Honza, our former student of the GHRM-MBA program at the College of Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU), has embarked on an extraordinary journey that bridges continents and cultures. His experiences, from studying in Taiwan to his current position as a headhunter in the Czech Republic, will offer valuable insights for every student in the Management department.

Honza's decision to pursue his MBA at NSYSU was driven by the desire of a European soul, wanting to have more adventure and personal growth. Reflecting on his time in Taiwan, he describes it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse himself in a new country and culture. Despite having previous experience with international exchanges and summer schools, Honza found the two years spent at NSYSU to be transformative.

During his studies, Honza embraced every opportunity for personal and professional development. He actively engaged in student associations (SA) and had an amazing experience with his SA team. He also took on teaching assistant (TA) roles and taught English during the heavy of the schoolwork, and preparing for his thesis. Honza also joined the internship program of ZOOYL Ltd. remotely. Here, he was responsible for social media content creation and administration, campaign proposals, and customer experience. He built the fan page from scratch and in 2023 he mentored at the “Amazon Accelerator Program 2023 South Region Group workshop” in Kaohsiung (Taiwan).  While these commitments sometimes meant sacrificing leisure time with friends, Honza believes that his dedication and preparation have ultimately paid off.

After graduating, Armed with his master's degree and a newfound sense of confidence, Honza dove headfirst into the job search. He updated his resume, highlighting his international experiences, language proficiency, and expertise in global HR strategies. Despite his qualifications, Honza faced challenges as his application could not go to hand of the recruitment. He came up to the agency to speed up the process. Unfortunately, they have a system to prioritize the needs of different positions in the job market, and HR is not one of them. Due to the plenty of HR applications sent in every day in all agencies in Czech, Honza waited for a while before realizing the situation. At that time, his family saw him go through a struggle and his father recommended that he try the recruitment consultant first. It was also not a smooth process since he got rejected in the first interview, and after they went through all of his papers again, The Grafton Recruitment company called him and gave him a shot. And Honza did show them what they saw from him and trusted him was valued.

Over the next five months, Honza immersed himself in his role at Grafton Recruitment, pouring his heart and soul into every task and interaction. Honza's role extends beyond traditional recruiting tasks. In addition to finding candidates and arranging interviews, he provides comprehensive support to three recruitment teams, including pre-screening interviews, onboarding, and report generation. He worked hard to improve the company's reputation while also providing benefits to customers. His dedication and unwavering work ethic didn't go unnoticed. And he was soon offered a promotion to join the HR department. Honza's vision in the new role is internal HR, where he plans to apply the knowledge and skills gained from his time at NSYSU. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and growth, acknowledging that his journey from student to professional is far from over.

From the experience he had when finding a job in the Czech and himself after working as a recruitment consultant, there is some valuable advice he had for any students who want to work in this dynamic job market. The company recruitment in Czech will not look at your grade or score to evaluate your ability. They are always seeking positive and active candidates. Honza shared his timeline in Taiwan during his interview, he mentioned the questions from the interviewer mostly about how he spent time in Taiwan, what activities he had joined, and how he handled the busy tasking schedule when he had an internship and assignment at school. Besides, Honza addressed the requirement of most companies in Czech that applicants should be fluent in at least two languages. From this, we can understand more about the job qualifications of this European country and also know which talents will fit into this working environment. All this experience is more precious and merit when we can know from Honza, and be able to share the joy with his new journey.

Honza's journey from NSYSU to a prominent role in recruitment serves as an inspiration to students in the Management department. His story underscores the value of seizing opportunities, embracing challenges, and maintaining a forward-thinking mindset. As Honza continues to chart his career path, he remains grateful for the foundation laid during his time at NSYSU, confident that it will continue to guide him toward future success.

(Written by Tran Anh Loan, International MBA Programs Student Association Vice President)