On the evening of May 2nd, the Silicon Valley chapter of the North America Taiwanese Engineers Association (NATEA) held its first online Career Meetup event of 2024, providing valuable insights and strategies for over 100 participants from various backgrounds.
Host YK HUANG mentioned that the NATEA Silicon Valley chapter was established in 1991 and organizes several major events each year. The event featured four young professionals from Silicon Valley sharing their career stories and how they navigated their paths in this challenging industry.
YK HUANG emphasized that the speakers were all Taiwanese professionals with diverse work experiences who had undergone significant career transitions, such as shifting geographical locations, industries, and job roles.
MING-HUI CHIU, an engineer who studied at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, shared her journey of graduating in 2018, doing a Post-doc at MIT in the U.S., moving to the Middle East, and eventually returning to work in the U.S.
PIN-YU KUO, a development manager, shared her experience of meeting Taiwanese entrepreneurs while serving as a club president, interning at Green Vine Life where she focused on network marketing and e-commerce sales, and eventually receiving an offer from an e-commerce startup in Shanghai. By proposing optimization methods for the e-commerce platform, she transitioned to a product manager role.
Justin Chiang, who worked as a Process Integration Engineer in the semiconductor industry, decided to seek solutions for the high-intensity job by self-learning Python and machine learning after work. Realizing the need for further education in the U.S. to master these skills, he quit his job to embark on a new journey.
TZU-LING (LING) CHEN, a materials engineer, shared her advice on succeeding in the industry. She emphasized the importance of understanding industry trends, topics discussed by industry experts, as well as the background and history of the industry to determine suitability and interest in pursuing a career in it. The forum’s interactive discussions and networking opportunities provided attendees with valuable insights and strategies. Networking sessions were also conducted post-event to foster connections among participants.