This article is adapted from a Titansoft internal career sharing series.
Graduation season marks a major turning point. Fresh graduates leave campus and step into the working world, often with excitement, but also plenty of uncertainty. As graduation approaches, it’s natural to worry about the transition from school to work, and the challenges of leaving your comfort zone behind.
What skills do fresh graduates really need when job hunting? And what should you pay attention to when you first enter the workplace to truly “grow up”? Let’s take a look at Sam’s story, a young software engineer from Malaysia.
From Malaysia to Taiwan: “Proactively” Shaping His Path at Titansoft
Sam, now a Software Developer at Titansoft, has loved creating things since he was young. In high school, he interned at his friend’s father’s company, which was his first exposure to the world of programming. While he didn’t yet have a strong technical foundation at the time, seeing the life of a developer was eye-opening and inspired him to pursue this career path.
“Being able to create things through code must be very interesting!” With this thought in mind, he chose to major in Information Management when entering university.
“I spent six years in Taiwan for my undergraduate and graduate studies, and I really like the environment here. On top of that, the information technology industry offers more opportunities and is more competitive, which suits my love for challenges.”
At this point, many might feel that having the kind of certainty Sam had about his goals is truly fortunate. However, during the transition from campus to the workplace, he didn’t slow down his job search because of it. Instead, Sam became even more proactive, seizing every possible opportunity. For example, after attending a sharing from Titansoft at a campus event during graduate school, he kept an eye on campus recruitment opportunities and took the initiative to approach the booth to ask the company’s HR about open positions. It was exactly this proactive attitude that opened a new chapter in his career.
When asked about his most memorable interview experience, Sam laughed and said, “The meeting room I was brought into had bean bags on the floor as well as tables and chairs. I asked the receptionist where I should sit, and they said anywhere was fine, so I sat on a bean bag to wait. Unexpectedly, when the two interviewers came in, they sat on the bean bags with me. It felt less like an interview and more like chatting with friends!”
That day, Sam was dressed in a full suit. One of the interviewers joked, “You don’t need to dress like this here. I hope the next time I see you in a suit is at your wedding.” And just like that, Sam joined Titansoft.
A Soft Skills Survival Guide for Fresh Graduates: Every Skill Matters
Fresh graduates like Sam, who have just entered the workforce, are often the ones who most strongly feel the gap between what they learned in school and the realities of the workplace. While actively building technical “hard skills” is important, being able to demonstrate workplace “soft skills” at the right moments can be invaluable, not only during the job search, but also throughout your first role.
1️⃣ Passion Is What Fuels Motivation
Sam recalled: “In university, many of my classmates didn’t actually enjoy coding. But by their third or fourth year, they started preparing for graduate school entrance exams. I found that puzzling. If you don’t like this field, how can you continue studying it? Their reasons were often that engineering jobs offer better pay and broader career prospects. I understand and respect that, but I genuinely enjoy coding.”
Only by understanding what you truly enjoy will you have the motivation to face the challenges you encounter. Otherwise, it’s easy to feel like giving up when facing setbacks. Transitioning from school to a career gave Sam a deeper appreciation on why loving what you do actually matters.
“For example, even though we have flexible working hours and can freely arrange our own schedules, there are times when we need to push hard to meet a product launch deadline. If the Product Owner tells us a feature is critical and we agree, we’ll commit to it together and see it through.”
In moments like these, passion becomes the driving force that sustains everything.
2️⃣ Communication is the Most Fundamental Skill
Because Titansoft adopts the Scrum framework, daily work involves a high level of communication and collaboration. Product development is team-based, and pair programming is often part of the process. Whether working with other teams, engineers from different departments, or colleagues with different responsibilities, strong communication skills are essential.
Beyond work coordination, good communication also plays a key role in shaping team culture. Nicknamed the team’s “resident jokester,” Sam shared, “I like seeing people smile. A cheerful atmosphere makes work and meetings more enjoyable. Honestly, I think everyone on our team enjoys joking around; it’s just that the switch isn’t always turned on. I’m usually the one who turns it on so everyone can feel more at ease with each other.”
3️⃣ From Input to Output
Student life is a time for absorbing large amounts of knowledge. Once you enter the workforce, the challenge is learning how to turn that accumulated knowledge into real output. Every year, Titansoft recruits interns and pairs them with experienced employees who serve as mentors. By running real Scrum projects, interns are guided through the full product development process.
Sam took part in the program as a ScrumMaster, transforming what he had learned into hands-on guidance for the interns. The experience brought him an unexpected sense of confidence and achievement.
“I was the most junior person on the team, and everyone else had stronger technical skills than I did,” Sam shared. “But mentoring interns gave me the chance to teach others. Watching them grow from knowing nothing to being able to host meetings on their own was incredibly fulfilling.”
The experience also led Sam to reflect on himself. He realised that the reminders he gave interns were often things he neglected himself, which prompted him to take a closer look at his own way of working.
“Even though I’m still the most junior when I return to my team, I’ve started thinking more about what value I can bring and what changes I can help create.”
Don’t Stop Overcoming Yourself: Never Stop Improving!
Sam’s story shows that graduating from school and entering the workforce isn’t the end of one’s learning journey, it’s the beginning of a brand-new chapter in a different stage of life. In the workplace, what matters even more is the capacity for continuous learning.
“At our company, we’re encouraged to try many different things. For example, our team has a Peer Review system. Your teammates will tell you what they expect from you. In my case, they might suggest learning a certain technology or diving deeper into it. That kind of feedback motivates me to learn, and in the process, it opens up an entirely new world of technology.”
Just like Titansoft’s Never Stop Improving spirit of constantly challenging oneself, learning should become part of everyday life. Whether you’re a fresh graduate or an experienced professional, embracing this mindset allows you to keep moving forward, continuously growing and improving.
T.8ytes by Titansoft 