The names the company goes by the following names:
- Starfish Web Design Solutions: name company when I was hired
- Starfish Internet Solutions: current name
- Circle Eight Solutions, Inc.: registered name
Address as of this post: #7612 Unit D, Guijo Street, San Antonio Village, Makati, 1203 Metro Manila
yah.. so medyo parang rant na rin lol
1: Web development startup company since 2011. SINCE 2011. Hindi 2007, hindi 1997, hindi 2005. Ugaliing gumamit ng basic math. Kapag sinabihan kang, "this company is 20 years old" tapos 2017 ngayon.. Nagsinungaling na mismo yung HR or si Boss sa harap mo mismo. Red flag yun. Pero kung ok lang sa iyo. Go lang. :)
2: Runs by a family / top management: boss', boss' wife, boss' father. Boss and boss' father are foreigners.
3: The company does not withhold the employees' taxes. "Hassle" daw. Tapos kasalanan naman daw ng gobyerno kung bakit mahirap magpaka-legal. Marami raw proseso.
4: Good luck sa pag-asikaso ng MANDATORY BENEFITS, Philhealth, SSS, Pagibig. Hindi consistent, sobra, ang pagremit ng benefits mo. May mga ilang employees na never na-remit-an pero nakaltasan. May ilan, kung 'di mo pa nakitang kulang records mo, o kung 'di ka pa nagsumbong, 'di nila aasikasuhin.
4a: Nabisitahan na sila ng DOLE ng dalawang beses. Nasabihan sila na yung nilalagay nila sa contract na magkaka-kaltas lang ang employee after 6 months / after ma-regularize, bawal yun. Dapat 1st month pa lang, may kaltas at remit na raw ang employee. As of now, yung mga bagong employees lang nakakaltasan mula sa 1st month. Pero yung mga employees na 6 months na sa company, 'di pa inaasikaso yung benefits. Wala na raw kasi silang ma-s-sweldo kapag kinaltasan sila ng worth 6 months of benefits.. Wow naman..
4b: Isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit ayaw asikasuhin yung benefits ng employees kasi may Employer's Share kasi. Losses sa company.
4c: May instances na walang binigay na account, whether pagibig, philhealth or sss, kasi wala pa sila nun, pero nakaltasan pa rin sila doon.
4d: 'Wag completely maniwala kung nahulugan ka na. Best to verify pa rin. Ilang beses kong nabisto HR ko na 'di siya nagbabayad, tapos nung kinonfront ko siya, todo iwas naman, ugh.
5: Kung a-apply ka as front-end or designer, work-experience-wise, mas maraming nagagawa front-end developer or designer kumpara sa backend. Sobra. Kung wala kang pakialam sa legalities, benefits, taxes, etc. lalo na't sa 2018 may bagong tax rule lol, best place to hone your skills.
6: Kung a-apply ka as backend, prepare to be a full-stack developer. Prone maubusan ng tasks ang backend. Kapag wala kang tasks sa mga projects or clients, prone ka pa ring mapagalitan kasi 'di wala ka ngang tasks.
7: Prone ka maging full-stack. Ewan ko kung bakit 'di sila nag-o-offer ng job position as full stack, eh yung mga front-end at backend, parang full stack na rin eh.
8: Libreng lodging pala. Unless na badtrip yung boss mo sa iyo. Like you know? As simple as dahil wala ka ngang tasks. Pwede kang paalisin doon office / tulugan.
9: Emotionally driven yung boss. Good employee ka kung wala kang ni-r-raise na issues sa top management. Most of the time, laging may issues.
10: Some issues encountered: delayed sweldo, maling sweldo, kulang na sweldo, walang na remit na benefits, unnecessary pagalit, etc.
11: From time to time, ma-e-encounter mo na sasabihin ka na "your work is ****" or something along those lines ng boss mo. Nung tinanong ko boss namin tungkol sa pag-critique niya ng mga trabaho namin, sagot lang niya ay "They just misinterpreted me." So by the off-chance na medyo harsh yung critique ng boss mo sa iyo, i-clarify mo lang, sabihin mo lang na misinterpreted mo siya, pakiulit kamo. lol
12: In line sa pag-critique ng boss: hindi consistent lahat.. So good luck diyan. Halibawa, bibigyan ka ng template na dapat mong sundin at gawin. Tapos once na nagawa mo na, upon submission, sasabihin niya na mali. Tapos bibigyan ka ng ibang template. Tapos sasabihin na 'yan dapat yung ginawa mo. Saya.
13: Sinungaling si Boss. Pati sa mga clients. Para sa akin. Nakakahiya. Andaming instances na nagsinungaling sa harap ko at namin. Tapos parang wala lang sa kanya. So in case na gaguhin ka ni Boss tapos base yung mga sinasabi niya sa kasinungaling, mag-ingat kung i-c-call out mo siya. Kung keri mo i-defend mo sarili mo, laban lang. Kung 'di pasok sa tenga, labas sa kabila.
13a: Feel ko 'di ka pwede dito kung magaling memoriya mo. Kasi madalas 'di maalala ni Boss sinasabi niya. So you can expect a lot of inconsistencies and lies from the boss. Tapos kapag magp-point out ka, sasabihin niyang 'di mo sinabi.
14: Kapag babae ka, mag-ingat kapag pinapunta ka sa bahay nila. Usually magpapa-meeting si boss sa bahay niya, kahit meron o available naman yung meeting room sa 2nd floor ng office. A past encounter kung saan nung may ilang babae na pinapunta sa bahay ni boss, naka-bath-towel at half naked lang yung boss. Tapos parang wala lang sa boss. So in case na sensitive ka na babae, or lalake, mag-ingat lang kapag pinapapunta ka sa bahay niya. Lalo na't kung konti lang kayo at all girls. Mas lalo na kung ikaw lang mag-isa.
15: More on top management:
Boss: male foreigner, akala ko siya CEO.. hindi pala daw. Managing Director lang pala all this time.
Boss' wife: nagstart maging CEO nung August 1 of 2017. Out of nowhere lang. Pero si Boss pa rin talaga yung Boss.
Boss' father: chill at siya ang mas may sense kumpara sa anak niya. Kaso lang medyo limited or konti yung role niya.
16: HR: Kung wala kang problema sa not-fully equipped at magaling na HR. Sure, go lang. Mga bagay na 15-30 minutes gawin, napapaabot ng 2 buwan. Mahirap kasi magprint ng Certificate of Employment eh. Sa akin nga nag-antay ako ng 1 week. Tapos pagdating ko, para kunin, i-p-print pa lang. Nahanda na raw, my ***. Tapos mali pa COE ko. Napabago ko naman agad.. Pero after 30 minutes or less, nakuha ko agad yung updated.. Sus, sayang one week na "pag-antay". Ganun HR. Madalas laging delays. Lahat ng mga akala mong handa na, most of the time, i-hahanda pa lang pagdating mo.
17: Tamad gumawa ng memo. Wala kang depensa sa DOLE or kung saan man, kung nayari ka sa sweldo mo. Last November 2, alam naming lahat na may pasok nun. Regular work day. Pero sabi ng top management na ok na raw na 'di kami pumasok kasi All Souls' Day, more time to spend with the family. Tapos bayad naman yung araw na yun. Kaso yun nga. Walang memo ang na-print at na signed. A few days before sweldo time, binawi nila yung Nov.2 na paid day. "Sorry" daw. 'Di raw nila alam na regular working day ang November 2. Yes. Nung nagkameeting kami tungkol diyan. "Sorry" lang talaga nabigay sa amin. Ugh.
18: Walang alam sa holidays ang HR pati ang Top Management. So yup, parang may trabaho ka pa para malaman kung may pasok ba, or regular holiday or special non-working holiday ba, etc. Kahit yung schedule ng mga regular holidays for the next year ay posted na as early as the current year. Marami rin akong instances na mali yung mga holiday pay na nakukuha namin.
19: Overtime pay. May isa kaming employee na around php4000 worth ng overtime ang 'di binyaran kasi nakakalimutan asikasuhin. So yun. Ingat. Also, alamin kung paano mag-compute ng overtime pay. It's hourly pay x total number of overtime hours in cutoff period x 1.25. Kasi, yup. May instances na magkakamalit overtime pay mo.. like kulang. As well as baka magka undertime ka out of nowhere or maling undertime.
20: Number of staff is around 10+ or less. 18 ata maximum, hindi kasama top managment.
21: Billable crap. Una sa lahat. Susweldo ka base sa attendance mo. Pero meron silang tinatawag na Billable system. Bale araw-araw dapat kailangan mong i-log sa timekeeper mo yung mga ginawa mo. Dapat magka 7hours and 30 minutes minimum kang total sa timekeeper tapos lahat yun billable. Billable yung gawa mo kapag para sa client. Basically parang ganun. 'Di ka naman DAPAT makaltasan sa sweldo mo kapag 'di mo na reach yung 7.5 hours na billable. Pero sa billable hours kumikita yung company. So expect na mapagsabihan ka ng boss mo kapag konti billable hours mo.. Kahit yung situation mo at that time ay wala kang tasks at all... Yah.. Mukhang pera talaga si Boss. haha
22: Expect na mapagalitan kapag nag-s-self study ka sa free time mo sa office. Free time like, wala kang tasks sa mga projects or clients. Kasi non-bill ang pag self study.
23: Again, good employee ka raw kapag wala kang ni-r-raise na issue sa company o top management. Like maling sweldo, kulang na sweldo, walang benefits na na-remit etc. Kasi sabi ni Boss, nung isa sa mga pag-uusap namin, "the employee is a good employee if they are not causing trouble to me"
24: Kung ikaw yung tipong may mindset na "clients first" sa pagtrabaho, dahil sa billable scheme na yan, magkakatendency ka na gumawa or pagawain ng trabaho na hindi naman hinihinigi ni client. For the sake na mataas ang billable hours, therefore malaki ang charge kay client. Hindi anonymous name ang ibibigay mo kapag nag-c-communicate ka kay client. Pero si Boss, most of the time iwas sa trabaho. Sure, papagawain ka niya ng mga "billable" tasks na hindi hinihingi ni client, pero kapag nagalit si client sa next invoice na makukuha niya, pwedeng idahilan lang ng Boss na kasalanan mo at ng ibang devs kasi sila naman yung nag-l-log ng billable work sa timekeeper. Basically loss-loss ka to some extent.
Add unnecessary billable hours = happy boss kasi makakuha ng maraming pera kapag nagbayad si client + tendency na magalit si client
Don't add unnecessary billable hours = happy si client kasi binabayaran lang niya yung dapat bayaran + mapapa-beast mode si Boss kasi you're not making him more money.
Bonus: Finally, best quotes from boss
a: "You're here to make me money"
b: "You work here to make me money"
c: "I don't know why employees are leaving me.", sinasabi sa mga ini-interview niya na applicants. Most reasoning ng mga umaalis sa amin ay dahil sa ugali ni Boss.. so yah. Ewan
Other summary:
1: Not the best place for career growth if you're a backend developer UNLESS you're the only backend developer there. Or just my experience.. I started with the skills I used in the company, being the same when I left. Like if I was level 2, I was still level 2 when I resigned.
2: Best place for career growth if you want it to be out of nowhere. For example: If you're a backend developer, you might become a Designer or a Project Manager / HR assistant out of nowhere. Or, if you're a backend or frontend developers, both of which are in line in web development, you might be assigned as Game Designers / Developers out of nowhere. Note: Starfish is not a Game Design / Development company.
3: Don't expect salary increases.
4: If you happen to get a salary increase don't expect much.
5: You can expect to get your salary increase after your acceptance of the job + before you start working on your first day. For example, you have the base salary of php22,000. On your regularization or after your first year, they can reason out that they can't give you a salary increase because you already got it.
6: Mandatory benefits aren't being taken care of responsibly by the HR.
7: Boss stated that Starfish, as well as other companies that have an incompetent top management / HR, is a normal and standard company. He's not joking. He said it with confidence and claimed because I only have a few years on my working experience while he has a decade or more. If you happen to be someone who is good with logic or rationality or rationale, then this company is not for you.
Anyway, kung meron kayong mga tanong sa company. Feel free to ask lang. :)
The company is bad. Specifically, the Boss and his wife or just mainly the boss, as well as the HR. But the staff are one of the friendliest out there. Most, if not all of them, know that top management or the Boss is **** or a piece of crap, but they simply said that they were there for the "work experience" to put in into their resumes, or for allowances.
If you really mind that your salaries are always correct, and that you know that your deductions are being remitted, then this company is not for you. But if you don't mind wrong or delayed salaries, irresponsible remittance of your benefits, as well as the usual in companies: ugh bosses, then give this company a try.
You'll also be forced to hone your English speaking and writing skills because not only is the Boss an English speaking foreigner, but most, clients you have are foreigners.
So if you're considering this company, good luck. :D