This company has been known for its long working hours. However, they can still find someone who are willing to do it. Why? Most of them can’t find other jobs for various reasons such as needing visa sponsorship. So the management knows this is harsh but they pretend they didn’t see it. Who doesn’t like cheap labor?
After the fresh graduates start the job, they are assigned to a group. There are a few groups with nice people and reasonable working schedule, but most of them are living hell. In the living-hell group, it’s not uncommon to see the managers yell at the workers when they don’t like the result, or the managers assign tasks at 5pm on Friday and ask to see the results on Monday morning, or take the credit for the good results and blame the workers for bad results. Some managers would even create a group chat during the weekend to discuss the tasks. They feel superior to the workers and they would only promote the workers who fawn on them. The promoted people would learn the same thing to push the new workers. What a cycle!
Does the upper management know what the managers are like? Maybe. But the managers have multiple faces. They know how to act. When they face the upper management, they take the role of dogs. When they face the workers, they are the slave owner. Let’s not forget the drama, politics and everything you see on TV. Advice to the new employees: watch your mouth. What you say would eventually end up in the managers’ ears. They have eyes and ears around you. They would even trick you to get the information they want. Why does this company like hiring fresh graduates? The newbies don’t know the politics in the working space, easy to manipulate etc.
Some reviews mentioned the workers from East Asia, there are also workers from other part of Asia. They have their own kind of sneakiness. In a word, never trust anyone in the company. You might want to say HR? No, they would take the side of the managers. The most they can do is place you in another group. But this is a small company. Do you think you would have a better career development in the new group whose manager knows why you are here?
In the past few years, some notorious people are sent for the interview. You might get to feel the vibe. But don’t forget they are good actors. Someone at the interview asked them, what’s the work life balance like ? They were like: you know someone here, you should know what it’s like here.
Some students take the job because the company sponsors visa. However, the HR or the partner law firm, they make mistakes almost every year. Many people’s cases have been delayed because of them. Is this honest or they want to keep you longer? Only they know. They used to have lunch a few days in a week. When the lunch was served, there were some HR standing there and watching you to see how much you put in your plate.
The company bought some vessels and found they burned cash, then they sold the vessels. The company acquired Fugro processing department, then fired all of them. The company built a new building and found they don’t have enough people, then they rent the offices to other companies. Do you see a pattern? So the company hires you, then what happens next?
If you really don’t have other options, just hope you will join the very few nice groups. But I heard more and more people are leaving. Learn to deal with the drama and start preparing for the next job when you sign the offer.
