How to Apply to Far Eastern New Century

9 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 1 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Apply through 104.com.tw for Taiwan-based roles — it is the de facto ATS for FENC and for most Taiwanese conglomerates.
  • FENC is the world's largest PET resin and polyester fiber producer; rPET (recycled PET) for Coca-Cola, Nike, and Adidas is the highest-growth, highest-priority hiring lane.
  • The Apple Grove, WV plant is a separate US hiring funnel — LinkedIn and English-format resumes, not 104.
  • Culture is hierarchical, formal, and long-tenure-oriented. Signal commitment, modesty, and language fluency.
  • Cross-strait (Taiwan/PRC) and Vietnam operating experience is a major differentiator, especially for plant-management and supply-chain roles.
  • The Management Associate (儲備幹部) program is the most prestigious new-grad entry path, running on an annual spring/summer cycle.
  • Bilingual fluency (Traditional Chinese plus English) is a baseline expectation for any role above plant operator.

About Far Eastern New Century

Far Eastern New Century Corporation (遠東新世紀, FENC; TWSE:1402) is the flagship industrial company of the Far Eastern Group, one of Taiwan's largest family-controlled conglomerates. Headquartered in Taipei with manufacturing footprints across Taiwan (the Kuanyin complex in Taoyuan and the Hsinpu site), Mainland China (Shanghai, Wuhan), Vietnam, Japan and the United States (the Apple Grove plant in West Virginia), FENC employs roughly 30,000 people across petrochemicals, polyester fiber, polymer films, and downstream textile and apparel businesses. The company is the world's largest producer of PET resin and one of the largest polyester fiber producers, and it has emerged as a global pioneer in recycled PET (rPET) — supplying brand owners including Coca-Cola, Nike and Adidas with bottle-to-bottle and bottle-to-fiber recycled material. The Apple Grove, WV facility is a high-profile rPET expansion serving the North American beverage market. FENC is governed by the Hsu family. The group was founded in 1942 by the late Hsu Yu-ziang and is currently chaired by Douglas Tong Hsu (徐旭東). The next generation is visible in operating leadership: Yu-Hsiu Hsu (徐國安/Catherine), Douglas's daughter, has taken on Vice Chair responsibilities and is broadly understood as part of the long-term succession plan. Beyond FENC itself, the broader Far Eastern Group includes Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), Far Eastern Department Stores (FEDS, including SOGO and Mega City), Asia Cement, U-Ming Marine Transport and Yuan Ding Investment, with extensive cross-shareholdings. FENC employees often interact with this wider ecosystem — internal mobility into FET, FEDS or Yuan Ding Investment is a real, if competitive, possibility. Culturally, FENC is a traditional Taiwanese conglomerate: strongly hierarchical, relationship-driven, paternalistic, and long-tenured. Mandarin (Traditional Chinese) is the working language at HQ and at TW/CN sites; English fluency matters for the WV plant, Vietnam operations, and the global sustainability and customer-facing teams selling rPET to multinationals. Saturday work has historically been part of the conglomerate's rhythm in plant operations, and while corporate offices have moved largely to a five-day week, expectations around face time, formal dress, and respect for seniority remain real. The cross-strait political environment is a sensitive backdrop — FENC has substantial mainland China assets, and candidates who can speak fluently to operating across the strait are valued. Macro conditions in 2024 and 2025 brought softness to commodity PET and polyester, but rPET, sustainability-linked supply contracts, and the Apple Grove expansion have continued to drive targeted hiring in chemical engineering, recycling technology, ESG, and brand-customer account management.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search for open roles on 104

    Search for open roles on 104.com.tw — the dominant Taiwan job board and FENC's de facto applicant tracking system. Search by company name '遠東新世紀' or by Far Eastern Group subsidiaries (亞東石化, 宏遠興業, 遠東先進纖維, etc.) since each operating entity often posts under its own 104 page.

  2. 2
    Cross-reference the FENC corporate site at fenc

    Cross-reference the FENC corporate site at fenc.com (the /zh-TW/join 'Join Us' page) for campus recruiting, MA (Management Associate) program timing, and corporate-sustainability or rPET-specific openings that may funnel through HR rather than 104.

  3. 3
    Create or refresh your 104 profile in Traditional Chinese with a professional he

    Create or refresh your 104 profile in Traditional Chinese with a professional headshot, full Taiwan-style 履歷表 (resume), and explicit salary expectations — Taiwanese recruiters expect a complete profile, not a one-click apply.

  4. 4
    For the Apple Grove, WV plant (operated under FENC's US subsidiary), monitor FEN

    For the Apple Grove, WV plant (operated under FENC's US subsidiary), monitor FENC's corporate news and West Virginia state economic-development releases. US openings are typically posted in English on the local plant site, LinkedIn, and sometimes Indeed; the Taiwan 104 portal will not list them.

  5. 5
    Prepare a Mandarin (Traditional) resume for HQ and Taiwan-based roles; prepare a

    Prepare a Mandarin (Traditional) resume for HQ and Taiwan-based roles; prepare an English resume for Apple Grove (US), Vietnam plant management, and global rPET customer-facing roles. Bilingual candidates should submit both.

  6. 6
    Expect a recruiter screening call within one to three weeks of applying via 104,

    Expect a recruiter screening call within one to three weeks of applying via 104, then one to three rounds of interviews on-site in Taipei (Songshan/Dunhua HQ) or at the relevant plant. Senior roles may require a final interview with a Vice President or, occasionally, with a member of the Hsu family.

  7. 7
    For new graduates, the Management Associate (MA / 儲備幹部) program is the highest-p

    For new graduates, the Management Associate (MA / 儲備幹部) program is the highest-prestige entry path and runs on an annual cycle, typically with applications opening in spring and assessment centers in summer. Treat it like a structured GMT-style program: written tests, case interviews, and group exercises.

  8. 8
    Reference and background checks are taken seriously at FENC

    Reference and background checks are taken seriously at FENC. Be ready to provide your 退伍令 (military discharge order, for male Taiwan citizens), academic transcripts, and former-supervisor references. Do not exaggerate — verification is thorough.

Resume Tips for Far Eastern New Century

recommended

Use the Taiwan 104 resume builder rather than uploading a US-style one-page PDF

Use the Taiwan 104 resume builder rather than uploading a US-style one-page PDF. Taiwanese recruiters expect a structured 履歷表 with photo, date of birth, education chronology, military status, and language test scores (TOEIC/JLPT/HSK).

recommended

Quantify rPET, polyester, or PET-resin experience in tons-per-year, yield percen

Quantify rPET, polyester, or PET-resin experience in tons-per-year, yield percentage, energy intensity, and customer-program names. 'Reduced PET line energy intensity 7% over 12 months on a 200K t/y line' is far stronger than 'optimized production.'

recommended

Name-drop specific brand-owner programs you've supported — Coca-Cola, Nike, Adid

Name-drop specific brand-owner programs you've supported — Coca-Cola, Nike, Adidas, Patagonia, Decathlon, Uniqlo. FENC's commercial strategy is built on these accounts and recognizing them signals industry literacy.

recommended

Highlight cross-strait or multi-site experience honestly

Highlight cross-strait or multi-site experience honestly. If you have worked across Taiwan, Mainland China and Southeast Asia, say so plainly; FENC values operators who can navigate Taiwan/PRC/Vietnam logistics, language, and regulatory differences.

recommended

List language proficiency precisely: TOEIC score for English, HSK level for Mand

List language proficiency precisely: TOEIC score for English, HSK level for Mandarin (if you are not a native speaker), and basic Vietnamese or Japanese if applicable. Many FENC roles list a TOEIC floor (often 650–750) explicitly.

recommended

For technical roles, list specific equipment and process knowledge: SSP (solid-s

For technical roles, list specific equipment and process knowledge: SSP (solid-state polymerization), melt-spinning, draw-texturizing, BOPET film lines, depolymerization (glycolysis, methanolysis), and extrusion control systems.

recommended

For ESG, sustainability, and rPET commercial roles, list familiarity with GRS (G

For ESG, sustainability, and rPET commercial roles, list familiarity with GRS (Global Recycled Standard), RCS, OEKO-TEX, ISCC PLUS, and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — these certifications and regulations drive customer demand for FENC's products.

recommended

Keep tone modest and factual

Keep tone modest and factual. Self-promotion that reads well in a US resume often reads as 浮誇 (boastful) to a Taiwanese hiring manager. Let the metrics speak; let referees vouch for character.

ATS System: 104 Job Bank (104.com.tw) plus FENC corporate HR portal (fenc.com/zh-TW/join)

FENC, like nearly every large Taiwanese conglomerate, runs the bulk of its applicant intake through 104.com.tw — Taiwan's dominant job board, which functions as a de facto ATS for most local employers. Each operating subsidiary (Asia Petrochemical, Oriental Industries, Far Eastern Apparel, etc.) typically maintains its own 104 company page and posts roles independently, while group-level corporate and MA program roles surface on the FENC corporate site at fenc.com (built on a Nuxt SPA, with the careers entry at /zh-TW/join). There is no public Workday, SuccessFactors, or Greenhouse instance for FENC; for the US Apple Grove plant, hiring runs through the local subsidiary on LinkedIn and US job boards.

  • Build a complete 104 profile in Traditional Chinese before applying — incomplete profiles are filtered before a human ever sees them.
  • 104 supports an embedded resume plus an attached PDF; submit both, with the PDF as a polished long-form 履歷.
  • Set your 104 'job intention' (求職意向) to 'actively looking' (積極找工作中) when applying, otherwise some recruiters auto-skip your profile.
  • Use the 104 message system (私訊) to follow up politely with the recruiter after one week. Brief, deferential, and in Traditional Chinese.
  • For FENC corporate-portal applications, expect a manual HR review rather than keyword-matching ATS scoring — write for a human, not for a parser.
  • For Apple Grove (US) roles, treat it as a separate funnel: LinkedIn application plus a US-format one-to-two-page resume in English; do not send a 104 profile.

Interview Culture

FENC interviews follow the traditional Taiwanese conglomerate template: structured, formal, and weighted toward judgment of character as much as technical skill.

Expect to dress in business attire (suit and tie for men, conservative business dress for women). Arrive 15 minutes early; greet interviewers with both hands when exchanging name cards. The first round is typically with HR, focused on motivation, language ability, and salary expectations. The second round is with the hiring manager and often a senior engineer or commercial lead, focused on technical depth, prior project metrics, and your ability to operate across Taiwan/PRC/Vietnam sites. A third round, when applicable, is with a Vice President or department head and shifts toward situational and values-based questions: how you handle conflict with a senior colleague, how you would stay loyal to the company through a downturn, how you think about long-term commitment. Senior or sensitive roles may include a final session with a member of the Hsu family or a board-level executive. English ability is tested directly for international-facing roles — be ready to switch languages mid-interview without warning. Salary negotiation in Taiwan is more compressed than in the US: base ranges are tight and tied to the 104 posting, but bonuses (年終獎金 of two to four months is typical for FENC) and stock are negotiable for senior hires. Avoid overt confrontation, do not interrupt, and do not mention competing offers aggressively; signal commitment, modesty, and willingness to learn from senior colleagues. References are checked.

What Far Eastern New Century Looks For

  • Long-term commitment. FENC is a multi-generational family business that values employees who plan to stay 10 to 20 years, not job-hop every two.
  • Bilingual fluency — Traditional Chinese plus English at minimum; Vietnamese, Japanese, or Mandarin (PRC business idiom) is a strong plus for plant-management and customer-account roles.
  • Specific PET, polyester, polymer film, or rPET process expertise — SSP reactors, melt-spinning, BOPET lines, depolymerization, and yield/energy optimization at industrial scale.
  • Cross-strait and ASEAN operating fluency — willingness and ability to rotate to Shanghai, Wuhan, Vietnam (Hung Yen, Binh Duong), or Apple Grove WV without resistance.
  • ESG and circular-economy literacy — familiarity with GRS, ISCC PLUS, EU PPWR, brand-owner sustainability roadmaps, and bottle-to-bottle versus bottle-to-fiber economics.
  • Modesty, deference to seniority, and team-orientation — Taiwanese conglomerate culture rewards harmony (和氣) over individual heroics in interviews and on the job.
  • Solid academic foundation — chemical engineering, materials science, or polymer science from NTU, NTHU, NCKU, NCTU/NYCU, or equivalent international universities is the dominant pedigree for technical roles.
  • Reliability signals — completed military service (for Taiwanese male candidates), stable prior employment history, verifiable references, and clean background check.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Far Eastern New Century use?
FENC does not use a Western applicant tracking system like Workday, SuccessFactors, or Greenhouse. Like nearly every large Taiwanese employer, the bulk of its hiring runs through 104.com.tw, Taiwan's dominant job board, which functions as a de facto ATS. The FENC corporate site at fenc.com/zh-TW/join also accepts applications for the Management Associate program and select corporate roles. The Apple Grove, WV plant in the United States hires through LinkedIn and US job boards under its local subsidiary.
Do I need to speak Mandarin to work at FENC?
For Taipei HQ and Taiwan-based roles, yes — Traditional Chinese Mandarin is the working language and you should expect interviews to be conducted primarily in Mandarin with a switch to English to test bilingual ability. For the Apple Grove, WV plant, English is sufficient. For the Vietnam plants, English plus basic Vietnamese is preferred. For global rPET customer-account and sustainability roles, fluent English plus Mandarin is the baseline expectation.
What is the Management Associate (MA) program at FENC?
The Management Associate program (儲備幹部 / MA) is FENC's flagship new-graduate entry path. It is a structured rotational program for high-potential graduates, typically targeting top universities in Taiwan and select international hires. Applications usually open in spring with assessment centers in summer. Assessment includes written tests, case interviews, group exercises, and final-round interviews with senior leaders. MA hires rotate across business units and sites and are positioned for accelerated promotion into managerial roles within five to seven years.
What does FENC pay, and what is the bonus structure?
FENC base salaries are aligned with Taiwanese conglomerate norms: competitive but not stretched. Year-end bonuses (年終獎金) of two to four months of base salary are typical, with strong-performance years skewing higher. Senior managerial and engineering roles may include performance bonuses and, occasionally, restricted stock or share-based incentives. For Apple Grove, WV roles, compensation is benchmarked to the US specialty chemicals labor market. For specifics, the salary range posted on the 104 listing is generally accurate; do not expect large upward negotiation on base for non-senior roles.
Is it true that FENC has Saturday work?
Historically, Saturday work was common across Taiwanese conglomerates including FENC, particularly in plant operations. Corporate offices in Taipei have largely moved to a five-day week. Plant operations, especially around shutdowns, turnarounds, and ramp-up phases, can still require Saturday or shift coverage. Be candid with the hiring manager about your expectations and ask directly about the work schedule for your specific role; the answer will vary by site and function.
How important is the Apple Grove, WV plant for hiring?
Very important strategically. The Apple Grove facility is FENC's flagship North American rPET expansion, supplying recycled-PET resin to Coca-Cola and other US beverage and packaging customers. The 2024 expansion announcement signaled multi-year growth in chemical engineering, plant operations, maintenance, EHS, and commercial roles based in West Virginia. Apple Grove is a separate hiring funnel from Taiwan — apply through the local US subsidiary on LinkedIn with an English-format resume.
Does FENC sponsor work visas for foreign hires in Taiwan?
Yes, for senior, technical, or specialized roles. FENC sponsors Taiwan work permits (聘僱許可) for foreign professionals in chemical engineering, polymer science, sustainability, and customer-facing global roles where Taiwanese candidates are scarce. For entry-level or generalist roles, sponsorship is rare. Be direct in your application about your visa status and willingness to relocate to Taipei or to a plant site.
How do I get noticed by FENC if I am applying through 104?
Build a fully complete 104 profile in Traditional Chinese with a professional headshot, structured education and work history, language scores (TOEIC, HSK, JLPT as applicable), explicit salary expectations, and an attached PDF resume. Set your job intention to 'actively looking' (積極找工作中). Apply directly through the 104 listing rather than through aggregators. Send a brief, polite follow-up message in Traditional Chinese to the recruiter after one week. Referrals from current FENC or Far Eastern Group employees substantially improve callback rates.
What questions should I expect in a FENC interview?
Expect a mix of technical depth, situational judgment, and character assessment. Common areas include: walk through a specific PET or polyester process project and the metrics you delivered; how you would handle a quality defect at a customer brand owner; describe a time you disagreed with a senior colleague and how you resolved it; how committed are you to staying in the Taiwan/Asia region long-term; what do you know about FENC's rPET strategy. For senior roles, expect questions about cross-strait operating experience, sustainability-regulation fluency, and willingness to relocate.
How sensitive are cross-strait (Taiwan-China) issues in interviews?
FENC operates substantial assets in mainland China including major sites in Shanghai and Wuhan, and cross-strait operating fluency is a real business need. In interviews, do not volunteer political opinions in either direction. Speak factually about your experience operating across Taiwan and mainland China, language ability in PRC business Mandarin, and understanding of the regulatory and logistics differences between the two. Demonstrate that you can be effective at FENC's mainland sites without bringing political friction into the workplace.

Open Positions

Far Eastern New Century currently has 1 open positions.

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Sources

  1. Far Eastern New Century Corporation — Official Corporate Site (Join Us) —
  2. Far Eastern New Century Corporation — Corporate Homepage —
  3. 104 Job Bank — Taiwan's Dominant Job Board (used as de facto ATS by FENC) —
  4. Far Eastern Group — Group Holdings and Cross-Shareholdings (Far EasTone, FEDS, Asia Cement, U-Ming, Yuan Ding) —
  5. TWSE — Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Stock Code 1402) Listing —
  6. Coca-Cola Sustainability — Recycled PET Bottle Supply (FENC as named rPET supplier) —
  7. Global Recycled Standard (GRS) — Textile Exchange Certification Used in FENC rPET Supply Chain —
  8. ISCC PLUS Certification — Circular and Bio-based Materials (FENC Certified) —
  9. West Virginia Department of Economic Development — Apple Grove Industrial Site (FENC US Plant) —