Advice Columnist
Roll your eyes
Have you ever noticed how many hours you have spent on staring at computer monitor or phone? I am sure it is part of your daily life, and the more you stare at the monitors, the more you are straining your eyes.
Career advice
Practical guides for a Hong Kong career
Curated writing from operators, recruiters, and HR leaders — written for people building real careers in HK.
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Advice Columnist
專訪：潘根濃測量師
或多或少是受其土木工程師父親之影響，潘根濃測量師 (Kenneth Poon) 很早已對建築產生興趣，並於中學畢業後直接選修工料測量，轉眼間，便當上工料測量師幾十年了。其兒子 Linus 告訴我，當初他的大學選科不是測量系，而是法律系。因為其後在修讀的途中發現自己的性格和興趣比較適合修讀建築系，所以最後才轉科至工料測量。再加上父親在日常生活上都灌輸了有一些關於建築材料價格的知識，令 Linus 更加確定自已對工料測量的興趣的灌輸(有意或無意地)，很自然地畢業幾年後的今天， Linus 亦已考獲 MHKIS 資格，成為專業工料測量師了。
Advice Columnist
我們期望「九十後」這樣那樣…
早陣子收到有年輕讀者來信，問我作為老闆，對她們這些九十後有甚麼期望。收到這封信件，忽然覺得自己老了。我寫了七年專欄，類似的問題我其實答過好多次。但之前所答的，還只是問有關「八十後」的，同一個問題，轉眼間已轉移到「九十後」的身上，時間過得太快，想唔認老都唔得。 「八十後」也好，「九十後」也好，我估問題其實也只是圍繞住我們對「年輕人」的期望吧。老實講，我是個銅臭不堪的商人，對自己的員工，那管你是九十後還是六十後，基本的期望其實都沒有分別，就是麻煩你「交貨」。期望的高低在於你的職位，舉個例說，假如你是我公司的銷售人員，我對你的期望就是要你「到數」。不管你是個行將退休的老鬼，還是個初出茅廬的小伙子，我要求你所做的，其實還是一樣。
Career Coaching & Guidance
Learn from failure
Knowing why you weren’t chosen is vital for future interviews, writes Nick Wheatley.
Advice Columnist
Keeping your options open
With Hong Kong’s business environment becoming more complex, accounting firms have expanded and so have specialist opportunities for CPAs. Jemelyn Yadao finds out how accountants are getting into the most in-demand fields All accountants might believe they are a part of a special profession, but many are trying to stand out from the crowd even more, by entering the more rarefied world of specializations.
Advice Columnist
Transitional tryouts
Switching roles to find your specialism needn’t always be complicated, suggests Galaxy Chan, a partner at KPMG China and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs, citing her own smooth transition. Some firms, such as KPMG, provide employees opportunities for short-term internal transfers if there are vacancies. “If you are unsure that you want to make a permanent commitment in your department or want to try a different one, the human resources team can arrange a short-term secondment,” says Chan. “After that, you can always go back to your [original] department.”
Advice Columnist
Tips for Successful Networking
“Being interactive is one of the basic requirements for an accountant engaged in advisory services, like myself,” says Eugene Ha, a partner at Grant Thornton and a Hong Kong Institute of CPAs member. “Making connections with clients, intermediaries and the wider business community is part of what I do every day. It’s fortunate that I am quite a natural talker as well, with an outgoing personality. Networking is in fact an enjoyable role to me.” Here are a networking natural’s top tips for making new connections. DO…
Advice Columnist
Climbing out of a Social Rut
It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know that matters, says the adage. Successful accountants tell Robin Lynam how careers can be boosted with a little networking ability In accounting, as in all professions, those who rise to the top tend to be those who are good at their jobs. That, however, is seldom all there is to the story. Successful professionals have usually managed to build up a broad-based network of contacts and connections, many of whom have been instrumental in helping them serve their clients, build their profiles and enhance their reputations.
Advice Columnist
Special skills
Meanwhile, the growing popularity of forensic accounting is ascribed to the development of anti-fraud and anti-bribery legislation around the world, imposing more responsibilities on business owners. Few CPAs in Hong Kong are specialized in this area, but many Institute members believe that the demand for forensic accountants is stronger than ever. “This industry is really going,” says Alick Fong, manager of corporate recovery and forensic services at Mazars and an Institute member.
Advice Columnist
Special offers
Compared with a decade ago, the career paths offered by accounting firms are wider and more varied. Here are some of today’s most popular accounting specializations in Hong Kong. Corporate finance These specialists not only inhabit the glamorous world of initial public offerings and other fundraising measures, they also have acquired grassroots knowledge of valuation and credit analysis. The right specialist is a person with initiative and a knack for problem solving.
Advice Columnist
Changing rules, changing roles
Another example of a CPA who has benefited from specializing is Brenda Tung at RSM Nelson Wheeler and an Institute member, who found the right specialism for her during a three-month secondment to the firm’s risk advisory services department. “Now I have great satisfaction in being able to convince clients to accept our recommendations to enhance their internal control procedures,” says Tung, who joined from the firm’s technical department in 2010. Such procedures, she adds, help client companies satisfy listing requirements in Hong Kong.
Advice Columnist
Right place, right words
Extroverts obviously find it easier to work a room, but their more reserved colleagues need not necessarily be out of the game. Successful networkers agree that the essential skills can be learned. “I wouldn’t suggest to anybody that the cocktail party is the best place to build deep relationships,” says Keith Pogson, a managing partner at Ernst & Young and past president of the Institute. “You also need to get involved in sitting on committees or bodies and meeting the people in the room. They will then help you meet other people as well.”