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NCKU grads top recruit list for 10th year: survey

Graduates from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) are those most sought by local corporations, according to the results of a poll released yesterday, the 10th consecutive year the public school has topped the poll.

The survey was conducted by Cheers (快樂工作人) magazine to explore the top 1,000 corporations' manpower recruitment plans and their school preferences.

The poll found that while NCKU, located in Tainan, leads the overall ratings in seven categories, National Taiwan University (NTU) ranks top in terms of producing graduates with leadership and global vision.

Tamkang University has the most sought-after graduates among private universities for the second consecutive year.

In the overall ratings, NTU graduates came in second, followed by those from National Chiao Tung University, National Tsinghua University and National Chengchi University.

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Taipei University of Technology, Tamkang University, National Sun Yat-sen University and Chung-yuan Christian University rounded out the top 10.

Among other findings, the survey shows that compared to five years ago, new graduates are better in terms of innovation, global vision and foreign language proficiency.

However, the new graduates are seen as worse than their predecessors in terms of stability, problem-solving ability, professional knowledge and teamwork.

According to the poll, 73.2 percent of the companies surveyed said they will recruit fresh university graduates this year, slightly down from last year's 79.8 percent.

The service industry has replaced the finance industry as the sector with the highest hiring intentions. 86.1 percent of the service industry businesses surveyed showed hiring intention this year.

Separately, developing character and the appropriate personal values of students and employees is important in both university education and business, representatives from universities and local corporations said Thursday.

"For National Taiwan University, developing personal values through a whole-person education is one of our priorities," said Joyce Feng (馮燕), dean of NTU's Student Affairs Division, in yesterday's press conference held to announce the magazine's survey results.

"Of the three key components we look for in an employee, we think character is even more important than soft skills, which means communication skills, and hard skills -- the domain of knowledge," said Kuo Keng-tsung, special assistant to the president of Mediatek Inc (聯發科).

"We don't expect employees to change their character to accommodate the company," Kuo said. "On the contrary, we look to place employees in the most suitable positions for them."

In the days of "knowledge explosion" and "chaotic" values, professional knowledge is no longer the most important segment in business hiring and college education, they agreed, which is why NTU has declared its core elements of "TAIDA" -- teamwork, accountability, integrity, diligence and ambition/vision, Feng said.

Mediatek also looks for six characteristics it calls "TICTIC" in its employees -- trust, integrity, courage, teamwork, innovation and continuous learning.

"People can always learn because learning takes a lifetime. We believe, however, that once the character is shaped, it's hard to change," Kuo said.

"Even today, the key to success for a person or corporation still lies in the fundamentals," Kuo said.

The Cheers survey polled 1,600 businesses from Feb. 17 to March 22 and received 370 responses.
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