fined for not tying up your hair, not carrying your ID card, not contacting enough clients, or not writing enough responses on a questionnaire—with a specific fine for each additional response deemed insufficient. There are all kinds of unreasonable rules.

4. Three review meetings must be held every month, but they are completely meaningless. They are just a waste of time, in which every colleague who has failed to meet their targets is called up and humiliated. They also ask other colleagues, “What do you think of their performance?” Employees are required to use their own time, meaning that after attending a meeting from 9:30 a.m., you work directly until 10:00 p.m. If you were originally scheduled to be off that day, you still have to request leave and will be fined NT$500. The same applies when traveling abroad.

5. Every day, if you fail to meet the targets for appointments and interviews, you have to work an additional half hour the next day for each shortfall, and so on—but there is no overtime pay.

6. If your performance is not on track at the end of the month, you are expected to “voluntarily work overtime.” If you do not, your attendance records may be pulled out during a meeting and you may be humiliated in front of everyone with comments such as, “Wow, you really leave work on time?”

7. The performance bonuses are absurdly low.

8. None of the frontline staff’s problems can be accepted by senior management. They only tell you to do things their way, but the problems are never actually resolved, and then they blame us for poor performance.

1. You can enjoy air conditioning.

2. You don't have to think about what to wear to work.

1. Basically, the upper-level managers are extremely unprofessional. They make all the rules themselves, almost as if they were imposing their own private punishment system. Headquarters knows nothing about it. They also threaten you by saying that if you don't want to do the job, you should resign, and if you don't resign, they will force you to leave.

2. The manager directly badmouths former employees in front of other managers, saying things like, “That bitch.” Even when chatting privately with teachers, the manager will say, “She really is a bitch.” No departing employee ever gets to leave on good terms; they are always spoken about in extremely degrading ways.

3. They make up all kinds of strange rules, and you have to pay a fine if you don't follow them. You can be fined for not tying your hair back, not bringing your ID badge, not getting a customer interaction, or not writing enough on a questionnaire—the list of unreasonable rules goes on.

4. Three review meetings are held every month, but they are completely pointless and just waste time. Every colleague who fails to meet their targets is called up and humiliated. They will also ask another colleague, “What do you think of this person's performance?” Employees are even required to use their own personal time. In other words, after starting the meeting at 9:30 a.m., you work directly until 10:00 p.m. If you were originally scheduled to have the day off, you have to request leave and will still be fined NT$500. The same applies when traveling abroad.

5. Every day, if you fail to meet the targets for appointments and interviews, you have to work an additional half hour the next day for each missed target, and so on—but there is no overtime pay.

6. If your performance is not on track at the end of the month, you are expected to “voluntarily work overtime.” If you don't, your attendance records may be pulled out during a meeting, and you will be humiliated in front of everyone with remarks like, “Wow, you're really punctual, aren't you?”

7. The performance bonuses are ridiculously low.

8. None of the issues raised by frontline employees are accepted by upper management. They only tell you to do things their way, but the problems are never actually solved, and then they blame us for poor performance.

Free air conditioning

Overtime without overtime pay. Here, whether you can achieve performance targets depends on your supervisor.

Because supervisors can easily determine your performance based on personal preferences. In other words, whether you can achieve any performance is in your supervisor’s hands. For example: if your supervisor gives you only three resource days per month, that means you can interview anyone only on those three days. On all other days, you have to find prospects yourself.

I once encountered a supervisor who gave a colleague as many as 18 resource days in a month. He had many resource days every month, and he did not have to make endless phone calls. He could sit around chatting with other colleagues, then conduct interviews and achieve results.

Next is the situation I experienced.

When I first applied to 巨X美語, I was hired as an administrative coordinator, and I also made it clear at the time that I did not want to be a consultant.

After working for one year and four months, I was told that management wanted me to transfer to a consultant position because there were too many administrative coordinators and I could not continue in that role.

After transferring, I could only make phone calls during my first month and was not allowed to conduct interviews. During my second month—the first month under a new supervisor—I was suddenly told that if I did not meet the NT$200,000 target that month, I would be transferred to another branch. I was not notified in advance, nor did I consent to it.

The possibility of being transferred to another branch was not mentioned when I applied.

April was also the first month in which I actually worked as a consultant and interacted with customers. I met the NT$200,000 target, after which I was verbally told that I had to achieve NT$400,000 before I could conduct interviews independently again in May. I achieved that too!

The May target was immediately set at NT$400,000, and I was given five resource days. However, I took two days off, and because several deals I discussed did not close and my performance was unsatisfactory, I was prohibited from conducting interviews while my performance was still counted against me. I was also told that if I did not meet 80% of the target—NT$320,000—and did not accept the transfer, I would have to leave.

In April they said I would be transferred to Zhongli; in May they said Taoyuan. There was also no subsidy or allowance.

They had even scheduled my leave for the following month before May had ended, and my name was not on the work schedule. I had never said that I intended to resign. This showed that my supervisor had decided I could not meet the performance target.

I had only worked for two months after transferring, and I was not even given a chance to grow or gain experience before my supervisor decided I was unsuitable for the job. Yet despite considering me unsuitable, they did not terminate me in accordance with Article 10-1 of the Labor Standards Act. Afterward, they made things difficult for me at every turn, and it felt as though I was being deliberately singled out. This was especially obvious when my performance was poor in May—they blatantly treated me as if I did not exist.

Eventually, feeling that I was being treated far too unfairly, I submitted my resignation for the following month myself.

However, the newly assigned supervisor still seemed determined to make things difficult for me. They required me to make 250 phone calls a day and even said that if I failed to meet the daily target, I had to hand over my phone or turn it off, then go outside to distribute tissues and flyers.

They also constantly used their authority as a supervisor to pressure me. It was absolutely deplorable.

Afterward, because of the various unfair treatments, I reported the matter to higher management. However, little did I know that the regional supervisor was also an unreasonable person!

Not only did she refuse to acknowledge that what they had done was illegal, she also began exaggerating other matters to make excuses, saying that performance was not the main issue, but rather that I had not served students well and had performed poorly, and so on.

I did not back down. I asked: if my performance was so poor, why was I allowed to stay for one year and eight months? Had anyone complained about me? Show me the evidence!

In fact, I had calmed down many students who wanted to file complaints.

The regional supervisor had clearly only seen me once or twice a year, yet she spoke as if she knew everything, as though she worked with me every day.

At that point, my new supervisor only occasionally muttered a few words from the side and did not dare speak up.

Even now, despite seriously violating the Labor Standards Act, they could still smile and say that they really wanted me to continue working there. They simply refused to terminate me and pay severance.

I was going to resign anyway, so staying one more month would not have made much difference. If I stayed, I would only be deliberately subjected to their mistreatment.

So, after finishing that conversation, I decided to resign. In a way, I fulfilled their wishes and gave them what they wanted.

Actually, I do not care whether I receive severance pay. I simply felt that their appalling behavior had to be made public so everyone would know!

Even now, thinking about it still makes me extremely angry. At one point, I considered filing a complaint with the labor bureau, since I have recordings and documentary evidence.

This company and its supervisors are so unreasonable that everyone should really consider the matter carefully before joining.

I can't think of anything for now... Does having air conditioning count?

The company’s performance regulations are not followed by the branches. Anyway, the competition for sales performance is extremely fierce!! The supervisor decides who gets credit for the results; no matter how hard the person before you worked, they get nothing—that’s just how it is! Occasionally, there are recognition ceremonies where the top three salespeople are interviewed. It really makes me want to ask how a certain salesperson actually achieved their results.

If you want to work there, you have to leave your conscience at home. I often see the front-desk sales staff (or rather, each branch seems to cultivate a fixed group of salespeople) judge people by their appearance when they inquire about courses, and privately humiliate certain students over their appearance or background, regardless of whether a sale is made or not...

The air conditioning was very cool

HR provided a very professional explanation

Multiple people were interviewed simultaneously

Listening to information about a position unrelated to my interview for two hours

I don’t think this is an effective way to understand the interviewee

1. Harmonious work atmosphere

2. You don't have to think about what to wear to work

1. Low pay (especially absurdly low for interns)

2. Often pressures people to use their break time to do work-related tasks (company supervisors often encourage you to use your days off to handle work matters, portraying it as being proactive)

3. No lunch or evening break (if you want to eat or anything, you have to ask someone to buy boxed meals and bring them back)

4. Management trainees have to sign a six-month contract upon joining the company; if they want to resign during that period, they must pay a penalty of 30,000. They said they would provide a copy of the contract, but there was never any follow-up

5. There are many rules requiring deductions from your pay for being late or for issues with your work attire

At first, everyone seemed to get along well

It only looked like everyone got along well,

The performance-based system is unclear. Speaking of performance, after senior salespeople discuss the whole deal, they just leave without explaining anything further to you, no matter how much the manager promotes splitting the commission

Few staff at the branch, so everyone gets along well

The air conditioning is nice and cool

The work is straightforward: making phone calls and serving students after courses end

Cons

Upper management is overly conservative; no matter what goes wrong, they say it is because you failed to meet your performance targets

The working hours are genuinely excessive

Meaningless meetings and meaningless review meetings

Reviewing is itself appropriate, but failing to provide meaningful feedback makes it a waste of time

The administration is relatively friendly toward teachers.

You really need to think carefully before becoming an online teacher here.

The company will suddenly come up with strange rules.

They may also suddenly tell you that, in the future, taking leave could result in a discretionary deduction from your pay.

Do they not know that deducting wages under an hourly pay system is illegal~

Recently, they have also newly required teachers to set a three-month schedule that cannot be changed.

They really have no respect for the instructors here.

Also, IT keeps thinking there is something wrong with your computer.

They often say they want to adjust your computer, but then remote control cannot actually do anything.

They require teachers to check the next day's schedule after 10 p.m. every day.

How are you supposed to prepare for class when you do not find out until late the night before that you have a class the next day?

Moreover, they will not ask you first before assigning classes to you; they just put them on your schedule.

It feels like a very unfriendly place for foreign-language teachers.

No need to leave home

1. I don't even recommend going there as an instructor.

During the interview, they were extremely blunt, saying that because teachers don't need to leave home or prepare teaching materials, the pay would be lower than elsewhere.

You dare say that, but I can't bear to hear it.

2. When testing the instructor's system, they kept nitpicking, saying my computer was bad and my internet was slow and telling me to buy new equipment. In the end, the problems during the classes were all with Kojen's own system.

3. When a student is a complete idiot who can't learn and blames the teacher, if they put “you are bad” on the post-class questionnaire, you get sidelined.

Summary: Don't waste your time. It isn't even worth padding your résumé.

An average of 8–10 days off per month

Friendly coworkers

Comfortable and bright office environment

Close to home (but transfers are common)

Comprehensive training courses for newcomers

1. If your performance is poor and you cannot make appointments with people, you have to accept your fate and come to the company early to make phone calls.

2. To meet performance targets, if you have not collected any money during regular hours, you have to willingly give up some days off to come to the company to negotiate; you may also be assigned tasks to do.

3. For review meetings, you have to go to other counties or cities early. Including commuting time, the total working hours each time are at least 12 hours.

4. You have to sign a six-month contract when joining the company. If you want to resign during that period, you have to pay a penalty of NT$30,000. They said they would provide us with a copy of the contract, but there has been no word about it.

5. They said they would provide uniforms, but they deduct money in advance before the six months are up, and even after six months, you may not necessarily get the money back.

6. You are fined for not wearing heavy makeup, for failing to make appointments with people, and for refunds, which you have to bear yourself (if there is no performance bonus, it is effectively deducted from your base salary).

7. Even during cold spells and extremely hot weather, you have to go outside and expose yourself to the elements to conduct surveys and distribute flyers. Sometimes, campus activities are held before working hours.

8. The working hours are long: morning shifts are 9:30–19:30, evening shifts are 13:30–22:00, and Sundays are 9:30–18:30. There are no clearly defined breaks during these periods. Even during mealtimes, you have to serve students or discuss courses, and it is possible to finish work after an entire day without having a chance to eat or use the restroom.

9. There are many aftereffects: high stress, endocrine disorders, irregular menstrual cycles, urinary tract infections, migraines, frequent nightmares, severe insomnia, poor appetite, acid reflux, weakened immunity leading to frequent colds...

10. You still have to follow up with clients on your days off, answer your supervisor’s questions about clients, and serve students, because if students are unhappy, it may affect the branch’s image and performance.

1. Being in air conditioning every day until I’m shivering

2. Close to home

1. No matter how much more work you do, your salary will not increase.

2. There are a bunch of phone calls to make all day long.

3. The stated working hours for the morning shift, 8:50–18:50, are completely fictitious. In reality, you start at 8:30 to turn on the air conditioning in the classrooms where students will have lessons, organize the reception desk, and prepare everything else needed for work, and you do not leave until after 7:00. Note! It is after 7:00, or possibly even later.

4. Working overtime every day is the norm. Even when the authorities announce that no one needs to go to work or school due to a typhoon, you still have to prepare your uniform and raincoat and go to work. (Government announcements that work and school are suspended due to natural disasters are all fake.)

5. I was doing two positions and thought my salary would increase, but on payday I discovered that it was all just my own overactive imagination—I actually received less than 20K. Heh, at the time I thought my eyes were just playing tricks on me!

6. They verbally say the salary will be over 22K, but in practice, you need a higher level of education. Only university graduates and above qualify for their 22K standard; otherwise… get ready to receive 18K.

Colleagues are very easy to get along with

1. (Continuing from the pros) Once you cross a department boundary, a lot of inexplicable things suddenly arise…

2. The people above always come up with a bunch of brilliant ideas that make you wonder what on earth is going on in their heads; the higher up you go, the worse it gets.

3. They take pride in being an old-established company, yet keep making the courses more and more stingy, with absolutely no idea what direction the company actually wants to develop in.

4. Although there are all kinds of bizarre questionnaires, they are not “statistical” in the slightest, and yet they still want to use statistical methods to do things.

5. At exhibitions, they never consider promoting their own courses with physical materials—always relying on a sea-of-people strategy and giveaways that even their own staff don’t want to take…

6. They always want people to attend every exhibition…

7. You can never be harsh with students, even when what you are saying is true…, and the other person just happens to be a difficult customer.

8. When answering students’ questions, you sometimes cannot tell the truth…

9. The administrative computers still mainly run Windows XP. It’s not that I look down on XP; the problem is that the disconnect with the times is just too frightening.

1. The performance is really good, and the income is actually decent (truly one of the few among all the branches across Taiwan).

1. Branch managers have extensive authority; if they do not give you resources, there is nothing you can do even if you have no performance.

2. There is no overtime pay for working overtime (this is common practice).

3. The starting salary is low: NT$23,000–25,000.

4. If performance is poor, you are required to travel to other counties or cities for review meetings, and transportation expenses are not reimbursed.

5. Front-desk staff may be required to exaggerate the qualifications of the teaching staff, and teachers' hourly pay is considered very low in the industry.

6. Some branch managers may deduct your pay and vacation days because you did not meet your performance target.

7. On typhoon days, leave is not granted in accordance with government regulations, and there is no overtime pay. If you do not go to work, vacation days will be deducted.

A sham, but close to home

Low pay (base salary of 24,000; low commission on performance; at most, you only take home 30,000 per month)

Too many tasks (there are endless phone calls and things to do every day)

High performance pressure, no overtime pay, and working overtime every day (you are always expected to push for better performance)

At the end of every month, you are forced to work past your scheduled hours to help the company boost its performance and results

You are also fined for being late (you have to proactively log into the company system and apply for one hour of personal leave)

If you fail to meet performance targets, you have to keep going to the head office for reviews (to put it nicely, they call it training)

(To put it bluntly, you repeatedly go there to be blamed and scolded for not doing well)

They do not care if your health is completely ruined (I am a woman)

(I developed polycystic ovary syndrome, irregular periods, and hair loss due to prolonged excessive stress)

Even if you want to take three or four consecutive days off, you first need approval from your supervisor, followed by approval from a higher-level supervisor

Basically, three days of leave only requires approval from the store manager

More than three days requires review and approval from a higher-level supervisor

Even going abroad for vacation will get you criticized

Bereavement and wedding leave cannot be fully taken (no compensation is provided)

The one fixed day off and one flexible day off system (overtime pay has not yet been provided for working on holidays)

Below is the work schedule

Morning shift: 8:50–19:00 (if morning-shift staff have not disarmed the security system by 8:50, the supervisor is fined 2,000)

Evening shift: 13:30–22:00

Sunday shift: 8:50–18:00

Rotating early and late shifts

Lots of miscellaneous tasks

The salary is 24K, and after working for more than three years, I have never received a raise. If you don’t meet the performance targets, you have to attend meetings every month and also prepare presentations. Believe me, making those presentations will drive you crazy. There are monetary penalties for everything: a penalty if you don’t meet the performance targets, and a penalty if you don’t reach the goals. Honestly, with such a low salary, you could spend all of it paying their fines. You work more than ten hours without any break time. Think carefully before taking this job.

Regarding the course sales counter position at Genius Computer:

1. It provides everything required by the Labor Standards Act.

2. Every year, the company announces through the media that salaries will be increased, and they really are increased.

3. Employees with three years of service receive one free health examination.

4. There are many branches, so you can choose a workplace near home—unless the nearest branch has no vacancies.

5. Branches have morning, evening, and holiday shifts that require rotation. On weekdays, you do not need to take special leave to go to banks or government offices, because evening-shift employees can use the morning to handle personal matters.

6. The percentage for performance bonuses is clear, and the established calculation table is used nationwide.

7. Occasional incentive bonuses motivate counter staff to push for better performance.

8. Trade shows at the World Trade Center and fully scheduled campus events make work life varied and colorful, rather than as boring as sitting in an office all day.

9. Interacting with customers and students from all walks of life helps build interpersonal relationships and broaden your horizons.

10. Employees receive a 50% discount on their first Genius Computer or English course purchase.

11. The company provides high-quality custom-made uniforms, allowing employees to look polished and energetic at work.

1. The Labor Standards Act requirements are merely the minimum. Just because something appears to be provided does not mean you can actually use it. Branch managers have to consider staffing arrangements; even when a relative dies, you may not be able to use all your bereavement leave, and no substitute leave will be provided. The reason is invariably that staffing considerations make it impossible to approve the leave. After one year of service, you receive annual leave, but you may not be able to use it all; converting it to daily wages provides less than NT$900 per day as compensation.

2. The system consists of a base salary plus bonuses. Naturally, a salary increase means increasing the base salary by a percentage, amounting to roughly NT$200–600 per month—an increase you barely feel.

3. In the Taipei–New Taipei area, a counter employee with six months of average tenure is considered a veteran. Do you really think you will be able to use the health examination benefit?

4. There are many branches, but most employees will not work at a branch close to home.

5. It is normal for morning-shift overtime to be unpaid. For evening shifts, staying late because classes end late or because of service-related issues is also commonplace. There are deductions and penalties for being late, but no overtime pay or overtime service bonus.

6. The performance-bonus threshold has remained unchanged for years and is not adjusted according to actual operating conditions or the economy. Current counter staff can see the bonuses but cannot actually earn them, and customer refunds also result in bonus deductions.

7. The amount of incentive bonuses decreases every year, while the thresholds are adjusted as well. If you cannot earn them, you might as well stop dreaming about them.

8. Participation in World Trade Center exhibitions and campus events is mandatory, yet there are no transportation or meal subsidies. Extremely high sales targets are also set, and you are still criticized if you fail to meet them.

9. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, because there are many eccentric people. You often have to deal with students’ mental-health issues, and managing not to develop mental-health problems yourself really does require strong stress tolerance.

10. The 50% discount applies only to the first course. To receive it, you must submit an official document for approval, and refunds are not available. That is, assuming you have time to attend the course.

11. Several thousand New Taiwan dollars are deducted from your salary upfront for the uniform and returned only after you have completed six months of employment. The internal website says six months, but in practice, by the time the money is actually returned, you have been employed for nearly ten months.

Regardless of how high your TOEIC certificate score is, how strong your English skills are, or how extensive your teaching experience is, the starting salary is uniformly 450, with an additional 2% supplemental health insurance deduction from the 450. The contract cannot be taken home for review.

The hourly wage for computer instructors is low, with only a minor one-time adjustment.

Questionnaire scores are only used as a criterion for determining the number of classes assigned and have nothing to do with the hourly rate.

(Although there are standards for promotion to full-time instructor, basically it is just a distant carrot.)

The performance pressure is intense. If targets aren’t met, you have to use your own leave to attend the company’s training (review) sessions. There is also a financial penalty system for failing to meet targets. The commission for recruiting students is too low. Once, even though the news announced a typhoon day off, the supervisor still required us to work. Working hours are too long; when pushing to meet targets, daily working hours exceed 12 hours, and overtime cannot be claimed.

All of the instructors at K巨匠電腦 are part-time, and the company does not provide labor or health insurance. Instructors have to arrange union insurance themselves.

Each branch used to have one dedicated instructor, but this was discontinued in 2017, so all instructors are part-time. If K巨匠電腦 wants you to leave, you leave.

In addition, new instructors are paid more than veteran instructors. When students have problems, the branch always assumes the problem is with the instructor. As long as the survey results do not look good, the instructor will be sidelined and replaced, without considering whether the problem lies with the student or the instructor. Even though there are already many graphic design and web design instructors available, they refuse to hire them and insist on recruiting new instructors. The quality of students’ classes cannot be maintained, and course hours keep getting shorter. There is no shortcut to learning software—can you really learn to make LINE stickers in seven days? Don’t be fooled!

A whole host of marketing tactics are used to trick you into signing up, and the tutoring fees are frighteningly expensive!

Poor recruitment staff: if they fail to meet their performance targets, their pay is docked when students request refunds. The company appears to be a large corporation with great prospects, but the way it treats employees behind the scenes is completely different.