Page 8 - UMP Issue167_final

7 TOWARDS YOUR CAREER ASPIRATIONS
UMP 大學廣場
APR 2013
Having pursued my undergraduate studies at CUHK for
four years, it seemed natural for me to seek employment
in Hong Kong upon graduation. For one thing, as a
graduate of the CUHK Business School’s Insurance,
Financial and Actuarial Analysis (IFAA) programme,
there would be no better place to begin my finance
career than Hong Kong - the financial hub of Asia.
Moreover, under the “Immigration Arrangements for Non-
local Graduates” (IANG) Policy, a non-local graduate can
apply to stay and work in Hong Kong after graduation,
and it does not require an offer of employment upon
application. This made me eligible for employment
here. I was also attracted to the idea of working in the
multicultural and pluralistic city that is Hong Kong. Thus,
such an auspicious confluence of factors led me to
decide to take up employment in the city.
However, in terms of job searching, I think that the
year 2012 was not particularly comforting for finance
graduates. I expended a non-trivial amount of time
and considerable effort to finally obtain my current job.
In essence, I can say that my job search consisted
in leveraging the key professional networks and
relationships that I had developed during my studies
and internship. At present, I am a Research Analyst of
CASH Financial Services Group Limited and my job
principally appertains to high-frequency trading (using
quantitative techniques and programming technologies
to trade financial securities). I find the job intellectually
stimulating, nay demanding, and what’s more, my
department comprises a host of diverse and amiable
individuals. Therefore, my working life in Hong Kong has
been a most enjoyable one thus far.
Danai Katsande
(From Zimbabwe / Graduate in Insurance, Financial and Actuarial Analysis, 2012)
As regards career planning, my advice to non-local
students is threefold. In the first place, right at the outset
you have to prioritise establishing professional contacts
in your field of interest. Such an approach might consist
of, for example, seizing any opportunity to take up
internships and part-time employment, or even just
attending career talks. Secondly, being well-read and
thoroughly familiar with the current pertinent matters
of your field is an absolute must. You have to make an
effort to keep abreast of the most important issues and
news that relate to your professional interests. Last,
but by no means least, you ought to exercise academic
discipline and should maintain a good GPA. Simply
put, competition amongst fresh graduate job-seekers in
Hong Kong is exceedingly fierce and intense. In fact, for
certain industries, outstanding academic performance is
a sine qua non .
In the final analysis, one starts to build one’s career
as early as possible. Judicious planning is the chief
ingredient of any recipe for career success and
fulfilment.
year, Mexico had the presidential elections in July,
so I chose to get back and work in my home country.
Besides, as I had been working for years with PRI
before, the Party asked me to participate in the political
campaign too. After PRI won the campaign, I voluntarily
worked for it for a 6-month transition period before the
new government took power last December. Then, I
was given the job opportunity to work in the Senate.
My advice to current students is: Prepare early if you
know what you want to do after graduation. While you
are still a university student, most of you do not need
to worry much about earning a living, so do more
voluntary work and in as many aspects as you can.
I believe successful people are ordinary people with
extraordinary determination.