華鵬廣告設計有限公司

To be honest, I’m an extremely socially anxious person, so I was quite afraid to talk to the boss at first. Her competence was like that of a max-level final boss with years of experience, and her eyes seemed as though they could see straight into my soul (though that was just my imagination).

But as I gradually talked about my portfolio, she noticed many little things that I felt were trivial parts of the process. This gave me, a rookie, the courage to express myself more boldly. By the end, I had even shared my interests on Instagram. I’ve never met someone in a senior position who was willing to listen to a tiny cog like me talk like that.

Honestly, I didn’t think the interview questions were particularly difficult, but I felt that I hadn’t done well. The boss even encouraged me afterward. Seeing the wonderful work of so many seniors really made me want to become like them.

There were two things that genuinely surprised me. The boss stipulates that overtime cannot continue past midnight. At my current workplace, no one cares how late I work or whether there is enough manpower—as long as the work gets done, that’s all that matters.

There is actually overtime pay; at my previous company, we weren’t allowed to select the option to exchange overtime for money, and our overtime hours would even be deducted. We could only take compensatory leave, but we couldn’t even get leave approved… so it just became a vicious cycle.

This was probably the most unforgettable day I’ve had since starting work. Although I’m just a tiny cog, today felt truly unforgettable. I hope I get hired.

The main minor drawback around here is that if you ride a scooter to the interview, it may be harder to find a parking space. This area is also toward the back end of Neihu Technology Park, and it’s still fairly busy. However, the boss said there is an employee parking lot with a fixed parking space for each person, which made me feel like that worry had been taken care of.

Overall, based on my experience at five advertising agencies, this is the one I’m most satisfied with. It’s a very large company, with mostly first- and second-tier brands, and it provides all the benefits it should. In particular, overtime pay is handled very fairly. Unlike many companies, where overtime still has to undergo additional review and the reported hours may be rejected, here the boss pays exactly what you report. Of course, there are challenges too—it depends on whether you want to grow. If you do, you can definitely gain a lot of experience here. Another thing I like is that the colleagues get along very well. There’s no hierarchy or factionalism, so you often hear laughter at work—sometimes it’s even a little too noisy?

Based on my experience, I highly recommend it as a valuable addition to your career résumé. However, if your abilities aren’t strong and you want to slack off, it may be difficult to survive here—there are many highly capable people, after all. Haha…

Written by a former colleague who plans to go to Japan for a study trip after the pandemic. You’re all awesome 👍

Overtime is sometimes required, especially when there are urgent assignments.

I recently went for an interview and wanted to share my impressions.

Pros:

1. During the interview, the boss showed me the company’s portfolio. Many of the clients were well-known brands on the market, and the work looked quite professional. Most of it involved in-store displays, packaging, and similar projects. It felt like, if I had the opportunity to join, seeing my own work in stores would be quite fulfilling.

2. They mentioned that the company does not participate in competitive pitches, so employees do not waste time preparing proposals without compensation. I previously worked at a company where even internal projects involved competitive pitches, so I thought this was a nice point.

3. From what I heard, designers only need to do design work and are not expected to handle administrative paperwork or other miscellaneous tasks outside of design.

1. The company has quite a lot of projects, and if the workload is heavy, overtime may be necessary to finish them.

2. Overtime pay is provided, but you need to be willing to work overtime.

Seeing the comments below from my former company was simply unbearable, so I am responding to what appears to be a review planted by the former boss himself. Let me review this company from a genuine “employee’s perspective”:

・The starting salary is higher than that of half of the design companies, and the more skills you have, the more your salary increases.

(The truth: Not every project requires additional skills. If you are not the boss, how would you know that having more skills leads to a pay raise? Besides, many of the senior employees in the office only know graphic design; they do not know or learn 3D or even illustration, and simply piece together stock materials⋯ According to that claim, do they all have low salaries?)

・The company often treats employees to food／group meals, and there is a regular birthday afternoon tea every month.

(The truth: Compared with other companies, the frequency of group meals really is not that high, and the snack cabinet is often empty.)

3. All the employees are very nice, and there is no need to form factions and fight among ourselves.

(The truth: Factional infighting is only an issue in companies with hundreds or thousands of employees and complex divisions of labor. This company has fewer than one hundred employees and a simple workflow, so I feel this is just an attempt to blur the focus. The company culture is that everyone is “forced to accept reality.” Today, you may be lucky enough to leave work early, but the next day you may be given even more work, so you will also reluctantly leave work while watching everyone else continue working overtime. Moreover, certain people receive special treatment and do not have work piled onto them or have to work overtime—it is obvious to anyone with eyes.)

・It is easy to win prize money at the year-end party.

(The truth: There is barely any prize money; the prizes are basically small prizes compared with those at other companies. Employees also have to perform at the year-end party, and if you draw the grand prize, you are additionally responsible for organizing the next year’s year-end party process, hosting it, designing it⋯ You might as well pray that you do not win.)

・All the computers are Macs.

(The truth: The designers all use Macs, but there are old and outdated Macs—everyone should understand what I mean by that, right? Using a Mac does not make anyone superior, and some of them are models from many years ago! Employees in other positions do not use Macs.)

・There is an independent structural department, so you do not have to draw cutting dies yourself (The truth: Other advertising companies do not require you to draw them either.)

・When urgent projects come up, employees need to help by working overtime.

(The truth: Urgent projects are not the main reason for overtime. The real issue is a workload that exceeds what employees can handle. Design requires time for creative thinking, but here you are rarely given time to think. There is an excessive workload every day, and someone is definitely working overtime every day.)

・The work intensity requirements are relatively high.

(The truth: An unreasonable work culture is now being turned into an issue of employee work intensity?)

・It is difficult to keep going if you only have one skill.

(The truth: Of course it is good to be versatile and dedicate yourself to your work, but that means you will be given more work and work overtime more often.)

Additional note:

Almost every former employee who has left this company was crushed by an unreasonable workload, and current employees are as well! Sacrificing every day of your time and your life, shedding blood and sweat for the company, and ruining your health—let alone having any energy left to create a future of your own. That is why I resigned.

・The starting salary is higher than at half of design companies, and the more you know, the more your salary increases.

・The company often treats employees to food and group meals, and there is a regular afternoon tea gathering each month for employees with birthdays.

・Everyone is very nice, so there is no need to form factions and fight among yourselves.

・It is easy to win a cash prize at the year-end party.

・All the computers are Macs.

・There is a dedicated structural department, so you don’t have to draw dielines yourself.

・You need to work overtime when urgent jobs require assistance.

・The work intensity and expectations are relatively high.

・It is difficult to keep going if you only have one skill.

1. The new office environment is pretty good, and everyone is very nice.

2. There is a free snack cabinet, coffee, and more. Supplies are purchased every month, and there is afternoon tea on Fridays.

3. The boss occasionally treats everyone to dinner. Since the design department works overtime, everyone gets to have dinner.

4. You can learn a lot, and there are also individual presentations on Fridays.

1. The design department is extremely demanding. Working overtime every day is part of the company culture, so newcomers need to be prepared.

2. The salary is very low, so remember to ask for a higher offer. The boss only says they will give you a raise when you are about to resign (lol).

3. Since it is an advertising agency, each person has to handle several projects, and clients will even come chasing for drafts after work.

Interview:

　　I applied for a graphic design position. The atmosphere during the interview was very good, and the interview was conducted by the owner. First, you introduce yourself and your portfolio and fill out some forms, then take a computer-based test. There is no time limit for the test. You are given a set of materials to lay out, as well as an image-background-removal task. If you do not have experience designing advertisements, that is fine; the company will provide a product catalog for reference (like the kind from RT-Mart).

　　After you finish the layout, the owner will ask why you chose this company and what strengths you have that would make the company hire you. You will also be told that overtime is frequent and asked whether you can accept that.

Work:

　　The environment is very good. The company plays 96.3 Radio during work, and there is also a snack cabinet, microwave, food steamer, rice cooker, and refrigerator. Every Friday, there is afternoon tea, and employees share their design work with one another.

　　As an additional note, the company’s employee trip was a five-day trip to Thailand during the National Day holiday.

　　At the beginning, new employees are responsible for relatively simple tasks, such as modifying the content of standard templates. These are all projects assisting senior colleagues, so you will not immediately be expected to complete projects independently.

Interview:

　　The listing on 1111 said the salary started at NT$26,000, but when I stated that I expected NT$26,000, they complained that it was too high. In the end, the probationary salary was NT$25,000.

　　When they asked what strengths I had that would make the company hire me, I mentioned that I could do 3D modeling. They seemed to be looking for someone with this skill to facilitate proposals. However, the first 3D task I encountered after joining the company was a relatively complex 3D modeling assignment—a figurine with facial expressions—whereas I could only make simple geometric furniture. I had said I could do it because I had initially been asked whether I could produce cardboard display cabinets for shopping malls. The owner had no understanding of this area at all and seemed to think these things could be completed in a few minutes.

Work:

　　It is best to interpret “frequent overtime” as working overtime every day. Working hours are 9:30–10:00 to after 19:30, and anything after 19:30 counts as overtime (if you go out to eat, your mealtime is deducted). Overtime pay is provided, but the latest I saw someone go home was 1:00 a.m. On average, people left after 9:00–10:00 p.m., and even new employees immediately faced overtime, starting on their very first day.

　　Why do new employees work overtime? Because there is a pile of things that need to be handled by the next day. So when I noticed during the last week of my probation that I had not needed to work overtime a single day and was only doing miscellaneous small tasks, I roughly knew that I was going to be fired.

　　When I received my salary on the 5th, I went to the company to collect it and left immediately afterward. The NT$25,000 salary became NT$30,000 with overtime.

　　Overall, I do not think the work itself is stressful, but the working hours are extremely long. If you want to have a personal life after work, I do not recommend choosing this company.