ever heard of Pilotfish?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anybody ever heard of pilotfish?
Here you can check this ID company: www.pilotfishprodutcs.com

Any comments are welcome since I´m in Taiwan right now and thinking of applying there for a job.

Seems like they have a German office too.

Axel

you can expect long long hours with little in compensation. projects arent that interesting and run on too short timelines at the cost of the designers. i wouldnt recommend it unless its your only option.

same here…i was once offered to do some work for them… they were very unprofessional about work ethics…, but maybe they have changed…go interview with them, …ask lots of questions…,if they offer, you have both choices. In most cases…you will know if you like them within the first 10 minutes

no. and i cant view the site

@ guest & o:

Thanks for the feedback. What you experienced sounds not that inviting…so how long you worked there? Did you work in the Taiwan or German office?

And what do you mean with “…unprofessional work ethics” exactly?
I´m aware that here in Taiwan I can not expect the U.S or european standards, here 10 days holyday are normal in Taiwan and in Germany it´s about 1 month on the other hand.

I´m new to Taipei and they seem to be under the top 5 ID firms. Do you know other ID firms in Taipei worthy to check?

I will try to get an interview than I can see for myself and post a feedback.

@akire: sorry typing error: www.pilotfishproducts.com

somebody else has some feedback?

Thanks,

Axel

ZIBA Taipei
7th Floor #8, Alley 6
Lane 170 Chung Hsiaso
E Road, Sec. 4
Taipei, Taiwan ROC
+886.916.935.286
+86.136.21.989.341

Try these guys instead, you won’t be sorry if they take you. GOOD LUCK!

Hi Hermit,

they are on my list too.

Do you have a special connection to them?
Their homepage drives me nuts when you want to go somewhere specific due to the flash stuff :unamused:

The “digital online quotation” is verrrrryyyy chinese! :wink:

Axel

Hey Axel:

I don’t know which website you went to but it’s www.ziba.com I know people who work and worked there. Hint: it’s not your typical design firm. If you go there leave your designer ego at the door if you have one - doesn’t sound like you do that’s why I responded.

These posts are from 2004 and sadly their reputation hasn’t changed a bit. They offer a trial period with low pay and then eventually tell you that you are not the right match. I know a designer with 8+ years of experience who was offered 500 Euro a week in their Munich office. WTF!!

I only heard about Pilotfish but haven’t worked there. It sounds like a pretty interesting company in that they are specialized in product interfaces etc.

However, the responses from the people above sound horrible… Geeze louis, 500 euros a week…?

There will always be companies like this IME. Good luck to them that’s what I say.

Hello holymolly,

We were directed to this thread and we think it is fair to provide you with the following information.

One of the most vital assets of Pilotfish is the chemistry of our team.

For this reason, potential candidates that have been preselected following a first interview are invited to do a paid trial period of max. three weeks in one of the Pilotfish offices. The applicant hence gets the opportunity to experience the working atmosphere at Pilotfish and explore Munich, Amsterdam or Taipei in order to see if they like the city/country/people. Pilotfish in turn gets to know the applicant’s personality and approach to work, his/her soft skills and hands-on design skills.

The trial procedure is, of course, mutually agreed upon upfront and we also agree on a salary in case of a positive outcome. To cover part of the applicant’s expenses, we offer him/her a respective remuneration for the trial period. Many of our applicants, especially from overseas, see this as a great chance not offered to them by many other companies.

As the term trial period implies, its outcome can be considered positive or negative on both sides. So, just as well as we may find out an applicant does not live up to our expectations, there is always also the possibility a promising candidate comes to the conclusion that Pilotfish is the wrong match for him/her.
On average, one third of the applicants join our team following the trial period.

We hope this gives you a better idea of our recruiting process.
Please feel free to also contact us at jobs(at)pilotfish.eu should you have any further questions.

Harm
Co-Founder Pilotfish

First of I think it is commendable that one of the founders of Pilotfish has taken the time to respond to this thread (threat?).
But it seems like, nothing that has been said has been untrue.

I believe that every company should have the right to structure their policies however they see fit, within the confinements of the law of course. However if it is fair or not, well, that can be discussed.

My personal opinion in this matter is that when an applicant enters the trail period, he/she should be compensated with the full salary that the designer would later receive. As stated earlier, the trail period goes both ways and if the applicant is expected to put his/her full commitment and skill set into the trail, than I would expect the firm to also show their full commitment.
I think there should be a clear distinction between an internship and a trail period.
500 euros, if this is the actual number, will not cover a lot of the expenses an applicant is putting forward to short term move to a new place and survive there. To me, a low reimbursement for a trail period tells me one thing: They are not that into me. I would question how serious they really are.

The fact that only 30% of all that enter the trail period later move on to a position appears to be alarming. I can imagine three reasons why. First, too many applicants are being invited of which Pilotfish has no real interest in hiring anyway. Second, the application process is too loose and people are being invited that shouldn’t have been and third and maybe the worst reason, applicants are backing out because they don’t feel comfortable with the firm.

All that being said, I stand by that this is the company’s business, not mine and nobody is being forced to accept the trail period.

Welcome to the boards, please keep posting.

It’s good for you to post your side, you make it sound legit. Personally I think this necroposting thread from 7-years ago is sort of funny, but it is good that it got a fresh breath in it. I don’t know Pilotfish, but I know Ziba does has a rep for working designers like borrowed mules and not promoting people, they also have a rep for making cool projects and wining awards, so choose your poison?

I’d like to note trial periods are common, especially for fresh grads. When I started I had a three month trial period. At the end, either party could have dissolved the working relationship. I thought it was fair.

Absolutely. I believe trail periods to be essential. Otherwise we are in “arranged marriage” territory which seldom works out.
But the big question here is not if trail periods are good or bad but how the company treats the designers during this period.

The point is, that we have 2011 and nothing has changed. Every studio owner has the right to do what they what, trial period or not. To ask a senior designer to work for 500Euro a week in Munich is kinda of strange. Pay full to senior designers!!! What is the average rent for a room in Munich? Who has the time to work for a design studio on a trial period as a senior not knowing what will happen. Get real, come on!!! Are you gonna ask a senior surgeon to do trial surgeries before getting hired. As far as I know a trial period is 3-6 months and you really need a good reason after 3 months to say, we don’t match. It could happen after 6 months or one year. Getting the right personality and attitude is important for every company but that is a risk you have when hiring!

It was stated by a representative from Pilotfish earlier this thread that the period would be a maximum of 3 weeks, not 3 months.
Personally, I find it difficult to see what could be learned in a 3 week period from the collaboration that could not be gained from the interview process.
It does take longer than 3 weeks to get into the groove of a company, especially if the applicant is new to the city/country/continent.
To me it sounds like a lot of hassle and unnecessary uncertainty for everyone involved.

I would also like to raise caution about throwing the number of 500 € around here as it wasn’t confirmed by Pilotfish. It might be more, it might be less and I suspect it is being adjusted to the experience level of the applicant.
As most things in life, it is probably subject to negotiation.

Well put bepster, Though I disagree with your POV on 3 weeks. A lot more can be gleaned from a 3 week interaction with someone than a 3 hour interview.

I’ve hired people, and fired people, I want to do everything possible to make sure it is the right fit for the person, for my team (one person can completely change the chemistry of a team, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse) as well as for the goals I have for the kind of work I am trying to get us to move toward. Hiring someone is the single hardest decision of a director, next to firing someone.

Though I must say I’ve never heard of a trial for a senior designer. If the compensation was fair I suppose it would be OK…

I’ve never heard of Pilotfish but I know it is common to have a trial period, but what isn’t normal is to only have about 30% of those people stay on. That tells me that either 1, the person responsible for finding the staff is not doing a good job of matching the right staff to the position at hand or 2, they are doing a good job, which is to get lots of very cheap labour. (This is common practice but appalling and very disrespectful behavior and the only ones to blame are the young talent who don’t know their worth (I’ve been a victim as well in my time). It doesn’t do neither the company nor the designer any good in the long run.
I’ve seen worse. A major water company offering the world the chance to design their next design for their water bottles with the prize being… Kudos! Anyone worth his salt should not even work for a company that shows little appreciation from the word go.

Good luck!