Sources and scope
This page collects workplace experiences, questions and discussions submitted by users. Dates shown are submission dates, not periods of employment. Individual reports do not describe the entire company.
Read the community guidelines1. Flexible leave; temporary leave requests are accepted.
2. You can freely walk around during work, go out to buy things, and bring them back to eat as afternoon tea.
3. The boss occasionally buys food for everyone to share, depending on her mood.
4. The boss is an architect and is very willing to explain regulations to you.
In the year since I joined the company, the boss has driven three employees away in total.
I still remember that one of them directly responded coldly to the boss and walked out on the spot, while another resigned the day after arguing with the boss.
The third was specifically targeted by the boss until they could no longer take it and submitted their resignation.
Since the boss came from a well-established major construction company in Taipei, her working methods and habits follow those of her former company.
Some people might think it would be good to experience a large-company work model, but that is not actually the case. Small companies have their own way of working. How small are we?
There are only five people, and we can simply turn around and communicate directly. Many things really do not need to be made so complicated.
Furthermore, if you graduated from a purely design-focused department, you will find it extremely difficult to tolerate the boss—who has no aesthetic sense and is somewhat self-important—directing your work based on her taste.
In the end, I also discovered that she became an architect by passing the architecture regulations examination. Her basic hand-drawing skills are poor, not to mention whether she has received any foundational aesthetic training.
Also, as a designer/assistant, you have to constantly chase the boss to make decisions. But perhaps she is too busy (?) or simply more spontaneous (?). Sometimes, when you need to follow up on materials or resolve issues with drawings, whether you can get her decision depends entirely on your own ability, because she never gives any decision at the time. She only starts making decisions when the client is pressuring her at the last minute.
Moreover, if she tells you during the interview how wonderful everything is and paints a very grand picture, it is actually all a lie.
None of the promises she made to each of us when we joined were fulfilled. Even when it came to salary adjustments, she only gave us a few hundred dollars.
Our boss is also so spontaneous that many things and projects end up being messed up when they reach the construction stage.
Yet she does not have the courage to take responsibility, so she pushes us assistants to apologize to the clients and then reprimands us in front of the clients or vendors.
This scene plays out frequently; she always hides behind the assistants.
As for overtime, during the interview she may tell you that there is not much overtime and that the amount depends on the project schedule.
In reality, whether you work overtime depends on the boss’s mood. When she wants to leave work, she will make everyone leave on time.
On weekends, I recommend ignoring her requests about whether to attend meetings with clients.
Because the boss is unmarried, single, and does not like going home, she spends most of each day at the company.
Her entire life revolves around the company, so she often accumulates work to do on weekends. However, her efficiency is poor, and she often spends the whole day chatting on LINE.
Her health is also not very good because she has hyperthyroidism, so her emotions are extremely unstable. As soon as she catches onto the smallest issue, she starts scolding people and muttering emotionally charged words.
Also, because she passed the architect licensing examination, she does not really respect design.
She once said that designers should not be called “professionals” because they only have technician-level skills, whereas architects are called professionals because they qualify through a national examination.
Her designs only use black, white, and gray—perhaps she likes those three colors? But, bluntly speaking, she is simply only willing to use black, white, and gray.
A good designer can handle black, white, and gray in an elegant, understated way, but our boss combines them in a very cold manner.
If you want to learn something and are applying for an assistant position, I urge you to think twice, because I have reflected on the past year.
My gains are zero. I learned absolutely nothing from the architect, and my colleagues feel the same way.
If you are applying for a designer position, I also advise you to think twice, because she cannot afford to offer you a decent salary, while you will have to clean up after many of her projects.
You may also be required to work overtime on weekends. Since she cannot do design, she takes the habits she developed when working on preliminary regulatory design and freely modifies your work—making it very unattractive—until it becomes hers.
In short, this is a company with very little room for development.