IBM_台灣國際商業機器股份有限公司

1. Colleagues are generally intelligent and willing to collaborate, and internal communication and the work atmosphere are good.

2. The company culture also respects individual characteristics and development.

3. There are many opportunities to collaborate with colleagues overseas, as well as plenty of internal learning opportunities.

1. Processes are cumbersome and decision-making can be somewhat slow, sometimes making the company appear to lack the flexibility to respond immediately to market changes.

2. The Taiwan company falls under the Greater China region, so budgets and quarterly planning must be coordinated with Greater China, and performance is also assessed on a regional basis. When performance in mainland China is poor, Taiwan has to share the hardship without sharing the benefits, and its budget is reduced accordingly. Taiwan has relatively limited autonomy in the market.

The interview feels impressive because it’s IBM.

The company is extremely insincere. They recruit talent on LinkedIn/104, but when they invite you to an interview, they don’t provide any information, nor does anyone proactively contact you about the interview results. Extremely disappointing!

I suggest not wasting time waiting.

The name sounds nice

Last Monday, while I was playing basketball, I received an interview invitation from this company (let’s abbreviate it as IBM). Before receiving this call, IBM had once sent me an invitation for a contract position, which I declined outright at the time. Although I had little expectation of this company when I received the call, it is, after all, a well-known multinational corporation, so I thought I might as well go and learn more about it. They asked whether I was available on Thursday (8/17), but I declined because I had other plans. They then asked, “What about next Thursday?” I checked my calendar, saw that I had nothing scheduled, and agreed. At the same time, I confirmed the time and location over the phone. This was how I asked:

“About what time would it be?”

“It’ll be after work. Once you arrive, just call me from downstairs.”

“May I ask whether it’s in Xinyi District?” (Because IBM only has one location in Xinyi District.)

“Yes.”

So I wrote it down on my calendar, until today...

A little after six in the evening, I suddenly received a phone call.

“Hello, may I ask where you are? Our interview was scheduled for 6:30.”

“Um... I’m sorry, but I remember that we scheduled the interview for next week over the phone, didn’t we?”

“No, we scheduled it for today. I also sent you an email afterward.”

(I really didn’t receive it.)

“I remember confirming it with you over the phone. In that case, no problem. May I ask whether there are any other available times?”

“I would absolutely never tell an interviewee over the phone where to go for an interview. How could you possibly know where to go for the interview?”

“Uh... I confirmed with you that it was in Xinyi District, and your company only has one location in Xinyi District.”

“It’s fine. I’m not trying to blame you right now. But let me tell you, I’m one of the managers interviewing you. Don’t you confirm where you’re supposed to go for an interview? With that kind of attitude, I won’t interview you. I’ll ask the other managers whether anyone wants to interview you.”

“Okay, no problem. If there’s any further information, please let me know, whether by phone or email.”

(At this point I was completely dumbfounded, but I felt I should at least finish the conversation.)

“Even if I sent it to you, you wouldn’t read it.”

“Okay, thank you.”

And that was how this bizarre journey ended.

Many good friends around me may work as HR professionals or conduct interviews. Perhaps the same kind of problem has happened to you or someone around you. Regardless of which side the problem was on, or whether it was simply a system issue, I believe the situation could have been handled better emotionally. What’s more, when you invite someone to an interview, you yourself represent the impression people have of the company.

Let this be an encouragement to everyone.

Then today, 8/24, I received another call from them. This time it was a different person, who said over the phone that next week’s interview had to be canceled.

...Excuse me, I have absolutely no idea when we supposedly scheduled an interview for next week.

This company is truly incredibly frustrating.

This is fucking coming in as a true winner in life!

(I mean the customer service engineer part; some of the more sales-oriented roles are still pretty grueling.)

The compensation is absolutely far above what the Labor Standards Act requires. You definitely get paid extra whenever you should, and you definitely get all the leave you’re entitled to.

The work is easy—you just answer calls. Although you occasionally rotate onto night shifts, you’re really just watching Japanese dramas, playing video games, and sleeping (you can answer the call after it wakes you up). I’ve already been fairly restrained: during regular working hours, besides their work computers, everyone usually also brings a laptop or tablet (for watching shows or playing video games).

Even as a new hire, the starting salary is at least NT$35,000 (with a university degree), and you get a raise every year. Civil servants? Are they really that impressive?

This job is easy (possibly even easier than being a night-shift building manager), stable (no less stable than being a civil servant—I have a bunch of veteran colleagues who cling to their jobs and refuse to leave), and pays well.

As for the drawbacks, sometimes it’s honestly too boring. Besides constantly watching shows and browsing the web, you can occasionally feel a little empty, that’s true.

After all, I work for a foreign company (and an American one at that). There are simply too many exploitative, old-school bosses among Taiwan’s employers. Sigh, I really feel sorry for everyone. I hope working conditions for Taiwan’s labor force can improve.