Career Development Session held at the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium
The Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium organized a series of career development information presentations for young scholars from Taiwan, most currently at universities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The presentations, held on April 12, attracted 36 participants and provided advice about the job-seeking process, networking opportunities, and details of a wide range of career development related programs they could apply for.
Representative Roy Chun Lee 李淳 welcomed the participants and encouraged them to explore all kinds of possible ways to develop their careers, build robust networks, and put their knowledge and skills to good use to make meaningful contributions. He also urged them to serve as cultural ambassadors, promoting greater awareness of Taiwan to a wider audience.
Lin Ya-Ting林雅婷, Secretary at the Education Division then gave a presentation on the Yushan Fellow Program and the Yushan Young Fellow Program. These are Ministry of Education programs designed to attract world-class scholars to work and conduct research in universities in Taiwan by offering internationally competitive salaries and other benefits. Secretary Lin explained the many benefits available, the eligibility criteria, and application procedures. She addressed concerns that participants expressed about the programs’ eligibility criteria being very restrictive, saying that some applicants who were not selected might still be eligible to be employed by a university and receive a flexible salary and other subsidies.
Shiu Limei 許莉美, Director of the Economic Affairs Division, gave the next presentation, on Contact TAIWAN. This is an online platform of the Ministry of Economic Affairs designed to serve both job-seekers and companies in Taiwan looking for suitably skilled professionals. It provides tailored job-matching services, personalized consulting, and comprehensive information about Taiwan's recruitment policies. The Ministry also organizes recruitment events in Taiwan and overseas to aid Taiwanese companies attract highly skilled professionals, and Director Shiu pointed out that many companies maintain overseas branches, so the participants can also use the Contact TAIWAN platform to explore international work opportunities.
Professor Chou Ying-Chyi周瑛琪,Director of the Science and Technology Division then talked about several programs offered by the National Science and Technology Council, including the Columbus Program, the Ministry of Science and Technology Overseas Project for Postgraduate Research, and the High-Level Industrial Professionals Cultivation Program. These are all designed to attract and recruit exceptional scholars in the early stages of their research careers in science and technology fields to undertake research and development work in Taiwan. They can make a critical contribution to Taiwan’s international collaborations and global research excellence, and sustainable industry development. He gave details of the abundant research resources associated with the programs and the application procedures.
Following these presentations, three speakers talked about their experiences, good and bad, looking for work and then working in Belgium and the Netherlands. The topics covered were: personal experience job-seeking in the Netherlands, current semiconductor research work and developments in Belgium, and my journey stepping into the job market looking for work in Belgium.
The participants found the wide range of information provided at the career development session extremely useful.
