Carefully reviewing recruitment fliers from some 200 companies yesterday at a job fair on the National Taiwan University campus, Eric Chang (
But one thing is certain -- Chang hopes he will get a career payoff for foregoing his previous plan to pursue a master degree.
"Before thinking of taking advanced programs, I have to know what kind of professionals those high-tech companies really want," Chang said yesterday.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chang is looking for a software engineer position and hopes he'll get one from the university's annual job fair.
Getting a junior job in the high-tech sector has become the first step for Chang -- a 25-year-old who will finish his two-year military service next month -- and many of his peers as the nation's employment market heats up and companies step up hiring in recent months.
The jobless rate in January fell to 4.53 percent from 4.58 percent in December, hitting the lowest monthly jobless rate since June 2001, when it was 4.51 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported last week.
Some 200 companies -- nearly 90 percent of them in the electronics sector -- joined yesterday's event, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
According to the nation's largest online job bank, 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行), semiconductors, opto-electronics and computer-related electronics sectors top the list of those having most aggressive recruitment plans.
"The recent aggressive recruiting efforts by Hsinchu-based companies haven't been seen in the past four years," said Monica Chiu (
UMC, the world's second-largest made-to-order chipmaker, is planning to more than double its hiring this year to 2,500 engineers, said Steven Lwo (
"An economic turnaround is the major reason for the increase as demand for consumer-electronics products such as digital cameras and handsets surges. And we need more people to develop new chips," Lwo said.
At UMC's booth, the company displayed a short film featuring the life of its engineers. The company hopes its novel approach will attract jobseekers who otherwise might be attracted by the booming flat-panel industry.
AU Optronics Corp (
Innolux Display Corp (
Asked if the year-old company feels pressure to fill such a large number of jobs, Huang admitted that "we did have to use better terms, such as stock options, to attract talent be cause Innolux is still a no-name player for people outside the industry."
Innolux is in desperate need of all kinds of engineers in order to meet is schedule of installing the machinery equipment for its advanced fifth-generation fab in Hsinchu in late May, Huang said.
Handset newcomer Chi Mei Communication Systems Inc (奇美通訊), an affiliate of Chi Mei Opto-electronics, is also in urgent need of engineers and research people.
"We don't set a specific goal. We'll hire as many as we can get," said Josephine Wu (
Eyeing the better-than-expected job opportunities, Huang Jui-pin (
"There are so many opportunities out there. I've learned lesson that you cannot let any opportunity slip away," said Huang, who was forced to return to school in 2000, when it became difficult for college graduates to land a well-paying job amid the worldwide recession.
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