坐設計事務所(陳羿冲設計事業有限公司)

None at all.

I interviewed for the Design Assistant position at the Taipei branch.

First, let me describe the entire interview process:

I am currently employed as a designer. Because my résumé was not marked as closed to opportunities, your company invited me to an interview. I also informed the interviewer of this situation in advance. Due to the pandemic, your company required an online interview as well as a practical skills test: I had to create a floor-plan layout for a 9-ping residence and add an SKP model, to be completed within 1.5 hours.

On the day of the interview, I first spoke with the interviewer (Ms. Nie) via video about your company!

The interviewer first asked why I wanted to join your company. I thought, “Wasn’t it your company that reviewed my résumé and portfolio and invited me to interview?” So I told her that I would not casually change companies during the pandemic, but since your company had invited me, I reviewed your work, became interested, and wanted to learn more about the compensation and conditions.

However, the interviewer spoke hesitantly and unclearly, going around in circles. She kept asking questions about me but did not proactively introduce your company’s projects or explain what terms you could offer. She did mention that the Taipei branch currently had only her (That’s right! Just her!!! ^_^). She then kept asking to see my work. I told her I could only provide photos of completed projects; since I was still with my current company, it was not convenient for me to provide the drawings.

She therefore hoped that I would first complete the practical test and send it to her. I thought, “Sure. If you distrust me this much, I don’t mind showing some sincerity.”

The test then began. Because I became too immersed in the design process, I sent the files more than 30 minutes late and did not notice that she had sent an email saying that time was up (That’s right! By email).

After I sent her the proposal, she replied only through the job bank website, saying that if I were to take on residential projects in the future, I would need to consider dimensions more carefully. Therefore, I was not selected, and she did not start another video call to explain.

I asked whether she could provide feedback on which dimensions she thought were incorrect. I thought that not being selected was fine, and that discussing the design would still be worthwhile! (After all, I had shown my sincerity by completing the practical test—and it was even for a project you were currently handling.) But she never replied again!!!

(This felt extremely unpleasant and made me suspect that they might have only been trying to obtain design work for free.)

Thoughts:

In future interviews, if you encounter a company that requires a practical test, please think twice. I hope no one else experiences the same situation I did. After all, if they really are exploiting applicants for free design work, the company can save a considerable amount of time, effort, and cost! (Interview 10 people and get 10 proposals—without having to come up with anything yourselves ^.<)

The above is my interview experience with your company, provided for everyone’s reference.