The Office of Career Development (OCD) under the College of Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, organized an English Career Sharing event, An Opportunity of a Lifetime - Kickstart Your Overseas Career, on 9th December 2022. This allows local and international students to get acquainted with the working environment in different countries. The event was held at 73 Cafe that offers t exquisite vegetarian delicacies coupled with a spectacular ocean view. Over 30 students from various departments participated in the event. The event was graced by two guest speakers : Dr. Wanda Tseng, Visiting Scholar and Former Deputy Director of the  Asia Pacific Departmentt of the International Monetary Fund, and Mr. Bernhard Schnederle, Head of Business Development at UNIHA Wasser Technologies GmbH, to share their experiences regarding working overseas. We have also invited one of our alumni, Mr. Patrick Liu, Sales Product Manager at ASUS as the event’s emcee.

Both guest speakers focused on the theme of how one can work to become a cultural-adapt talent in a highly globalized world. Some of the common skillsets include critical thinking and effective verbal and written communication. Moreover, Dr. Wanda suggested that thorough  research should be done before problem analysis so that more feasible solutions could be proposed. For example, finding out more sources and evidence to support your argument in the discussion could heighten the efficiency of team communication. Being sure to thoroughly and clearly understand what you are searching for and systematically analyzing the information allows you to be able to provide more practical and apparopriate solutions. Such advice is helpful and can benefit students with all aspects of their life from classroom environment to workplace.

The event was followed by a Q&A session which offered the students a chance to interact with the speakers and clarify their doubts. The participants were fully engaged throughout the entire event, gaining insights from the guest speakers and emcee. One of the questions that was raised by the student was about how to communicate effectively in a team through verbal and written communication. With regard to this question, the guest speakers recommended that when speaking to another party, keep the message simple and concise. By giving clear instructions or messages, you could avoid many unnecessary works as a result of communication breakdowns.  As for written communication, similarly, keep it simple and go straight to the point. Make sure that you do not stray from your objective or use big words just to make you sound “impressive and smart”. Nobody likes to waste time digesting information that is irrelevant. You should also consider using eye-catching openings to capture your readers' attention.  Effective communication in a team can help to create a smooth and harmonious environment that increases the overall team’s performance.

The sharing benefited many of the students who participated in this event, such as familiarizing themselves with the international job market and the business environment. When working abroad, It is vital to learn about the country’s culture as it could reduce the possibility of getting into misunderstanding.  In addition, we should always cultivate strong adaptability and intercultural communication skills. To acquire such ability, it requires lifelong learning due to the rapidly changing culture in this global context. The Office of Career Development is looking forward to holding more events like this in the future, which we believe will benefit many students greatly. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Wanda, Mr. Bernhard, and Mr. Patrick for taking the time to join us for this event.