資誠聯合會計師事務所(PwC Taiwan)_普華商務法律事務所

The company is conveniently located for transportation.

HR asked many questions, and after the interview said that the company's process would take one or two weeks. They said that if I received a job offer from another company during this period and planned to go elsewhere, I should let them know first. Then, when the department manager took over the interview, they kept giving me work-related advice. They also kept nodding while I was speaking to show that they agreed with my ideas. Even after the interview ended, while we were waiting for the elevator so I could leave, the manager continued giving me advice about the work I would do after joining the company.

At this point, do you feel that the company already intended to hire me? Wrong! Two days after the interview, I received a rejection letter from the company! Amazing—so they never intended to hire me at all? They even pretended to be eager to hire me as soon as possible. Even someone like me, with extensive interview experience, was fooled. It's such a shame that someone so good at pretending and acting isn't an actor~

Solid internal training with plenty of learning resources.

The working hours are extremely long. They also use the pretext of digital transformation to require employees to learn software in their personal time, without allowing them to report the hours or providing overtime pay. The number of clients has not decreased, so learning the software has not actually saved any work time. Instead, employees are assigned a bunch of additional projects, without receiving higher raises or bonuses.

At the beginning, the training for new employees includes many courses, and there are also many colleagues around the same age whom you can talk with or become friends with. You can learn a lot quickly, and promotions and raises come faster than elsewhere. However, it is very difficult to advance beyond manager level, as the positions are tightly blocked.

The overtime hours are extremely long, and the busy season is also extremely long. The only months when you can almost leave work on time are June and August. During the other periods that are supposedly the off-season, it is generally around 7–8 p.m.; during the busy season, working until 10 p.m. to midnight is normal (which may already count as lucky). Some people even have to work until sunrise in May.

Despite working so much overtime, you still cannot report all of it; if you report too much, you may be questioned about it.

Rank and age are taken very seriously. During your first two years, if you want to take a break on a holiday during the busy season, you must "report it" to your team leader.

During the busy season, you will envy stray dogs and cats sleeping by the roadside—at least they still have time to sleep.

Auditors can travel for work and gain exposure to different industries through clients, with extensive contact with various clients. However, it still depends on how the accounting partner handles and assigns cases.

The working hours are long, and overtime cannot be fully claimed. Reports often need to be redone repeatedly to meet client requirements—many times, not just once or twice—resulting in substantial rework. For someone who studied accounting at university, I feel that going directly to a client after graduation and pursuing a career in financial accounting, in terms of career development and compensation, is not necessarily worse than joining an accounting firm after graduation and then moving into industry.

104 and the interview both said it was a contract assistant position

But when I reported for work, it turned out to be a project intern position

NT$22,000, with formal attire required

The benefits listed in the job description on 104 are only available to full-time employees

During the interview, they said that because it was a contract position, the only benefits were labor and health insurance, group insurance, and gifts for the three major holidays

This is downright fraudulent!

If only I had seen the Facebook post #靠北會計師2965 before choosing my university preferences.

However, I’m currently just a small Associate, so I can only talk about what I’ve been able to see.

Because the policies differ between each BU, it depends on what the bosses (partners and CPAs) of each group want to establish.

Therefore, different BUs may vary in overtime reporting, employee trips, and even the number of annual leave days granted. I’ll just casually mention some pros and cons.

(Some are company-wide policies, while others are specific to my BU—I’ll just mix them together～)

Pros:

You get 7 days of annual leave as soon as you start, which is better than what the Labor Standards Act requires; some BUs allow more than 7 days during the off-season

One day of leave each year for a health checkup

A wide range of training courses

For employee travel subsidies, you can organize your own group, take some photos, and submit the receipts—you don’t have to accompany the boss and put on a fake smile

Plenty of opportunities for business trips, allowing you to earn travel allowances and broaden your horizons

Most employees are around the same age, so the atmosphere at work is fairly lively

Some audit clients provide meals, and the company also provides meals internally during certain months

The company has a strong reputation, so credit card applications are easily approved

Cons:

Clients are scattered throughout Greater Taipei (or even farther away), so you have to adjust your wake-up time every week

You still have to wear a tie in summer—it’s so hot you could cry

During the busy season (especially January through May), you work crazy amounts of overtime (depending on your individual engagements), and if your overtime hours are too high, you may even be asked to adjust them

Audit services are still, after all, part of the service industry, so you can only work overtime to meet clients’ needs

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After thinking about it, that’s probably all I can come up with. This job is actually quite challenging.

But the biggest problem is that the working hours are extremely long.

You may think that, as long as there’s overtime pay, you can work all the overtime, and you may even feel that you’re highly motivated.

In reality, your body and mind may not be able to take it.

What’s more, you may not even get paid for all the hours you actually worked.

After work, you still keep thinking about the unfinished, never-ending tasks.

Work/life balance simply doesn’t exist—if you put it into Excel, you’ll get #DIV/0!

But the off-season is amazing. Take a week or two off,

and go on a happy trip, singing “la la la la,” then return to the office with a big smile.

You’ll find yourself thinking again: Ah, maybe I’ll do this for another year.

People really are such self-defeating creatures, huh? (sigh)

What the hell is this XX company, haha?

Violating the Labor Standards Act?

Do you fucking dare follow the rules?

If you want employees to work overtime, then pay them?

What else can I say? I’m extremely, extremely, extremely tired—so tired I can’t smile, so tired I cry while showering, so tired I’ve forgotten my passion for life.

Don’t come here and waste your youth…