1 April 2022
Organised by the Career Planning and Development Section of Student Affairs Office, the HSUHK Hybrid Careers Fair 2022 was successfully held from 28 March to 1 April 2022. Despite the impact on the job market brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Careers Fair was well supported by different employers, presenting over 2,000 graduate and internship opportunities to HSUHK students.
The five-day event attracted more than 140 employers to participate, a record-breaking number over the years. The employers came from 36 different industries, including accounting, finance, information technology, advertising, marketing, banking, logistics and other professional services. Overwhelming responses were received from students, with over 2,200 visits to the virtual fairground and around 35,000 pageviews in total.
Considering the pandemic and social distancing measures, the event adopted an online mode to allow students to freely explore the virtual fairground, engage in live chat with employers, attend recruitment webinars and video interviews, submit their CVs, and e-meet with Careers Advisors to continue enhancing their competitiveness amid the pandemic.
The theme of this year’s Fair was “Beyond Your Visions”. In his opening remarks at the Opening Forum of the Fair, President Simon S M Ho highlighted that “HUSHK hopes that our students could to step across boundaries in terms of geography and vision to embrace career opportunities of the future world.” Students were encouraged to attend various featured seminars at the Fair to keep abreast of the latest market trends, such as the concepts of metaverse and NFT, career development in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and overseas study information. Dr Tom Fong, Vice-President (Organisational Development), also encouraged students to grasp the new opportunities emerging from the pandemic and gain new knowledge and experiences, so as to cope with the everchanging industry developments, market demands and international cultures.
The Opening Forum of the Fair also invited 3 panelists, including Ms Yvonne Wong, General Manager of Qianhai International Liaison Services Limited; Ms. Esther Lee, Director of Student Affairs; and Ms Christy Ng, Year-3 student of Honours Academy, to discuss in-depth the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) of Hong Kong Graduates in developing careers in the GBA, and to suggest some ideas for recruiting the youth in Hong Kong effectively. The Forum attracted over 150 participants including HSUHK students, staff members and exhibiting employers.
Two job corners, namely the ‘One Student One Internship’ Corner and the ‘Greater Bay Area’ Jobs Corner, were available on the virtual fairground, allowing students to explore internship and full-time job opportunities in Hong Kong as well as the GBA at ease. At the newly launched GBA Jobs Corner, more than 100 job opportunities from over 20 GBA employers were presented to students, with around 2,000 visits recorded.
The Careers Fair was well supported by employers, who were confident towards the employment prospects of this year’s graduates. Decathlon, as one of the participating employers who joined the HSUHK Careers Fair to recruit HSUHK students for the first time, was impressed by the user-friendliness of the online portal of the Fair, which allowed them to interact with HSUHK students easily and share their unique culture through text and live voice messages. Also, they were glad to see the active participation and open attitude of HSUHK students at the Fair. The company was optimistic about the industry prospects and will continue to recruit talents at various universities actively, hoping that the internship experience at Decathlon could help students broaden their horizons and enhance their adaptability at work.
AXA, another exhibiting company at the Fair, remarked that the virtual fair provided a new online platform for students to explore different career opportunities under the pandemic, and enabled both students and employers to acquire necessary information in a more convenient and interactive manner. The company was impressed by the proactiveness of HSUHK students displayed at the Fair, and is positive about the prospects of graduates in the job market, especially in the insurance industry, which has been less affected by the pandemic and is still actively recruiting young talents. Being one of HSUHK’s key partners, AXA offered an exclusive winter internship programme for HSUHK students earlier, allowing them to gain hands-on work experience in various departments and to learn about the developments in the industry. The company encourages students who intend to enter the insurance industry to equip themselves by seizing different opportunities and familiarising themselves with the interview and work mode under the new normal.
