Career Coaching & Guidance
Talk up your salary
Jobseekers with Cantonese, English and Mandarin language skills are at a distinct advantage in the growing Hong Kong economy.
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
Tips for the would-be financial controller
Becoming a financial controller can be a springboard to a management position. Finance directors and higher executives increasingly rely on financial controllers to assume responsibility for internal finances.
Advice Columnist
Pathways to prosperity
Former and current financial controllers – as well as those who train and hire them – say a number of factors have made the position a more vital one. They include: • Regulation: The financial controller began to assume greater importance a decade ago, according to research by EY, with the imposition of post-Enron legislation designed to promote transparency. • Globalization: The desire for access to Hong Kong and China by multinational corporations has created more financial controller roles at the regional and group senior levels.
Advice Columnist
Institute course to help careers
To help meet the demand, the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs is planning to launch a financial controllership course in 2014 to accelerate the transition from auditor to financial controller.
Advice Columnist
Eyes on the whole board
Once middle-level employees who only focused on the numbers, the role of financial controller has become broad and strategic. George W. Russell reports on how the job has changed and how the Institute plans to develop its members’ skills in this challenging field.
Advice Columnist
Will Power to Scale Mt. Everest
Accidents happened in almost all marathon races. Is marathon dangerous? Not at all if people have sufficient training and do not have inherit disease. A young man who was a sport enthusiast ran his first half marathon years ago.
Advice Columnist
The most commonly asked ‘first’ question in a job interview
根據多項調查研究，見工面試的頭五分鐘往往已決定了求職者是否得到面試官的信任，故此怎樣回答第一條問題更形重要。如果表現理想，能給對方一個良好的印象，同時也增加自信。 以下和大家談談最常見的第一個問題，就是：‘Tell me about yourself.’ 可從兩方面回答：第一是關於自己的資歷、工作能力或專長等，第二是你可以為公司帶來甚麼？ 自己的資歷和專長首先可簡要地介紹你的資歷和工作上的專長，讓面試官對你有初步的認識。請看一例：I got a diploma in hotel and tourism management from ABC University. I have been working as a front desk officer in DEF hotel for three years. I have developed my practical skills in hotel industry, and know how to deal with different types of people. I love to help people, enjoy meeting new friends. I’m hardworking and don’t mind working long hours. 如果現在沒有工作的話，可綜合描述工作上的專長。
Advice Columnist
又去讀書？
公司同事跟我說，她打算Part Time進修了。既然是Part Time，我自然不能對她的決定太過說三道四了。反正你在工餘時間讀書，影響不到你在office hour的工作表現，我就沒有任何投訴了。我初初做老闆時，是蠻喜歡同事在工餘時間進修的。喜歡的理由其實相當自私：同事們去讀書，一讀就兩、三年。以前公司規模細福利差，要留住員工，是件天大的難事。同事們話要去Part Time讀書，好處是在「讀完書」之前，工作方面會相對穩定。只要作為僱主的我，能在工作時間上稍稍提供多一點點彈性，平日對同事的表現不要太苛求，這兩年，這個同事九成是不會離職的。中小企千方百計想員工的turnover rate能夠低一點，當你聽到同事們去Part Time讀兩年書的消息，還不覺得自己是中獎乎？問題是，香港地會在工餘時間進修的人，九成也不會是為興趣，又或者是對為了滿足自己對知識的追求。每天返工早已讓人筋疲力盡，晚上和週末還去上課，求的當然不會只是一點滿足感。大家辛苦讀書，是期望讀了這些書，能在事業上更上一層樓，賺取更好的待遇。我不想過份地潑冷水，但除非你所讀的是歐美超名牌大學的MBA，否則孤寒僱主如我，很難單單因為你身上多了一張半張證書，而給你升職加人工的。
Career Coaching & Guidance
Don’t be dinosaurs
Recently I spoke with the regional head of a large tech sector company. He had a dilemma: to tweet or not to tweet? Without a social media presence he might be seen as a dinosaur, yet he worried about the time and skills needed. So he hired a professional marketer, who now tweets for him daily.
Career Coaching & Guidance
Top tips for success
If you feel your current role holds few prospects for promotion, rather than just waiting for something to happen, take ownership of your personal development to fast track your career, writes Marc Burrage.
Career Coaching & Guidance
Survival as a temp
The number of temporary assignments is rising. Employers are embracing headcount flexibility, managing workload peaks and hiring specialist help for projects and to cover leave, writes Marc Burrage.
Career Coaching & Guidance
Learning to grow
If you want to appeal to employers, it is not just about offering the right skills, experience and cultural fit anymore, writes Marc Burrage.