It's time for some straight talk about the human-resource dimension of Taiwan's economic development -- and to direct that conversation primarily to young people and to those who teach and guide them. What should today's high school and college students know about succeeding in the "flat world" so perceptively revealed in Thomas Friedman's bestselling book? What should one reply to the commonly asked question, "How should I prepare for my career?"
Friedman's book reminds us that such a question is now more difficult to answer because a large portion of today's college graduates will follow career paths that encompass several jobs, perhaps in substantially different fields. The pace of change in Taiwan's marketplace will continue to intensify as the manufacturing sector moves further upscale and especially as the service sector finally takes off.
As markets become more and more internationalized, competitive pressures will eliminate those enterprises that can't keep pace with customer demands. Businesses fail. Mergers happen. Product lines change. Business processes evolve. So expecting a job to last a lifetime is simply unrealistic.
How does one prepare for such a varied and unpredictable stream of careers, whether in Taiwan or elsewhere?
Business and educational leaders are calling on people to develop an "international mindset," but what does that mean to the young student across the table waiting for suggestions on career preparation? Ask the chief executive officers of multinational organizations to define the concept, and the chances are that the following items will be on their list of essential components.
English matters. Sorry, if you don't have it, you won't be international. Like it or not, English is the primary language of international business and education. And simple conversational English and a passing reading knowledge isn't enough.
English-language study has to be taken seriously, and it has to be reinforced by constant reading and writing. That doesn't mean other languages are unimportant, but the lingua franca that unites business people and professionals around the world is English.
Teamwork isn't just a concept; it's a way of life. Successful people know both how to lead and how to follow. There's a lot of talk these days about EQ (emotional quotient) being just as important as IQ, and it should not be taken lightly.
Teamwork is more than an attitude; as the word implies, it's hard and often frustrating work. It goes far beyond just being friendly with colleagues and keeping intra-office irritability at a minimum.
Teamwork means the subordination of a group of disparate people with differentiated skills to a common goal or mission. When it succeeds, it is due to the genuine strength that emerges from combined efforts, mutual support, shared opinions, and the exchange of constructive criticism.
Expect to pay your dues. The astute new graduate will willingly start low but aim high. Formal education at best provides sharp mental hooks that make it easier to quickly grasp and perform the job at hand. Far too many new graduates see a strong academic record as a passport to immediate leadership responsibility. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Positions of authority have to be earned.
On-the-job training is a necessary fact of life that takes time, patience, and a willingness to adjust to tedium, detail work and oftentimes to onerous tasks and difficult personalities. For those who don't bail out -- or break away too soon just to receive slightly higher pay someplace else -- the rewards can be substantial. Paying ones dues gets results.
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