The graduate recruitment market remains as hot as usual, and this was reflected by the energy and commitment of the participants in the 10th edition of the Career Forum, which was held at Innocentre on November 3. More than 32 companies drew aspiring job seekers, students, and young graduates, who spent their time examing a variety of career options, all contained under one roof.
The format remained more or less the same as in previous editions, and the twice-yearly event had a varied programme, so attendees could make the most of their visit. The exhibition space presented a wide variety of job offerings and management trainee programmes, while events included the Shadow A CEO first-round interview, a briefing session for the Classified Post Hackathon, topical forums, the semi-finals and final of the Young Marketer of Tomorrow competition, and some one-on-one advice from a “CV Doctor”.
Attendees were greeted by a diverse range of exhibitors, including those from the finance, insurance, retail, banking, real estate, logistics, engineering, food and beverage, and human resources industries. Government representatives were also present. Several new exhibitors found the event a useful platform to build their own brand awareness. First-time visitor Dachser, a logistics firm, was looking for new blood to fuel a future expansion, and highlighted the senior management ladder as a plausible goal for applicants. Meanwhile, non-profit organisations like Orbis sought to recruit volunteers. Volunteering is useful for young jobseekers, as many employers view it positively when selecting job candidates.
The Shadow a CEO programme stole the limelight with over 130 online applications. The first round of interviews took place on November 3, and the queue was longer than expected because of the large number of walk-in interviews requested by those attending the Career Forum. The winners will follow in the steps of a CEO for three days between December 5 and January 14, 2019.
Robert Walters, the professional recruitment consultancy, deployed a team of four “CV doctors” on site to meet with registered attendees to vet their CVs. Based on the attendee’s job aspirations, consultants gave instant suggestions to improve the content and presentation of CVs. Each consultation took about five minutes. As most attendees were graduates, the experts focused on highlighting individual strengths such as language skills, while keeping the format concise.
There is no better way to feel the pulse of the job market than by attending the topical forums. Audiences interacted enthusiastically with veteran speakers from logistics, a global consultancy, brand marketing, and the police force on and off stage.
The 24-hour Hackathon challenged students and new graduates to build innovative digital solutions for use in the media and insurance industries. The hackathon briefing lured about 80 hackers to sign up for the contest on November 17 to 19. They had a chance to access some background on the assignment from speakers like Isabel Lam, the Chief People and Corporate Management Officer at AXA Hong Kong. Lam talked about how to carry out the assignment, and also busted some of the myths about working in an insurance company.
Kelly Services HK’s technology consultant Raymond Wong talked about the benefits and opportunities offered by the programmes, while Kenny Lam, assistant product manager, cpjobs.com, discussed some ideas about the assignment related to product. Chris Li, Senior Manager of Data Platform, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, talked about data.
