There isn’t much I can share after being away for a long time.
At the time of my interview, there were not many people in Taiwan making fondant decorations, so I really cherished that opportunity.
When I joined, I truly had no experience. The owner seemed to favor people with a background in sculpture and an understanding of clay. I repeatedly made some pieces and contacted them, and only then did they say they were moved by my passion and let me join. My colleagues had graduated in sculpture or interior design—in short, you needed to be good at handicrafts.
From what I saw, the owner did teach the colleagues and let them try designing cakes.
The atmosphere was good.
a. We did have to work overtime to meet cake deadlines, but dinner was provided free of charge.
b. You did have to sign a contract, and the salary was low. At the time, it felt like there could be a bright future if you persevered, so it seemed okay.
(But fondant has become more common now, so this may no longer apply.)
c. I saw one of the owner’s family members stick fondant that had fallen on the floor back onto a cake.
d. It felt like one of the owners deliberately used an intimidating tone, but they did not seem like a bad person at heart.
e. Dogs would enter the production area (if I remember correctly).
It was quite a while ago, so the above is for reference only.
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I worked at this company for a few months. The company often ignores whether employees can finish their work and keeps accepting more orders, forcing employees to work overtime frequently. On top of that, they either don’t pay overtime or calculate it incorrectly. They only tell you after you join that national holidays are not given as days off, and they even underpay overtime for national holidays. I really don’t recommend working at this company—you’ll be squeezed dry.
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I recommend that everyone avoid applying to this company. The HR representative's attitude was extremely poor. The job posting for the assistant position clearly stated that experience was not required, did not mention needing a portfolio or relevant experience, and explicitly said that applicants from either food and beverage or fine arts–related departments were welcome. I studied design myself, and because I’m interested in baking, I thought I would give it a try after seeing the information above.
I submitted my résumé, and more than a week later they suddenly sent me an interview invitation, asking me to bring a portfolio of relevant cake-related work. I very politely asked whether I could still attend the interview since I only had a portfolio related to graphic design. They suddenly became furious and said, “Are you just randomly applying for jobs? Are you seriously looking for work?”
At that point I was already quite upset, but I still replied politely that the job information stated that experience was not required and did not specify that a portfolio was needed (design-related positions that require a portfolio will always say so), which was why I decided to try applying. I also explained that I was seriously looking for a job and was not applying randomly. After seeing my response, they started making sarcastic remarks: “Then come and give it a try. I’d like to see how serious you are about learning.”
This was completely absurd. What do I owe you? Who would still want to go after being spoken to like that? Would I have to be humiliated by you if I went? The fact that they could respond this way through the job bank already says a lot about the professionalism and standards of this place. On top of that, they spoke like an emotionally immature child with poor emotional management. Do they hire elementary school students as HR staff? They were extremely disrespectful. Later, I searched Google and found that their attitude toward handling problems was also terrible. I didn’t want to waste any more time arguing with them, so I simply blocked this company.