To have a job guaranteed to you upon graduation is to take as many certification exams as possible, according to most business and finance majors. One graduate student, Chiu Chao-hsian from the Graduate Institute of Insurance, for example, has intended to be qualified for 8 different certificates in the next two years. They are all insurance related ones and she is confident that her wish will be fulfilled as where there is a will, there is a way.

She maintains that she understood the importance of qualifying for professional certificates very early on when she was still a student at a junior college. Ever since then, she has been geared up by collecting the right information and talking to the right people. Today, she is very clear of what her goals are—an edge, she believes has derived form early preparation, will definitely put her ahead of other people.

Most of the departments in the College of Business have been pounding this message into the head of their students rather successfully. Students there have been urged to prepare for a subject of their specialty, which ideally should match the market demand. Not only the chances of passing the exam will be greater, but also the chances of being hired by major corporations. In short, professional certificates are tickets to success.

Another benefit, pointed out by Chiu, is the process of preparation, in fact. She reveals that as her preparation often requires her to look up the Internet to do in-depth market research, she is able to learn a lot more knowledge that is not provided by textbooks. Through this way, she feels she has become more savvy about the market and what she needs to do to be a “hot commodity”, pursued by potential employers. Finally, she reiterates her message to all students at TKU that early preparation is crucial in enhancing one’s marketability. So, do not hesitate and start now.

Chiu is not the only one who detects the pulse of the market. Lee Li-chiao, Cheng Wan-ru and Hsieh Schu-fen from the Executive Master’s Program of Business Adminstration in International Business, just to name a few, have several certificates under their belt as well. (~ Ying-hsueh Hu )