After graduating from the Taipei Institute of Technology's Department of Mechanical Engineering, like most Taiwanese youth in the 1960s Tsai entered the workplace right out of school, joining the staff of a plastics company at a monthly salary of NT $ 1,600.
畢業於台北工專機械系的他，跟大多數 1960 年代的台灣青年一樣，步入校門後即投入職場，成為月領台幣 1,600 元的塑膠公司員工。