A science programme focused on telecom talent development and careers featured Hou Mingjuan, global vice president of Qualcomm, and Ai Bo, dean of the School of Electronic and Information Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University, offering practical guidance to people entering the workforce.
Both built careers on a willingness to try and to break through – Hou moved into telecom from a media background, while Ai’s path ran through military academy discipline. Their career confidence grew from those experiences.
Hou’s tip for newcomers: keep learning to keep up with a fast-moving industry, make learning a habit, and find pleasure in it. Ai’s three keywords are passion, persistence and stamina – scientific research is mental work and physical work, and the endurance built in his academy years carried him through his studies.
A gap of eight million
A China Academy of Information and Communications Technology projection puts China’s 5G talent gap at eight million by 2030 – and both experts argue even that figure understates demand.
So what do leading telecom companies look for? First, says Hou, integrity: whatever the job, the person should be honest. Second, inner drive and resilience. Flexible work arrangements, she notes, demand strong self-management: ‘If you think you work more efficiently at home, work at home – but that flexibility requires you to manage yourself.’
Matching a candidate’s specialism or experience to the role is only one consideration; learning ability is the key indicator.
Young people entering telecom will meet interesting people and ideas, but the field rewards patience: every successful company went through a long accumulation phase. Telecom offers great scope, but achievement takes years – if you can resist restlessness and settle down, you will grow into an expert in some domain.
Ai adds that a famous school is not a hard requirement. In an industry that improves daily, never lose the raw drive to learn, and be good at teamwork: 5G innovation talent needs cross-disciplinary breadth and collaborative skill.
How universities scout talent
Universities look for three types, Ai says: strategic scientists who can set the direction of a discipline and drive it forward; strong mid-career leaders who can develop younger people; and young researchers with results and potential. This tiered structure is what sustains academic succession.
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