On 22nd November 2022, the Office of Career Development organized a virtual sharing on the topic “Find your dream job without using recruitment platforms like 104”. This time, we have invited Mr. Cheng-Yu Yang, Editor of The News Lens, Founder-cum-CEO of Mutahead, and the Executive Committee members of the National Sun Yat-sen University (Taipei), to share more about his career and how students can look out for their dream job without using recruitment platforms.
Kick-starting his sharing with a quick introduction of himself, Cheng-Yu then followed up with an article that he found on the recruitment platform, 104, showing the top 10 jobs trend in 2021. Through this list, we are able to identify the commonality of the top 10 jobs: They all belong to the technology industry. Recalling the period of his graduation, during that time, many of his classmates were eager to look out for jobs in the materials or biotechnology industry. However, many of such popular industries would eventually fade out and be replaced by the next “in” thing. As such, when looking for jobs, one should consider their interest rather than focusing on popularity.
When talking about interests, the worries of many students, especially the graduates-to-be, should be what kind of jobs they should find once they graduate. Some of the students may even go one step further and think about whether the current program that they are enrolled in is related to the job that they would wish to do in the future. So, what happens if you are enrolled in a program that you dislike? What can you do? Regarding this, Cheng-Yu candidly shared his personal experience with the students. As a chemistry major during his bachelor’s degree, there came a point when he felt that he has no passion for chemistry-related jobs. Reflecting on this, he decided to branch out and take up classes from the other departments, such as business management and economics, which later turned out to be something of his interest. So, when you are stuck in the same predicament, you should consider venturing out into new areas and see if that would be something that you would be interested in. Be brave and keep an open mind!
When he was studying for his MBA, apart from equipping himself with management-related knowledge in class, he also made good use of his free time by looking for internship opportunities. During his search, he advised students to be more active and approach the HR or the NSYSU alumni and asked if there are any internship opportunities. This would help to save you time and you can focus on things that would bring you value. Apart from the NSYSU website where you can search for the alumni’s information, you can also consider other platforms like LinkedIn to find out more.
In the second half of his sharing, Cheng-Yu shared that “sometimes, you will only know whether your dream job is your ideal job after you get your hands dirty. In a job, typically it would contain elements that you enjoy and things that you dislike”. So, what if you realized that what you are doing does not align with your passion? When you encounter such a situation, the best thing you could do is reach out to your manager and request for job rotation opportunity or participation in projects that would interest you. If both requests failed, you can then consider looking out for other job opportunities that suit you more.
Toward the end of the sharing, Cheng-Yu addressed the questions that were raised by the students throughout the event. One of the questions was related to dealing with parents who are against the idea of taking up courses from the other departments. Cheng-Yu shared that to convince them, it is important for you to come up with a detailed plan on why you are making such a move, and what you intend to achieve in the future. This will give a certain level of assurance to your parents that you are not simply “fooling around”, but instead, have already thought this through.
As for the question of how one can manage their managers, Cheng-Yu shared that apart from doing your job well, it is imperative to build a positive relationship with your colleagues and managers. Even simple chit-chat during the break time can have a significant impact. Once you managed to build a relationship with your colleagues and managers, you will realize that your work will start to get smoother, and you would also start to receive many opportunities to work on different projects.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Cheng-Yu for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us for the sharing. If you are keen to learn more from Cheng-Yu, you can reach him through the channels below:
Facebook： https://www.facebook.com/jswlm55/
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/learning_sheep/
Email：jswlm55@gmail.com
(Contributed by GHRM Yongfeng Teo/ Edited by International Relations and Accreditation Office)