It’s graduation time, so the Career Planning and Placement Section (CPPS) is planning a series of presentations and a job fair conducted by well known international firms in Taiwan for the next few weeks between 10/3 and 10/4. Nine presentations have been lined up in the first week already, delivered by companies such as Taishin Holdings and Microsoft Taiwan Corporation, who hope to recruit top talents to their respective field. These presentations serve as the warm-up for the job fair that will be held on next Wednesday (26/3).

Chen Ching-cheng, the head of CPPS explains the aim of these series of events is to allow the outgoing students to develop a real sense of the job market, particularly its current supply and demand situation. Based on which, students can prepare proactively what qualifications and certificates to get before leaving colleges. They should also consider internships for gathering vital experiences for “real jobs” at a later stage. Microsoft, for instance, is one of the companies in Taiwan that provides a well-organized program of internship that can last from a few weeks to a year, during which interns would attend further education programs and sales projects to gain first hand practical experiences. These experiences, Chen emphasizes, will be a valuable asset for future career development.

A case in point is the story of Guo Ze-wen, a senior from the Department of Information Management, who joined a one year internship at Microsoft last June. She beat over 2000 competitors after having passed a series of stringent interviews with her wit and charm to win this opportunity as a sales rep intern. In her nine months so far, she has been to various key clients of the company and attended different functions to promote and sell products with unapologetic bravado. Over the months she has made many friends, creating an important social network and invaluable work experiences. Most important, she asserted, is the positive work ethic she has picked up along the way. “This is definitely the best part of my college life,” she concluded. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )