Letter from Hong Kong…
theoretical knowledge. To tackle this there are a number of things that our members have been doing in Hong Kong to try and reduce that gap and increase the pool of those graduates with the right balance of strong academic results and those ‘essential real life, soft skills’.
Tasting the work environment Our members are working in closer collaboration with local universities to discuss the issues we face and to help them to understand the gap between our requirements and what local students currently offer. Some of our members are also proactively establishing relationships with students much earlier in their university life so that they can help cultivate these ‘essential skills’. There are several ways that these companies are working with the local institutions to bridge this divide.
Several of our members in Hong Kong run structured internship programmes. The programmes that address the issue best are those that introduce students to the company’s operations, working culture and employee requirements. These programmes enable the student to experience what it is really like to work for the firm by being given day- to-day work: real projects; the chance to participate in a group project; and ongoing coaching and feedback. This allows students to utilise and enhance their ‘practical and soft skills’. They are also set objectives at the beginning of the internship, a mid-internship review, and an end of internship evaluation feedback meeting. The intern manager provides balanced and structured feedback and coaching on the intern’s strengths and development areas and gives them guidance on any key areas that they should focus on improving.
This more realistic work environment has enabled graduate recruiters and managers to use the internship programme as a ‘recruiting tool’ by observing how the student has performed in the working environment.
We are able to clearly see by the end of the internship if the student possesses those ‘vital soft skills’ that are required. We have found that these internship programmes are also beneficial for the student as they can provide them with a real insight into the world of work, what is required of them on a day-to-day basis and if the organisation and its culture are a ‘good fit’ for them.
We have also found that these programmes help to enhance brand awareness and positive exposure and, ultimately, also help us to find the best candidates earlier by increasing their engagement and buy-in with our organisations, assisting us in building a pipeline of talented, young professionals for the future.
Knowledge exchange Over the last few years employers in Hong Kong have also worked informally with the local universities and student societies to provide their services as mentors. In order to make these programmes more beneficial to both the student and the organisation, some of our HKAGR members have formalised these and introduced more structure.
Some of the international banks are working with female students through the ‘Women in Banking’ initiative to help build their pool of female traders, quantitative analysts and investment bankers. One of the leading professional services firms here in Hong Kong runs a mentorship programme that is specifically aimed at building a relationship with the students from year one of university. This involves working more closely with the local universities to source and select candidates who are interested in a longer term career within the organisation’s industry.
The way in which these programmes work most effectively is to ensure that the mentor takes on the responsibility of offering their time, knowledge, guidance and insights for the benefit of the
student, who is at an early stage of their personal and career development. The mentor gives students a better and more realistic understanding of the world of work and what their industry is looking for in graduates. Through regular catch- ups they help students to improve their networking and communication skills, assist them in identifying their current skills and abilities, and coach them on ways to work on those that need some improvement.
We have found that our mentors benefit as they are able to enhance their own feedback and coaching skills. They also feel good as they are giving back to their local university, as well as promoting the organisation’s brand. They further support us by identifying and bringing to our attention those students that would make good future employees. We have also found that it is great way to get a real insight into the culture and the way in which the younger generation in Hong Kong thinks, helping us to reconnect with them. We have found that it can also help cut future recruitment costs by identifying and developing this talent earlier.
Early involvement As employers and recruiters in Hong Kong we know that there is a mismatch between what we expect from students and the reality. To clearly tackle this issue – to narrow this gap, to target, educate and select the ‘best fit’ students for our organisations – we need to think of ways in which to work with the academic institutions. Together we need to come up with effective ways in which to help address the entry-level workplace requirements and how we can integrate students earlier into real life work environments. Ultimately, we need to build our future managers, and the leadership of our organisations from this entry level talent. It is up to us to ensure that they are equipped with key soft skills such as ‘analytical thinking; communication; reasoning and leadership ability’ which will enable them to grow and succeed in our organisations. n
www.agr.org.uk | Graduate Recruiter 33
www.hkagr.com
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