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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Nobody’s perfect: each one of us is a work in progress

I recently had the privilege of meeting an exceptional leader – one of the few female CEOs in Japan, a country in which female professionals are still rare. This CEO hadn’t followed a traditional path. She studied abroad, pursued a successful career in multinationals, and became a single parent. As she recounted her journey, she emphasised that nothing had been easy. As a single mother in New York, her salary had barely covered the cost of babysitting – so she flew her retired father in from Tokyo to look after her daughter while she travelled for business.

Advice Columnist

筍工的含金量

所謂筍工，筆者的定義是公司實際所給予的回報遠高於你所創造的附加價值 ( Added value )，例如當年「全球最筍工」澳洲大堡礁保育員的主要工作是寫Blog、上載風景圖及短片等，薪酬竟高達半年15萬5千美元！又例如《五個小孩的校長》中呂校長對破舊村校及五名基層小孩的無私奉獻，換來的只有每月4,500元，過低的「含金量」令這份有意義的工作不可能被視為筍工。

Career Path Planning

How To Turn Your Internship Into A Full-Time Job

Internships may very well be the secret to finding a full time job. Not only does an internship help get your foot in the door of a company, the hands-on experience and networking opportunities are priceless on a student’s resume. And these two factors just might be the push someone needs to extend a full time job offer when your internship comes to an end. By the same token, the inexperience of a young university student could highlight all the inadequacies and lack of professionalism of those fumbling to find their grounding in a new career.

Career Coaching & Guidance

How to leave your job like a professional

Whether you are terminated, downsized or leave on your own accord, there are many ways to ensure a graceful exit and to employ proper protocol when leaving. The measures below will keep your reputation intact and help you chart a polished and professional exit strategy. Be honest about why you are leaving. If you need a change, a more positive work environment, an increase in salary or you simply need a new career challenge, be honest about it. You can also offer feedback on ways to enhance working conditions at an exit interview.

Job Search in Hong Kong

How To Become A Freelance Career Development Trainer

Everyone grows up with a dream job. It could be sparked by an interest or hobby from a young age or a new discovery later in life……

Career Path Planning

Congratulations On Your Humanities Degree. Now What?

Well, you’ve worked hard for the last several years and you made it through university. Those years of getting yourself out of bed and into class, completing assignments, participating in class discussions, studying for hours on end, and pulling at least a few all-nighters have finally awarded you with a degree. In humanities. Now it’s time to work even harder to find a job. Some graduates may leave campus with lucrative job offers in hand, but unfortunately, many who leave with a humanities degree do not.

Career Path Planning

The 8 Best Jobs For Nerds

Being a “nerd” growing up was never easy. On the playground, schoolyard bullies often picked on those who were more interested in books and other things that lay along the “fringe” of what was deemed socially acceptable. Being labeled a nerd was enough to banish you to the outskirts of popularity and it was easy to fall into the despair of loneliness. Surprisingly, it is now those so-called nerds who are taking over the world, especially when it comes to working in the fields of technology and creative arts or design.

Career Coaching & Guidance

How to negotiate for success

Everyone will need to negotiate at some point in their career – some more often than others. Some will also have more success in negotiating than others. However, negotiating skills and tactics can be learned or enhanced. Good negotiation is actually about communicating persuasively in order to bargain more effectively. If a negotiation arises due to differences, then an effective outcome is one where a compromise or agreement is reached without dispute.

Advice Columnist

領導如教學要因材施法

領導 ( Leadership ) 是一門高深莫測的演講課。有一位智者曾經說過，領袖與老師的分別，在於老師要將一句話變成八句說話，要博大精深；而領袖則相反，把八句話用一句話表達，要言簡意賅。而今天貴為一校之長，領袖與老師之結合，戴伯成校長靈活遊走於博大精深與言簡意賅之間，分享他有趣的領導哲學。戴伯成現任東華三院邱金元中學校長領導是一門富人情味的藝術課。接觸對象包括X、Y及Z千禧世代之老師、家長及學生，如何平衡各方的需要？戴校長強調「排難解紛機制必須合符人性」，例如訪問當天剛遇上意外，因活動提供者的提早準備致有關項目須提早舉行。戴校長二話不說立即了解老師、學生的上課流程及場地之安排，平衡多方面的需求，從而作出令人舒服的彈性安排。領導並非閉門造車，成功關鍵在於平時用心經營的協調與溝通，以及遇有危機時泰山崩於前而不形於色的魄力。

Career Path Planning

5 Ways For University Students To Build Their Resumes

As university students accelerate towards graduation day, the mood can be a jumble of mixed emotions. Certainly there is excitement and nervous anticipation hanging in the air as one chapter in life comes to a close and another slowly begins to materialise on the horizon. Unfortunately, as university ends, it is also this new beginning that can fill soon-to-graduate university students with fear, dread, and anxiety. Graduating from university means entering the competitive “real” world where finding a good job is key to success in life.

Advice Columnist

培養職業道德

日前網上報道指Apple (蘋果電腦) 在舉行大型發布會介紹 Apple Watch出台消息在即，有懷疑Apple員工在網上公開Apple Watch的完整價目表。兩個兒子非常關注這篇報道，除了討論消息真偽，亦為能夠預先得悉「幕後資料」感到雀躍。我見狀立即為他們上了一節「職業道德」課。事實上，若價目表資料屬實，員工在未經公司授權下向外界泄露公司機密資料，他們涉及了嚴重職業道德問題，公司應嚴肅處理。職業道德泛指僱員在進行職業活動過程中，一切符合職業要求的心理意識、行為準則，以及行為規範，可謂是一種意識形態，而不合符職業道德的行為亦未必受法律監管。然而，當今商業社會競爭激烈，企業為了保障公司利益，幾乎都會訂立員工守則 ( Hand book )，把職業道德規範化。某些公司更會將未經授權向外界泄露公司資料的員工即時解僱，事件嚴重者甚至將其送官究治。除了透過訂立守則把員工的職業道德規範化，有些公司更會利用管理流程去保障公司利益。例如在涉及大量客戶的服務性行業裡 ( 如保險業和地產業 )，員工離職時往往把透過在原公司建立的客戶通訊和人際網絡一併帶走，因此這些公司大都要求員工把客戶的通訊資料交予公司儲存，避免公司客戶隨著員工離職而流失。

Career Coaching & Guidance

How to sell temp roles on your CV

Most jobseekers are aware that staying in jobs for less than two years can be harmful to your career in the long term…