A Chinese company that baptizes by fire, rules by fear, but gives good experience
Pros
- Hands on with many different aspects of the business - Great for inexperienced professionals or new graduates - Long, hard hours builds camaraderie - Driving against traffic in the morning - Very systemized process of business evaluation, prepares for other companies - Performance (survival) here is good for future opportunities and character building. - Brand name is strong; position in certain markets is assured, therefore the chance of you screwing it up more than temporarily is minimal. - Certain individuals are extremely knowledgeable (as will be quite evident) - Product build quality can be praiseworthy and live up to the hype.
Cons
- Upper management is often insensitive to your work-life balance and your self-esteem. Much like a child, you will be scolded and questioned when you screw up, and sometimes when you don't. - Culture drives long hours for the sake of long hours, often reducing efficiency. - Somewhat farther from the 'hub' of the Bay Area, where all the hustle/bustle occurs (SF, SJ, SC) - Decisions are not always governed by reason or reliance on metrics. They are often guesses/intuitions/orders, therefore subject to the whimsy of upper management and thus frequent change. - Reliance on vanity metrics evades scrutiny and is accepted as best practice. This increases the frequency of "number-fudging". In contrast, "Web 2.0" companies have begun to evaluate engagement metrics rather than simply pageviews. Depending on your point of view, this may signal an obstinate adherence to doctrine that is impeding the growth of innovative, effective proselytization techniques. - Pay is low. Consider ASUS a school. - Market position is assured, so divergence from doctrine is usually blamed for ledger discrepancies, rather than celebrated or encouraged. - Product build quality can be god-awful. Different HQ-based teams can be difficult. - Guidance from headquarters is a gray area. It can be overbearing, poorly defined in scope, vague, and at times completely baffling. - Hubris leads to strange messaging from ASUS (See over-reliance on Eee-branding)
