After graduating from the Chiayi's industrial high school at the age of 18, he went to work for the Taiwan Forestry Bureau's (TFB) Chiayi office. During his 36 years there, he did drafting, was a supervisor and a chief engineer. When he retired in 1990, Lin was the shop director.
他十八歲從嘉義專修工業學校畢業就進林管處服務，四十七年的工作生涯中，擔任過繪圖、監工、工務官等工作，七十九年退休時是工廠主任。