麥傑特設計有限公司

When I went for the job interview, I realized that a few years earlier I had happened to visit the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park to see an exhibition. There was a charity event exhibition that left a deep impression on me. It was a fundraising exhibition organized by the team at MJD Design for children with disabilities. The guide at the event said that Director Chen had organized the charity event to raise funds free of charge for “equine therapy” for children with disabilities, inviting 100 prominent figures from the design world to collaborate on the creative works. Among them were President Tsai Ing-wen, TVBS anchor Wu Dan-ru, the lead singer of the band Quarterback, and others. The charitable creations were quite impressive. I really admired that design could be used in this way, and the exhibition left a deep impression on me. As it happened, the interview was conducted by the director, which was very exciting. I hope I have the opportunity to join this team.

The interview was a little long! However, I still got quite a lot out of it! Very cool!

The company is located on Minsheng East Road near Fujin Street, in a very elegant environment, and the company atmosphere is great! I love it!

Our work has won many German iF and Red Dot international design awards. The most senior art director has been with the company for nearly 15 years. The art director can be a little intimidating, but is very demanding when it comes to the work, so the quality of the creative work is excellent. The creative director understands design strategy very well and is also very willing to mentor newcomers, giving young designers many opportunities. Colleagues get along very well, and the work is flexible—it’s a very comfortable design environment.

The music is always played very loudly—sometimes rock, sometimes classical piano. Although it can be a little noisy at times, it has quite a lot of style!

Good environment

1. Boss: If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. Employee: Is this okay? Boss: You have to think for yourself! Employee: (After figuring out what to do on their own) Boss: Don't make decisions on your own! We need to discuss it!!

A typical case of believing that only what they think is right, while everything else is nonsense.

2. The executive director and art director are a married couple. It often happens that you follow one person's requested revisions, only for the other person to be dissatisfied. However, you can't say that it was the supervisor's opinion; instead, you'll only be met with unpleasant comments such as, "Don't you have a brain? Can't you think for yourself?"

3. The company's internal policies have remained the same from the past until now, but the handover of responsibilities and rules has not been properly maintained, resulting in many loopholes later on. This makes the entire company lack unity and cohesion.

4. The executive director's way of speaking is truly hard to compliment. They often make sarcastic and hurtful remarks. Anyone with low self-esteem or who isn't emotionally resilient should not lightly challenge this boss.

5. They often say that designers should have their own ideas, but in reality, they already have an image in mind. They only judge whether what you come up with contains traces of their idea. If it doesn't, it doesn't count as a design concept. They want you to have your own ideas while also obediently following their instructions and doing things exactly as they say. It's very contradictory. They rarely accept novel ideas, which has caused subsequent brand designs, packaging designs, and other work to become increasingly outdated as they revise them. Whether in terms of design concepts or rules, this company has become unable to keep up with the times.

6. Every day, you have to write down your work progress and the work you expect to do the next day, then email it to the executive director and art director. However, the next day, you will still be asked what your work progress is for that day. This shows that writing those reports is completely pointless because they don't read them at all.

7. Designers cannot focus on design-related tasks and also have to handle many things unrelated to design.

Summary: Only try this company if you have a strong enough heart.

The work environment is good.

You have to take work home, and work until the early hours of the morning on weekdays. They still rush you for drawings on weekends, and there is no overtime pay. The boss uses high-pressure management and emotional manipulation; whenever the work is not completed, it is always considered the designer's fault.

1. This is MJ Advertising. Both the company and its surrounding area are quite quiet. It is a fairly well-known design company in the industry, with a relatively large number of applicants, and the employees are also quite young.

2. There was only one interviewer, the Executive Creative Director. They were generous and respectful toward the interviewee, had many ideas about design, and were also skilled at copywriting. They had their own way of doing things and gave the impression of being a very logical manager. They spoke in a well-organized manner and could pinpoint an applicant’s shortcomings in a single sentence.

3. The job responsibilities were explained very clearly, with detailed divisions of labor, so there was no ambiguity about one’s role. The work attitude was rigorous and positive. Although it sounds stressful, it is a company where you can concretely develop your design skills. For example, if the company asks for three CIS proposals, the designer must propose six to nine designs. The company discusses them internally first, and the designer must be able to explain every detail of each design; there can be no vague or unclear areas. The Executive Creative Director tends to think in a tree-like structure and likes logical design, so you can build strong design and thinking skills here. The Art Director is also an expert in design, so you do not need to worry about working with someone who does not understand the situation; that does not happen here.

4. You will not be asked in the morning to create a design and then show a draft in the afternoon. Designers are given time to develop ideas and must set their own deadlines with their supervisor, allowing enough time to build a complete design, including developing the copy.

5. This company does not accept every client; it selects its clients and likes interesting ones. Before formally carrying out a design, it holds two or three meetings with the client to ensure the content and direction are correct. The supervisor participates in the initial meetings, so designers are not left to digest everything on their own.

6. They like people who are proactive and speak frankly—do not beat around the bush. If they have decided that they want to work with you, the answer they want to hear is that you are certain you want to join MJ and would not choose anywhere else. They want to see an applicant who is confident in themselves, so show some courage.

Although this company expects a certain level of ability, they are not afraid of people who refuse to give up. If you have that personality trait, you may be a top candidate. Even without work experience, you may still get an interview if your portfolio shows good ideas.

1. If you like working through procedures quickly, producing large quantities of work, and do not like thinking about design concepts, think twice before applying. The idea that speed is everything does not apply here; every design needs to be supported by the power of words.

2. Project execution timelines are long, and the proposal process requires a great deal of time. You may spend this month working on designs for the end of the previous quarter. If you prefer short-term assignments or think that spending two or three months building a brand is too long, think twice.

3. When discussing expected salary and the highest monthly salary from the previous job, the amount mentioned was NT$34,000. When salary was discussed, the other party said that if you had the ability to earn NT$34,000, they could afford to pay it as well. For people who are not under much financial pressure, this is a great environment. It is unclear whether the starting salary during the probationary period is above NT$30,000; if you fail the probationary period, you will still have to leave.

4. Summary: This place is highly suitable for people with great passion for design. It is a company where you can solidify your design skills even if it means earning a little less. It has won quite a few awards, and the Executive Creative Director has great confidence in the abilities of people who leave MJ.