Taipei, April 20 (CNA) Developing character and the appropriate personal values of students and employees is important in both university education and business, representatives from universities and local corporations said Thursday.
"For National Taiwan University (NTU), developing personal values through a whole-person education is one of our priorities, " said Joyce Feng, Dean of NTU's Student Affairs Division, in a press conference held to announce the survey results of local businesses' school preference in hiring fresh graduates.
"Of the three key components we look for in an employee, we think character is even more important than soft skills, which means communication skills, and hard skills -- the domain of knowledge, " said Kuo Keng-tsung, special assistant to the president of Mediatek Inc.
"We don't expect employees to change their character to accommodate the company. On the contrary, we look to place employees in the most suitable positions for them, " Kuo added.
In the days of "knowledge explosion" and "chaotic" values, professional knowledge is no longer the most important segment in business hiring and college education, they agreed, which is why NTU has declared its core elements of "TAIDA" -- teamwork, accountability, integrity, diligence and ambition/vision, Feng said.
Mediatek Inc. also looks for six characteristics it calls "TICTIC, " in its employees -- trust, integrity, courage, teamwork, innovation and continuous learning.
"People can always learn because learning takes a lifetime. We believe, however, that once the character is shaped, it's hard to change," Kuo said.
"Even today, the key to success for a person or corporation still lies in the fundamentals," Kuo said.