華樂絲語文顧問有限公司

You can talk with foreigners and practice your English~

The boss's mindset is not much different from that of the typical exploitative Taiwanese boss. When you apply, they will nominally tell you one job title, but after you join the company, you will find that the work you do gradually becomes farther and farther from what was discussed in the interview. Basically, it is a process of being strung along and taken advantage of. The company "does not provide year-end bonuses," "does not provide year-end bonuses," "does not provide year-end bonuses." This is important, so I’m saying it three times.

What this means is that an ordinary company would at least provide a one-month year-end bonus, but this company does not.

So please evaluate it for yourself or Google reviews of this company.

The HR representative and hiring manager were friendly and willing to share their experiences, and they valued a learning-oriented attitude.

The company's office environment was extremely quiet—so quiet that it felt a little strange.

The interviewer for the second interview was not the same person described after the first interview. At first, they said it would be the boss, but later it turned out to be the CEO.

The interviews were conducted primarily in English, which differed somewhat from the original job posting. The posting stated that good English was preferred, but based on the interview experience, English appeared to be a very important requirement.

I had somewhat negative feelings about the way notifications were handled. After the second interview, the hiring manager said that an offer would be sent the following week. However, the following week, HR notified me that I was an alternate candidate and would need to wait another week. (The first and second interviews, plus the waiting period, took three weeks in total.) The process was too lengthy. I understand that job hunting is a mutual process of finding a suitable fit, but if there is a stronger candidate, I would suggest not notifying alternate candidates.

I ultimately chose to join another company. I hope the above feedback is useful.

I am a former full-time translator, and I would like to share some thoughts from my work experience here.

1. If you apply for a full-time translator position, you will be doing translation work once you join, so it is unlikely that you will be “arbitrarily transferred to another position.”

2. Since editors and proofreaders revise your translations, if you are willing to learn, you can clearly identify the blind spots in your English writing and translation process.

3. If you stay long enough, you will gradually improve your translation efficiency (the quality is subjective) and gain a better grasp of the wording and style used in academic writing. This may help you increase the number and rates of freelance projects you take on externally.

Once, on a friend’s recommendation, I translated an urgent master’s thesis abstract of just over 300 words. The client requested that it be completed within three hours of my receiving the manuscript and readily agreed to my proposed rate (NT$4.5 per word). Because the topic and content of the abstract were very similar to the materials I translated at the company, I completed the translation in 1.5 hours and spent another 30 minutes polishing it. (Before joining Wallace Academic Editing, I would have needed at least half a day to confidently complete an acceptable abstract translation.)

1. The translator position is more suitable for people who are looking for a decent salary and can be patient and persistent.

2. There is a fixed number of words to translate each day. However, if you encounter a difficult topic or source text that is disorganized and incomprehensible, you may need to spend more time solving the puzzle and even work late into the night.

3. If you truly love translation and language-related work, you should continue developing yourself during your time off. Personally, I feel that if I do not read after work, my language skills become rusty.

1. The company is very quiet: like a library, because the boss dislikes noise, so colleagues cannot chat or communicate with one another. People who like quiet environments would be a good fit.

2. To apply for overtime pay, the request must be submitted four hours before the overtime begins, and it can only be processed after approval from a supervisor. It seems the company is very confident in its ability to control workloads—there probably won't be any overtime, right?

3. Close to Taipei Main Station, with many plumbing, electrical, and hardware supply stores near the office, making home repairs convenient.

1. No year-end bonus: There are only monthly bonuses, paid quarterly. Salary adjustments depend on the boss's mood. Regardless of performance, even when the company makes money, employees do not get a share. A fake foreign company with a real old-school boss—don't assume it's genuinely foreign just because there are many foreigners at the company.

2. Disrespect for professional expertise: The boss often reads one book and then assumes he understands a particular profession, interfering with the execution of professional work and interpreting performance based on his “feelings.” The work he feels is important or wants done always takes priority. Even if you do other, more important tasks well, you will still be criticized or suspected of having done nothing.

3. Treats employees as tools: Employees are given extremely little consideration. Apart from NT$1,000 in bonuses for the three major holidays, there are virtually no benefits. Employees are even frequently dismissed without warning on the same day. As a result, employee turnover is high. Once, the building was disinfected without the company being notified, and some employees went to work. Everyone was so overwhelmed by the disinfectant fumes that they could not bear it. After learning about it, the boss—who had not gone to the office that day—ordered everyone not to leave until he arrived on-site and made a judgment. One of the employees was pregnant! Employees were treated as if they were worthless.

4. The boss has an extremely strong need for control: If he sees an employee away from their desk, taking a break, or eating, he will question them. He also requires employees to write daily work logs so that he can keep track of their every move.

5. The boss is prone to anxiety and likes to lie: If performance is low for just one or two days, he will say that the company has not made any money all month and begin questioning the efforts of each department. He often exaggerates matters or distorts and fabricates what was discussed with employees.

6. Communication barriers: The boss is a foreigner who has lived in Taiwan for fourteen years but cannot speak Chinese. Whether or not this is due to a language barrier, he often does not remember things or remembers things that never happened. Communication is very difficult.

7. Office politics and passing the buck: The boss's wife likes to stab employees in the back, speaking ill of them directly to the boss instead of communicating with the employees first. She often plays both sides and undermines trust among employees. In addition, whenever there is a decision to be made, the boss and his wife frequently pass the buck back and forth, leaving employees to take responsibility.

8. A record of violating labor laws: There have been reports of the company dismissing employees without paying severance and altering the stated reasons on employees' separation certificates.

9. Arbitrary reassignment of positions: You may be recruited under the title of A but end up doing B's work, or even C's as well. However, your salary remains at the original level for A, regardless of whether you know how to do B or C. You may also be inexplicably promoted to manager, with no raise but more responsibilities, without anyone asking whether you are willing.