BigByte Education_大樹國際文化企業股份有限公司

You can interact with foreign teachers and children.

I strongly agree with those who have pointed out that this company has more interns than full-time employees. Sometimes, the company is so understaffed that it even needs cleaning staff to help look after the children, which is extremely outrageous! The company neither hires more full-time employees when it cannot find interns nor increases staffing. When resources are stretched thin, one intern often has to take care of 20 or 30 elementary school children. If something goes wrong, the intern is blamed, while even when nothing goes wrong, there is rarely any reward. (The original internship program stated that the hourly wage would initially be 165 and would gradually increase to 180 or even 200 based on the intern’s growth, but the company never proactively mentioned this.) I think this company is very good at packaging things, presenting all the interns’ labor as progress, growth, and so on, while in reality exploiting interns extensively. Its attitude toward interns is inconsistent, sometimes good and sometimes bad. In contrast, the company’s supervisors treat foreign teachers extremely well, which leaves interns feeling very unbalanced and unable to receive appropriate compensation. I left before completing six months.

1. Colleagues and foreign teachers are very friendly.

2. The snacks are delicious.

3. Small gifts are given from time to time.

1. The salary does not match the workload, and the tasks often exceed an intern’s responsibilities.

2. Internal communication is poor and standards are unclear. Asking two supervisors about the same matter can result in different answers.

3. Interns are expected to be able to read minds or possess supernatural insight, and still meet supervisors’ expectations despite having unequal access to information.

4. The messaging is inconsistent: although they say questions are welcome, when you actually ask one, you may be redirected to someone else or told to find the answer yourself.

5. The organizational structure is inadequate. It is common for one person to hold multiple positions, resulting in scattered responsibilities or a lack of time to handle matters related to one of those positions.

6. A large number of interns are recruited while immediate productivity is still expected. Training can cover less than half of the work content.

7. The proportion of full-time employees is too low, and interns’ responsibilities can only be addressed when the relevant employees are scheduled to work.

I feel very comfortable spending time with the children. Although they often get into mischief, they also have a lovable side. My peers are all understanding and willing to help one another, so it is very enjoyable working with them.

The company's staffing allocation is extremely problematic. At the branch, the ratio of interns to mid-level full-time staff is approximately 4:1, so much of the full-time staff's work is passed directly on to the interns. Because there are no additional senior full-time staff to provide assistance, intern training is also insufficient. We often have to deal with situations we have never encountered before without adequate preparation. When something goes wrong, we are scolded by supervisors and questioned by parents, which creates significant psychological pressure over time. Staffing is often so tight that one person sometimes has to supervise 8–10 children, and supervisors even ask cleaning staff to help watch the children.

Supervisors have too many responsibilities to manage and often become extremely emotional because they are so busy. They also do not often communicate directly with foreign teachers or interns about matters involving the children or teaching-related work, and work procedures keep changing without ever being finalized.

Two people: one asks you questions, while the other takes notes beside you.

The interview first starts with a phone screening, then you wait two weeks for an in-person interview. The questions are numerous and lengthy, making it seem like they are being very thorough. Afterwards, they tell you to wait for notification, and then, about two or three weeks later, email you to say that there are currently many applicants and they cannot hire you.

A complete waste of other people's time.

They also closed the physical store they previously had in Da'an District; one can easily imagine how poorly the business was managed.

Although the company meets the minimum standards required by labor laws in all the areas that are “visible,” the quality and quantity of work it expects employees to do are far beyond the minimum standards; you can get a general idea of this simply by looking at the job requirements.

At the beginning, the contract stated that employees could receive a raise after meeting certain conditions. However, when employees asked for a raise, the boss came up with various excuses and required them to take on additional projects before granting a work bonus (which was not even a direct pay raise).

Even more absurdly, interns make up more than two-thirds of the entire office. To save money, when full-time employees leave, the company does not hire replacements for those full-time positions; it only brings in interns. Intern turnover is high, and handovers are often incomplete, yet the company expects interns to figure out many things on their own. It is truly bizarre.

The company initially said that we would get a raise or project bonuses after working there for a while, but that never happened. Communication among the managers is not very good. Manager A often wants one thing while Manager B wants another, which puts interns in a difficult position. They also all seem to think that interns should dedicate themselves to the company. Sometimes we have to provide support on weekends, or they tell us to take fewer classes so we can work more shifts. There seemed to be more interns than full-time employees in the entire company; when I first joined, I found it extremely strange! As a result, many people don't know anything about certain matters when asked. The pay is fairly decent, but it feels like the company does not appreciate our contributions. Also, the office does not have cleaning staff, so interns take turns taking out the trash. Sometimes we are assigned miscellaneous tasks or asked to support branch offices, but we already have so much of our own work that we cannot finish it without working overtime. We also have to respond on LINE on weekends. I heard there is intern training at the beginning of the semester, but those who join later can only gradually figure out the company’s operations by learning from senior colleagues. You can learn quite a lot because most interns do work that is similar to full-time employees’ work (which is both good and bad). Some higher-level managers have a very poor attitude toward interns and often assign us miscellaneous tasks (shredding paper, restocking toilet paper, collecting mail, etc.). They also seem to enjoy making sarcastic remarks about interns (for example, when we take leave or are sick).