CW Chu College The Chinese University of Hong Kong eNewsletter

Workshops on Getting Ready for the Workplace: Speakers Series—Learn from Professionals and an Alumnus (11 and 13 April 2022)

The annual Speakers Series aims to encourage junior students, especially those in Year 1, to have early plans for the workplace. Due to the pandemic, this year the workshops were conducted online, on two evenings.

In Session 1 on 11 March 2022, as an introduction of the workshop, Prof Kenneth YOUNG, member of the College Mentorship and Internship Committee, urged students to fill the gaps between their current competencies and the expectations of their targeted professions as soon as possible. Students were also reminded to stay vigilant of the many differences between being a student and an employee, such as the strict discipline and serious working attitude demanded from the latter. The second speaker, Ms Ivy KWOK, Executive Officer, Career Planning and Development Centre, Office of Student Affairs (OSA), guided students on how to plan their careers one step at a time. She pointed students, in particular, to an array of programmes and resources provided by OSA to facilitate their career planning, including recruitment talks, Career Fair, mentoring programmes, Global Internship Programme and virtual one-on-one coaching service.

In Session 2 on 13 March 2022, Mr Wilfred WONG, Founder and Managing Director, RESOLUTIONS HR & Business Consultancy Co. Ltd., briefed students on the four ‘C’s expected of junior employees: Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication. He exemplified how these competencies are expected in the Marketing, and Computing and Information Technologies industries. He also made predictions for emergent industries and needs. Mr Matthew LI, a member of the Class of 2019 majoring in Global Economics and Finance and currently Customer Experience Manager at HSBC, was also invited to share his graduate job application experience. He gave students tips on how to set themselves apart from the rest, both during the job application proceess and after onboarding, for example by submitting applications early and researching on the aptitude tests available.

Workshop on CV Writing (21 April 2022)

The last workshop in the Series, entitled Workshop on CV Writing, was conducted online on 21 April 2022. The instructor, Ms Tessa STEWART, guided students on what to include in their CVs, by introducing the concepts of a personal statement, keywords and transferable skills, the last of which included soft skills and hard skills. She also demonstrated her ideas through displaying an example of a good CV. In the second half of the workshop, she highlighted the importance of networking in job search and encouraged students to stay proactive in reaching out for people and keeping a good record of them. Students were encouraged to submit their draft/ revised CVs to Ms STEWART for pre- or post-workshop online coaching.