TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's leading job board, 104 Job Bank, has launched a nationwide event called "Youth General Knowledge Class," inviting high-school and university students to create their own podcast episodes to gain industry experience and earn extra income.
Marketing director Chang Pao-ling said there are currently 25,000 job opportunities predominantly in the art design and print media sectors that evaluate potential candidates primarily on portfolio work—a trend that has grown by 44% over the past five years. Chang added that 80% of businesses recommend students gain corporate experience while studying, to get a competitive edge in job hunting.
The podcasting initiative is part of the job bank's response to this trend. It aims to help job seekers showcase their curatorial abilities and increase their competitiveness.
Jobs under categories like "Communication Art/Design" and "Print media" each demanded portfolios for 13.5% and 13% of their openings, respectively. Meanwhile, "Marketing/Planning/Project Management" required portfolios for 2.8% of positions. These three categories have the highest focus on portfolios.
Recently, job postings have started asking for portfolios from applicants for positions such as 3D animation designers, video game programmers, web front-end engineers, imaging jobs, architects, community editors, copywriters, word-of-mouth marketing writers, jewelry and precious metal technicians, art teachers, and planning editors.
According to a survey conducted by the 104 Job Bank, 64% of businesses advised students to take part-time jobs to broaden their perspective. Furthermore, 45.3% of businesses expected students to join clubs or teams to foster skills in interpersonal communication and leadership.
Aiming to create opportunities for students, 104 Job Bank's initiative encourages students throughout Taiwan to showcase their curation skills, build a portfolio of personal work, and ride the wave of the growing popularity of podcasts.
For more information about the initiative, please visit: https://portaly.cc/104youth.