“Career Exploration in English”：Promoting Academic-Industry Communication and Broadening Students’ Horizons
To build a bilingual university, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) established the Office of Bilingual Education (OBE) in 2021 and started to promote EMI（English Medium Instruction）courses this semester to enhance student’s English proficiency and international competitiveness. On 18 March, one of the EMI courses, “Career Exploration in English,” invited Patrick Hafenstein, the Commissioner of Trade and Investment Queensland Office (TIQ) in Taiwan to share business trade and investment relationships between Taiwan and Australia.
Mr. Hafenstein mentioned that Queensland government is the only state government in Australia to open an office in Taiwan due to the strong connection between Queensland and Taiwan. Their jobs are to connect Queensland companies with Taiwanese corporations and help investors find business opportunities between the two places.
Queensland and Taiwan have business relationships in many fields, agriculture, catering, education, sports, finance, tourism, and culture, etc. In agriculture, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Taiwan Council of Agriculture collaborated and shared the technology of growing Taiwanese lychees and bananas in Queensland.
In education, Queensland is a popular destination for Taiwanese students. There are thousands of students studying in Queensland each year, and Queensland has offered scholarships to Taiwanese students since 2011. Besides, one Taiwanese private high school decided to offer Queensland public-school curriculum in 2019. Students graduated from this school can apply for Australian universities without taking other examinations.
After the speech, students asked about the skills required in order to be an intern in TIQ. Mr. Hafenstein said the most important ability would be English speaking and market researching skills. Interns have to find potential market opportunities in Taiwan for Australian companies and give an overview report of the marketplace. There are many fields for interns to work on, so students from different departments can all try to apply for this position.
Mr. Hafenstein also had a discussion with Chiou-lan Chern, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, and Chun-Chi Lin, Vice President for International Affairs about future opportunities of academic exchange between NTNU and Australian universities. Also, “Career Exploration in English” will invite more speakers from other organizations, including Executive Plus Consulting, British Council, ASML, and TSMC in upcoming classes to share their job experiences and interview skills. Students will also visit American Insititute in Taiwan (AIT) and Foundation for Scholarly Exchange, Fulbright Taiwan (FSE) to explore international workplace and future career paths.