台灣櫻花股份有限公司

At first, I interviewed for the position of instructor at the interview experience center, which required hands-on practical work. I was too nervous at the time and wasn't very good at using the induction cooktop, but I still managed to cook something edible. The associate manager felt that I was more suitable for a position in the department store division, and I agreed. However, I had to interview again with the department store division manager. The salary was as advertised, the training was fairly comprehensive, and the year-end bonus was quite generous~

Although the company itself is very well-organized, everything is done by the book, which can make frontline staff feel powerless. The department store division also places a strong emphasis on performance, so which location you are assigned to is very important, as it directly affects your year-end bonus.

The HR staff had a good attitude.

1. Without obtaining the candidate’s consent in advance, the interview was scheduled after working hours (18:30 or 19:00).

2. After the second interview, a senior executive made a verbal offer and stated that HR would send the formal offer letter the following week. After a week had passed without receiving it, I called to inquire, and received a rejection email that very evening. It felt terrible!

The decor gives the impression of an upscale store.

They talk very generously about the salary and are very good at making grand promises.

Once customers walk through the door, they can’t leave without spending NT$200,000.

The sales associate is very beautiful; the store manager is missing teeth.

Interview location: Sakura Culinary Center, Chang'an Street, Luzhou District.

Before the interview, I had already explained that I had no experience. Mr. Zhang Jinfu said it was fine and that I should come for an interview first. But as soon as we met, Zhang said: “I didn’t expect you to be so young. We need someone with experience who can handle sales independently.” What the hell??? The 1111 job listing didn’t say experience was required, and you also said it was fine when I called you. Do you think everyone has plenty of time to run back and forth for interviews???

The only advantage is the degree of freedom; everything else is a drawback.

Kaohsiung Yangming store

Only apply if you can accept the following before joining :)

1. The owner has bad breath.

2. The owner's wife is stingy, stammers, has a short temper, and is a control freak.

3. Their son comes in every day and freeloads off the payroll.

4. Six days off per month—six days! Six days! The work schedule does not comply with Taiwan's Labor Standards Act provisions on one regular day off and one rest day per week.

5. The owner and his wife watch your interactions with customers through the surveillance cameras. If a customer does not buy anything, they blame you.

6. If a customer does not buy anything, it is always your problem. Customers are given no chance or room to hesitate; you are expected to pressure them into buying.

7. Their sales method is to pressure customers into making a purchase. If a customer does not buy anything, the owner's wife complains as soon as the customer leaves. It is extremely unprofessional.

8. Regardless of the position you apply for, you also have to do miscellaneous tasks and act as a servant. No one takes the initiative on any cleaning work; you alone are expected to do it. After the owner's wife arranges flowers and leaves the floor covered in debris, she does not clean it up herself and tells you to do it. The owner and their son also have poor hygiene habits and often leave bowls, dishes, pots, pans, and cups lying around after using them, as if they expect you to clean up. After all, you are basically their household servant.

9. They deceive customers, and their customer service is also very perfunctory.

10. They will not listen to your ideas or opinions and will tell you to do things their way. It is a dictatorship.

11. Six days off per month, with a full-attendance bonus, for a total monthly salary of NT$30,000.

12. They do not provide labor or health insurance (Labor Bureau, please come investigate).

13. The owner's wife and the owner argue in front of customers.

14. While you are making a sale, the owner and his wife constantly interrupt.

15. A family that always thinks it is never at fault.

16. Anyone who is curious will find out after working there for a week.

1. Stable; the salary is deposited on time on the 8th of every month (I couldn't think of any other advantages).

2. They hold worship rituals every month and provide free snacks (how superficial).

3. The manager won't block requests for annual leave (......).

Workplace bullying is extremely serious. The company has a strong seniority culture, and senior employees can freely insult newcomers. Words such as “you don't use your brain,” “I already taught you,” and “you're too stupid to learn” are considered mild. Senior employees also call people idiots to their faces during meetings and make insulting remarks about their families in the office. Managers are present for all of this and do nothing.

Then, when senior employees make mistakes themselves, their first response is to shift the blame. Once the evidence shows that they were at fault, they start making excuses and blame colleagues in the back office for not checking. Finally, they play their trump card—acting like thugs: “So what do you want to do about it? Go ahead and report me.” And the manager really won't discipline them (or her?).

But when a newcomer makes a mistake, it's a disaster: private-room interrogations, public criticism in LINE groups, and concentrated attacks during meetings, one after another. The whole process can continue for months or even quarters.

Also, at Sakura, it's basically very difficult for newcomers not to make mistakes, because:

1. Sakura's training is garbage. They tell you to learn by doing, but this industry does not have a high technical knowledge threshold, so senior employees are afraid to teach. They make newcomers think things through on their own, then criticize them when they get it wrong.

2. Many things that depend on changes at the worksite have no standards or clear right and wrong; they are based purely on experience. When a situation arises at the worksite, there may be many workable approaches in theory, but in practice none will be accepted, and the manager will reject them for all kinds of reasons. You can only handle it using a solution the manager accepts, even if the manager's proposed solution has shortcomings—because that is the manager's experience, and newcomers must comply. But none of this will be taught to you before problems arise. They wait until something goes wrong, then make you learn while being berated.

Basic customer service base salary

Don't believe the variable performance bonus. After a whole bunch of calculations based on individual target achievement rates, it ultimately still depends on a score given by a manager. Those with a strong submissive streak can work there.

1. After nearly three years here, I’d say Sakura is a great place for sharing the pot and working toward team goals, with little competition among colleagues.

2. Salary (poor) + benefits (good) = average overall.

3. If you can make it through the newcomer period and become capable of working independently, the cost-performance ratio of working at Sakura is fairly high.

1. Difficult senior colleagues: This is a traditional, stable industry, and there are many long-serving employees in the company. After staying for a long time, some inevitably become narrow-minded, feeling that newcomers are trying to take their jobs. They would rather let work pile up in their own hands than let newer employees share the burden.

2. Quite a few veterans want to drive newcomers out: Because Sakura has team bonuses and a profit-sharing system, some veterans think:

The company’s business is limited, and the pie is only so big. If another person comes to share it, I’ll get less.

So these veterans make things difficult for newcomers, mock them, and deliberately trip them up—their goal is simply for newcomers to leave on their own.

However, because the company keeps everyone in check with money, the exclusion cannot be too obvious. Everyone becomes very skilled at making covert attacks.

At first, they appear very caring and friendly toward newcomers.

But once they realize that someone might stay for the long term, their attitude changes completely.

This continues until the person can also contribute value and help everyone earn team bonuses; only then does the attitude of their colleagues improve.

Little Sakuras, hang in there.

Can't really think of any.

If you're working at a department store counter, it can be fairly stable if the shifts are scheduled well.

If you're in a managerial role, such as a supervisor,

then it depends on what kind of person your superior is.

If they only know how to yell and shout, you'll be exhausted.

Under no circumstances should you apply for an in-between position like supervisor.

Both your superiors and subordinates will dump things on you.

Even when you've already finished the work and reported it,

the manager may still be asking a few days later where something is.

They nitpick over everything you do.

They'll also try to take up your days off for no reason.

If you don't answer the phone on your day off, they'll find someone else or come up with an excuse to message you and test the waters.

Watch out—the troublemaker may be right beside you.

None

I applied for a chain management specialist position, and this department manager was late and suddenly changed the interview time—that alone would have been enough.

On top of that, they kept asking questions about markets in other industries (or something similar). If you can't solve market-related problems yourself, why are you a manager??

They scheduled a second interview for the following Tuesday and told me to visit one of the directly operated stores first, then share my thoughts with them during the second interview.

Then, two days before the second interview, they told me they had found someone. Good thing I didn't go visit the store after all.

They were assigning work before I had even started working. WTF??

The salary wasn't even that high, yet they acted so superior. Ridiculous.

It sounds impressive to say that you work at Sakura Kitchen & Living.

Low pay

Deductions from your pay

A monthly salary with an all-inclusive, fixed-responsibility arrangement

Responsibilities and workload steadily increase

Salary increases extremely, extremely slowly

Looks wonderful on the surface, but it’s just a shithole

Don’t be fooled by the boss’s grand promises

Leave as soon as things seem wrong

Of course, franchise stores can have good bosses or bad bosses.

You can’t generalize from one case.

It’s just bad.

I can't think of any. Maybe it's a listed company.

Maybe it could be used as a chatroom.

However, HR's attitude was really good.

The interview was unprofessional.

They asked a whole bunch of illogical questions.

Career development? Salary growth?

None

The pay is extremely low, and the job is incredibly boring. I was previously in the customer service department, where everyone was a middle-aged woman, which was a bit intimidating. We ate in the cafeteria, and I didn't even know what to talk about, but still had to force a conversation.

The pay is ridiculously stingy, and there are way too many miscellaneous tasks.