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| Summer 2007, WIE training in a real estate management company in Hong Kong |
| Spring 2008, Study tour to Dubai |
| Summer 2008, WIE training in Nanjing Folklore Museum |
| Present, Building Management Trainee, Swire Properties Ltd |
LAU Kai-hin Hughes || August 2009 Graduated with BSc (Hons) Property Management
Fascinated by Chinese culture and history and driven by his desire to understand the operation of a Chinese organisation, in summer 2008, LAU Kai-hin Hughes joined an internship programme at Nanjing Folklore Museum through SAO’s ‘Preferred Graduate’ Development Programme. It was an inspirational experience that facilitated the career development of this Property Management graduate.
At the museum, Hughes was a guide with the responsibility to introduce tourists to the historical background of the former Gan Xi Residence built in the Qing dynasty and give information about the exhibits. “The internship might seem irrelevant to my studies, but the skills and experience I acquired were practical for my job hunt,” Hughes says.
Through the ample opportunities of presenting to tourists of different nationalities, his self-confidence was highly boosted, while his presentation skills were greatly enhanced. “It’s very true that practice makes perfect. The internship gave me the chance to make presentations to strangers. I observed the tourists’ responses and facial expressions, and adjusted my speed and tone if they started to lose attention or feel bored,” he says. “Later when I needed to speak in front of a group of directors during a job interview, I would not feel too nervous.”
 Learn to be a competent leader
To Hughes, the internship offered him more than just work experience, but also an invaluable leadership training. During the internship, the Student Affairs Office arranged for him and other interns a series of activities such as outward bound, outings with Southeast University students as well as visit to local village and families. Hughes was appointed as the chief leader of the Nanjing internship group, comprised of 30 PolyU students.
“As the group leader, I represented PolyU and SAO, and needed to get along with schoolmates from different majors and programmes. On one hand, on behalf of other PolyU interns, I needed to be on stage to give speeches during ceremonies or formal meetings. On the other hand, I cooperated with team members and maintained close communication with different parties. All these led me to be more independent and mature,” Hughes says.
The internship experience was also a chance to review his life and career choice. “When I returned to Hong Kong, I realised the importance of career planning,” he says. He then spent several months on devising and fine-tuning his career plan. He believes a plan with achievable targets will give clearer direction and guide him towards his career goal.
“The Nanjing experience together with previous internship in Hong Kong and the study tour in Dubai had widened my horizons and made me understand myself more,” he says. He also attended a number of trainings on career planning and job hunt skills, and kept polishing both his Putonghua and spoken English to better equip himself.
Planning for career success
His persistence and adroit planning paid off. Now Hughes is working for Swire Properties Ltd as Building Management Trainee, the first step towards his dream. “The first thing that a fresh graduate needs to do is to clarify what you want to achieve and where you want to get to in your life. This is vital. Once you have the answer, you will know what to do,” he says.
“Make sure that every step you take leads you closer to your goal. As fresh graduates, look for the field that you are most interested in. Working in areas that you enjoy will bring you happiness and eventually lead you to success!” Hughes concludes.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.3/5 (10 votes cast)
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| Summer 2006, WIE training as Accounting Technician in Hong Kong |
| Summer 2007, WIE training in Helsinki University of Technology, Finland (IAESTE internship) |
| Present, Project Executive, Jardine OneSolution (HK) Ltd |
SIU Aaron || August 2008 Graduated with BEng (Hons) Industrial & Systems Engineering
Siu Aaron, a graduate from Industrial and Systems Engineering, is now enjoying his challenging job as a specialist in Enterprise Resources Planning system at Jardine OneSolution (HK) Ltd. To help himself identify his career interest, through WIE training, he seized the opportunties to explore jobs in different industries when he was at university.
Aaron experienced several internships in different industries. He thinks it is a good way to plan one’s career. “Unless you’ve personally experienced the job and worked in the industry, you wouldn’t know what interests you most,” he says. “After the first summer WIE experience, I found that I was not interested in developing my career in accounting, though I am good at working with numbers,” Aaron says.
In his second year at university, Aaron was nominated by his Faculty to join an internship in Finland. He thinks the overseas exposure helped him win his first job. “Nowadays, many employers are looking for employees with a strong global outlook. I noticed that all the seven candidates who proceeded to the final round of JOS’ recruitment process possessed overseas experience gained from internship or academic exchange activities,” Aaron recalls.
Worldwide encounter
 During the eight-week internship in Finland, Aaron made friends with people from nearly 20 different countries, such as the UK, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. He became more familiar with the characteristics and culture of people from different nations through communication and observation. He also witnessed how much beer a German could drink!
“My global sense and awareness was greatly enhanced and I became more mature,” he says. “When I shared my overseas experiences with interviewers during my job search, most of them appreciated my overseas exposure, my adaptability as well as interpersonal effectiveness,” Aaron says.
Perseverance trail
“While you may possess different skills and experiences, you also need to package yourself and present your best-self in front of potential employers,” Aaron adds. To get his first job offer, he went through a stringent seven-round recruitment process which included an online aptitude test, written test, group discussion, individual presentation, management task exercise, individual and board interviews.
“Practice makes perfect. Most interviewers tend to ask similar questions for which you should prepare in advance,” says Aaron, who was one of the four candidates made an offer by the company.
He thinks international exposure provided by overseas internships would help students stand out during job hunting. “Employers look for a good balance between academic achievements and learning from other co-curricular activities. Good academic results need to be complemented by practical experience and exposure to the outside world,” Aaron comments.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.0/5 (10 votes cast)
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| Spring 2007, Academic exchange to Nottingham Business School, UK |
| Summer 2007, 5-week WIE training in Bank of China, Nanjing |
| Summer 2007, 6-week WIE training in Ernst & Young Tax Services Limited, Hong Kong |
| Present, Management Trainee in a Japan-based bank |
TSANG Wing-fung Kurt || August 2008 Graduated with BBA (Hons) Accounting and Finance
Kurt, a graduate in Accounting and Finance, is presently a management trainee at a Japanese Bank. With clear objectives, Kurt started to plan his career when he first entered university, fully utilizing every resource and opportunity offered to him throughout his three-year university life. “What professors teach us in class is theory. The most important thing is applying what you have learnt in real life,” Kurt says.
Trying hard to gain something extra besides textbook learning, Kurt joined the Debate Club and various student societies in his first year at university. His involvement in different societies and competitions enhanced his analytical mind and public speaking skills.
“University life is short. Therefore, I planned to maximise my learning and organise my university life in a strategic way. Through participation in different co-curricular activities, I enhanced my different generic competencies, which was reflected in my resume and helped differentiate myself from others,” Kurt recalls.
Returning from a study exchange in the UK in 2007, he interned at Bank of China in Nanjing for a month through SAO’s “Preferred Graduate” Development Programme. He regards the summer internship experience in China as a cornerstone of his career. “Although I also got summer job experience in Hong Kong, the experience in China really helped me pursue my first job,” says Kurt, who later in the same summer received another internship offer from leading accounting firm, Ernst & Young.
“Although I majored in Accounting and Finance, I realised my career choice need not be only limited to accounting and auditing because of my banking experience in Nanjing. I understood more clearly about the operation of the bank and I found I was interested in developing my career in the field,” says Kurt, who began job hunting early in the beginning of his last year at university.
Attitude is the key
Many students might be reluctant to head to China for their internships because of the perception that the Mainland workplace has a completely different culture. After his placement in the Mainland, Kurt thinks the experience was a great exposure to the bank industry for him. “Hong Kong students are in general quite protected. Going north can widen their horizons and they will come back with a different mindset.”
The attitude of his superior during the Nanjing internship also inspired the Hong Kong student. “What they were most concerned about was customer services. Through observing their daily routine, I learnt that attitude was very important. It affects how you view your job and position yourself,” Kurt says.
Kurt says his present employer places great emphasis on staff’s attitude and the company spends lots of resources on nurturing and training staff. “They believe a person’s skills and knowledge can be developed through a series of on-the-job training. However, attitude cannot be taught,” he says.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 3.9/5 (10 votes cast)
TANG Hiu-nam Rina, BSc (Hons) Computing and BBA (Hons) Management || NG Wai-long Vincent, BSc (Hons) Internet & Multimedia Technologies || Microsoft Hong Kong Limited
Enjoys double delights
 In Hong Kong, Tang Hiu-nam Rina and Ng Wai-long Vincent also found themselves immersed in the world of technology by taking on an twelve-week internship at the Microsoft Hong Kong office in the summer.
Rina, a double degree student majoring in Computing and Management, received an offer to be a consulting intern and was required to work for improving customer satisfaction in using Microsoft products, services and technologies.
During the Internship, she was in charge of the Cathay Pacific Airways Limited’s Management System Project, being involved in system development, testing, deployment and training for the airline and conducting user acceptance tests within the Microsoft Solution Framework Software Development Cycle.
“I never expected to have the chance to work with two big corporations in one summer internship,” says Rina. She worked closely with the technical account managers, consultants, partners and clients at different stages, including regular meetings, project development, requirement collection, testing, demonstrations, writing technical documentation, providing training and aids for clients, and answering clients’ enquiries.
“I was most fortunate to be engaged throughout the entire project. This enabled me be more familiar with the skills and techniques required in project management,” she says.
Moreover, from providing onsite training for IT professionals at the Cathay City, she learnt the techniques of effective communication. During one of the training sessions, a client representative reflected that her teaching was not clear enough which reminded her of the importance of putting herself in others’ shoes to deliver messages effectively and to establish good rapport.
Exposed to new skills
Vincent, majoring in Internet and Multimedia Technologies, was placed as a site assistant to support the online marketing team and implement page design, produce XML web content and build and execute web production. “The most challenging task was to modify the programme for the PressPass website, which required me to use a new programming language C# for programming development for the first time. I had to learn how to use this language while working on the task by myself,” says Vincent. “I am glad to have had the chance to learn this programming language. Now I plan to use this language in my final year project.”
To have his work done perfectly, he searched for information on the internet, flipped through many reference books and consulted his colleagues in order to master the programming language. Vincent felt excited by the results of using the new programming language. With success in acquiring some new skills by himself, he has become more confident about himself and is ready to explore his potential further.
Discover potential and passion
Having the opportunity to work at one of the world’s greatest companies could be a once-in-a-life-time experience. Rina and Vincent grabbed every chance to participate in Microsoft events such as the Microsoft Annual Channel Kickoff 2009 held at Ocean Park. In the event, they helped demonstrate the latest products to the press, the company’s partners and clients. “It was really a rare experience to give a presentation to clients in a cable car!” Vincent recalls.
Having worked at Microsoft, both Rina and Vincent realised their potential to join the high-technology industry. Before the internship, Rina never thought that she could work well in the information technology industry. The invaluable experience prompted her to consider being a business analyst or system consultant.
“I am confident that I can provide business solutions for organisations to implement their information system, through which I can fully utilise my computing and management knowledge learnt from my double degree,” Rina says. “I hope I can pursue my future career in Microsoft after graduation.”
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 3.7/5 (19 votes cast)
NG Wing-hoi Jack , LEE Chi-fun || BEng (Hons) Electrical Engineering || Hongkong Electric Company Limited
 This summer, two Electrical Engineering students, Ng Wing-hoi Jack and Lee Chi-fun, interned at the Hongkong Electric Company (HEC) as vacation trainees, playing a part in brightening Hong Kong.
During the eight-week internship, Jack was attached to the Electrical and Instrument Maintenance Section (EIMS), a department that supports the large-scale coal-fuel power plant on Lamma Island. Working on Lamma Island was a new experience for Jack. Before the commencement of work, Jack went through a series of training modules to study and troubleshoot the instruments, electrical equipment and machines in the power plant. He was then responsible for recording the procedures and results of the oil treatment of the transformers.
As interns are not allowed to handle the crucial components in a power plant in order to ensure the stability of power supply for all business and social activities on Hong Kong Island, Jack provided support to his colleagues in handling different kinds of defects, monitoring and inspecting large-scale maintenance work, and commissioning of new equipment.
“As most of the work in the power plant require specific qualifications and techniques in the respective fields, I was not allowed to take over it directly,” Jack says. “Though I was not able to handle the process by myself, I learnt from demonstrations from my supervisor.” Jack found it a precious opportunity to have real working experience at the electricity company which pushed him to improve his interpersonal skills.
“It is very important to have a good relationship with colleagues since they provide guidance and share with you their working experiences,” he says. “I will also make use of this fruitful internship experience to plan for my future career.”
Applying knowledge to real work 
Unlike Jack who needed to stay in the furnace-like power plant, Chi-fun worked in the busy office located in Admiralty. In the Planning and Regulation Department, he assisted in electricity generation planning and helped to process data to define the best combination of electric generators.
To minimise the operation cost and fuel consumption, the company considered Unit Commitment and Economic Dispatch, which are crucial for an electric power system to meet the required demand at a minimum cost, while keeping the power supply stable. Besides generation planning, he was also involved in transmission planning and was instructed to use a power system simulator (PSS/E), an integrated and interactive software tool that utilises simulation to analyse and optimise power system performance. With the programme, Chi-fun generated an one-line diagram of the power system that aided forecast planning through gathering numerical solutions of load flow, fault level and stability studies.
“Sometimes it was confusing studying the theories from textbooks. But now, I am capable to apply the theories I learnt to real life. I was also delighted to learn the operation flow of a power system from practical experience,” Chi-fun says.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 2.2/5 (15 votes cast)
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