things i wish i knew before taking a graduate study in taiwan
as i’m closing this graduate study chapter, i looked back 2 years today i was on my last week working at my previous company. my arrival to Taiwan was very abrupt. i got an info about this scholarship through mouth to mouth. and we just decided to try applying the scholarship and finally i got it. then i quickly decided to resign my job. okay now at this point, you may not understand why i‘m telling you this.
i’m now in the process of finding a job in Taiwan. while i prevously was a UX Designer, my research during my graduate study was about AI, at least i was back to my computer science roots. so the roles that i’m looking for is also AI engineers. i’m telling you, it’s hard. for more stories about finding a job in Taiwan, i think you should just read my other blog post.
i’m switching to AI engineer roles because i just don‘t think i have the shot in UX design again because of the language. i’m not fluent in Chinese, and thats my 缺點. so, here are some of the things i wish i knew before doing a graduate study.
disclaimer: i’m a very calculated person, therefore the things that i calculate may be too exaggerating for other people, but at least it’s my experience.
the country
when picking a country that you want to go, you may need to research the industry that’s hot in that country. for example, in Taiwan the hottest industry is the semiconductor, so people from electrical engineering, chemical engineering, material science, usually secure jobs pretty easily. that being said, i’m not saying that other majors will not have a great job, but i think it’s a nice-to-do to research a little bit about your prospects in that country. for me, i didnt really think about it, because my objective was only to move out from indonesia. and i was also pushed by my family do to it.
at first i was still keen to find ux design jobs but then i realized maybe it was the wrong move, especially that i’m not even fluent in mandarin. and once i get more ai engineer invitations, i just stopped looking for ux design jobs.
the language
still connected to the previous point, i think language is really important especially when you want to immerse yourself in a country for a long time. i think i said it 10 times and probably the readers are bored, but when you step in another place, where you are the ‘stranger’, you should be the one to adapt, not the locals adapting to ‘your needs’.
i stepped my foot in Taiwan for the first time, i couldn‘t speak at all. i didnt even do s simple duolingo before coming to Taiwan, because as i said the decision was very quick, that i had no time to study mandarin.
when you’re able to speak the language, locals will want to 相處 with you, help you, you get info, you get connections, it just opens a lot of things especially when you want to navigate your new life here.
the university, your advisor
the reputation of your university and your advisor may also play a part in your future career. i’ve seen a lot of my friends secured jobs because of their professor’s connections to the industry. they usually start with internships first, but to get the internship itself is quite hard. everyone starts at the same level, but not everyone gets that chance easily. so when you have an internship here, it just builds up your resume perfectly.
when i arrived in ntust, i did not know a single person. i’m also a shy person so i dont make friends a lot. theres not a single person i know from my indonesian university, but, everyone else seemed to already have friends before arriving here. i was also very late in finding advisor that i thought it would be more polite if i asked them after i arrived in taiwan. turned out everyone just emailed professors from their home country.
my suggestion would be to try talk to seniors and ask about the bits and bobs of the university, which advisors i should seek, etc. some professors are very academic and their focus is in research, publications. but some of professors are very good industry partners. i just know about this like 2 years after studying lol. the professor that you seek should be aligned with your future goal. do you wanna work in a company after graduation or do you wanna do PhD? that you should ask yourself.
headstart
if you wanna taste the graduate study or the life in a certain country before really taking the graduate program, i suggest you to do an internship. in Taiwan, they have this TEEP program, where bachelor students just go here and do internship for like 3 months. in this duration of time, you can try to see whether you like the country, you like the uni environment, you like the people, you like the research, you like the professor, etc. if you dont like it, great that was only a few months. but if you like it, great now you have seniors that you can gain information from, you can have professor’s recommendation, basically you can plan your study strategically. at least not with 0 knowledge. also you will have old friends when you start the study here so you’re not figuring out everything by yourself.
for me, i did not have this internship prior to my study in Taiwan. but there are many of my friends who started as interns first, so they already had visions and strategies when they started the study. like what major to pick, which professor aligns with their research and future goals, etc.
some people may have the mindset of “just start first, you can figure it out a long the way”. that’s true, apparently that’s what my case is now. but if i could be more prepared, i would defnintely pay attention to those things above. i don’t regret anything (not that it’s going to be useful anyway), of course what i did back then was the best decision at that time, and there’s no way to change it. what i can only do is focus on what’s coming next.
i hope this will be useful for people who want to move abroad and continue their study. if you want to ask me questions about it, please do so! especially if you have no one to ask, i definitely know how that feels and i would want to help you as much as i could.
talk soon,
indira