CW Chu College The Chinese University of Hong Kong eNewsletter

Internship Opportunities for Summer 2020

Summer internship opportunities were offered by several companies to our students, mainly in the fields of computer engineering, programming, and research and development. Interested students had to send their applications to the companies.

To the Workplace Programme 2019

In the second half of the Programme, the following workshops were held to equip participants with skills helpful to securing jobs in their indicated areas of work interest:

Date	Workshop
25 October 2019	Workshop on CV Writing
25 October 2019	Workshop on Interview Skills

For details about the workshops, please refer to Page 73 of the Report of the Master 2019.

Small-group Intensive Interview Training

This workshop on 9 November 2019 provided an opportunity for participants to put into intensive practice what they had learnt to succeed in individual and group interviews from the workshops on 25 October, and to enhance their self-confidence in interviews.

Divided into two groups, each led by two tutors, the students took turns as interviewees and interviewers in a relaxing setting. When they were interviewed, the tutors and their peers reminded them of some basic interview guidelines on aspects such as voice, eye contact and attitude. Their common mistakes were also identified. As interviewers, the students gave comments to their peers on their performance and provided suggestions for improvement. Their peers' mistakes were more clearly etched in their minds and it is more likely for them to avoid those mistakes.

Mock Interviews

The Mock Interviews constituted a ‘revision quiz’ for the Programme participants on the previous workshops. They aimed to allow our students to develop interview strategies, improve their communication skills and reduce their stress before an actual job/ academic interview. It was a great honour for the College to have a team of six prominent figures from different sectors as the panel interviewers, thanks to the liaison by the Programme coordinator Prof Peter LAI, former Secretary for Security, HKSARG and currently Honorary Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong.

The participants appeared before a panel of three interviewers. Some of them were matched with panellists from their intended job fields for a specific and realistic experience. Immediately after the interviews, the panellists reviewed with the interviewees their strengths and weaknesses and provided advice for improvement.

Student Reflections

By Mr GENG Hao (Year 4, Systems Engineering and Engineering Management)

To the Workplace Programme is a comprehensive programme for an undergraduate student to get prepared for the workplace. It comprises career mentoring and different career workshops from which I have benefitted a lot.

My workplace mentor is a former senior management member at Hong Kong Electric. Through his sharing, I got to learn about the current industry trends of system engineering from different perspectives, such as from the ones of a utility and a start-up. Having a clearer picture of my interested industry, I could review and adjust my learning plan, and took more courses related to communication technology.

For the Mock Interviews, the interviewers were so observant that in a 20-minute interview, they spotted my potential personality weaknesses and strengths at work in the future, such as avoiding conflicts and being mindful of others. They also provided very practical advice from a professional perspective which helped me review my way of dealing with interpersonal relationships in the workplace, and to make improvements.

From the Workshop on CV Writing, I got to learn how to make my resume more competitive and impressive to recruiters. For example, I was advised to put down what good personal qualities I could demonstrate during my previous internship, such as my ability to deal with the different issues encountered in the workplace.

By Mr WONG Ho Yi (Year 4, Earth System Science)

First of all, I would like to take this chance to express my sincere thanks to my workplace mentor, Ms Ellen CHAN, from the Environmental Protection Department, for her kindness and time to guide me through a new journey. Since I joined the Programme, I have always been in contact with her. I deem this mentor-mentee relationship a life-long relationship which is life-changing for me. I am really grateful to have someone who is experienced in my interested field to talk with. She is willing to share her professional experiences and insights on my future career. She also assists me to make a right decision on some complicated issues.

Apart from offering me her professional advice, she has also tried to arrange a mock interview at the Environmental Protection Department to prepare me for my future job applications. It will allow me to put what I have learnt from the career workshops in the Programme into practice. Most importantly, I will also be able to get valuable comments from her.

To the Workplace Programme is not just a mentorship programme, but also a series of workshops that have equipped me with the skills and techniques essential for my future job hunting, including CV writing, interview and presentation skills. Some career activities, for instance company visits and job shadowing, may also be arranged by our own workplace mentors specifically for us to get a better idea of our interested fields/ job positions. Therefore, if you want to secure a job after your graduation, please do not hesitate and join this Programme.

To the Workplace Programme 2020

In the new cycle of the Programme which covers the period from Term 2, 2019–20 to Term 1, 2020–21, there are eight participants in Years 3 or above. A briefing session was hosted by Prof Peter LAI on 11 January 2020 to introduce the Programme to the new participants and to learn more about their career aspirations.