CW Chu College The Chinese University of Hong Kong eNewsletter

College Internship Scheme 2018

The College Summer Internship Scheme 2018 was open for application in late March 2018 and expressions of interest were received from 30 students. Some 20 summer internship opportunities were sourced from 16 companies/ organisations across various fields, such as accounting, engineering, finance, marketing, press, product development, programming, research and development and social services.

Workshops on Getting Ready for the Workplace

A series of workshops on Getting Ready for the Workplace were held in late March and early April 2018, aiming to equip senior students with skills for success in job interviews and the world of work, as well as to prompt junior students to start thinking early about the workplace and to point them to available resources.

Workshop on CV Writing and Interview Skills

The College organised the Workshop on CV Writing and Interview Skills on 23 March 2018, with a view to supporting students in their preparation for real-world job applications. Students were encouraged to attend the workshop before the Mock Interviews on 7 April 2018, so that they could put theories into practice during the Mock Interviews.

The session on CV Writing was hosted by Ms Tessa STEWART, an experienced trainer on curricula vitae (CV) writing. She introduced students to the Student and Career Development Portfolio concepts, keywords and transferable skills, and guided students on writing an effective and presentable CV to impress potential employers. After the workshop, students were encouraged to submit their draft CVs to Ms STEWART for online feedback.

The College had the honour to have Prof Peter LAI Hing-Ling, former Secretary for Security of the HKSAR Government and currently Honorary Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Hong Kong University, as the host of the brown bag session on interview skills. With his experience in interviewing candidates for Administrative Officer, Mr LAI provided valuable and all-round information about 'How to Ace an Individual Job Interview', including the interviewers' expectations, preparations for an interview, flow of an interview, sample interview questions with suggested answers and dos and don'ts during an interview.

Speakers Series—Learn from Professionals and a Fellow Student

To encourage students to have early plans for the workplace and learn from the advice of professionals and a fellow student, the College held the Speakers Series in the afternoon of 23 March 2018.

Prof Kenneth YOUNG welcomed the participants. In his sharing, he urged students to identify gaps between their present competencies and what would be required for jobs at different levels in the profession—and have a plan to fill these gaps. He also reminded students to acquire appropriate habits and right attitudes for work, and to be conscious of the differences between school and work.

The College was grateful to have three experienced speakers offering advice from different perspectives. Ms Sophy LAI, Executive Officer of the Career Planning and Development Centre, Office of Student Affairs, introduced students to the Career Planning Cycle and Recruitment Cycle and various resources available for equipping themselves for the workplace.

Dr Ka Lok CHAU, former Managing Director of Evolution Capital Management (Los Angeles) and former Head of Quantitative Research, HSBC (Hong Kong), pinpointed a list of skills/ abilities (such as the ability to self-learn, team work, communication and presentation) students should possess to stay competitive at the workplace and how to acquire those skills.

Ms Waimen WAN, former General Manager, Global Executive Search Company Limited, talked about employers' expectations, management trainee programmes and ways to stand out from other candidates in a job interview.

Ms Jolie WONG, a Year 4 PACC student, shared her preparations for the workplace during university and her internship experiences at Big4 firms and other local firms.

Mock Interviews

Allowing students to put to use knowledge gained from the previous workshops, the College held the Mock Interviews on 7 April 2018. It was a great honour for the College to have a team of nine highly experienced professionals from different sectors, including former heads of government bureaux and of a major public body, a judge, senior administrators of listed utility companies and tertiary education institutions, as the panel interviewers of the Mock Interviews, thanks to the connections introduced by Prof Wai-Yee CHAN, College Master.

The College matched the interviewers with the interviewees' fields of interest and preferences, in order to provide the students with specific and realistic experience. Students could make a request for videotaping their performance during the interviews for later review. Immediately after the interviews, the panelists reviewed with the interviewees their strengths and weaknesses.

Overall, students rated the series of workshops highly. They found the workshops informative, providing lots of practical tips on the preparation for job applications, interviews and the workplace, especially for those without any job-hunt experience or early plans for their future career. They appreciated greatly the useful advice from all the experienced professionals. They look forward to a similar series of workshops next year.