The platform offers opportunities for internships, mentoring, trending training opportunities like digital and data, and career development opportunities for job seekers. Our vision is to build a community for business students from all universities that nurtures this group of constructive and engaging future leaders.
As anyone who’s ever applied for a job knows, securing interviews, internships — and eventually that dream position — can be a difficult process as you leave behind the familiar world of education and enter the unknown world of employment. As they go in search of that all-too elusive first break, job seekers must scan job sites, endeavour to put together the perfect CV and cover letter, get the right work experience and wonder which career path to embark on. A helping hand is always appreciated by graduates starting out, which is why the Classified Post has established the Young Professional Club. With a mission to unite job seekers and recruiters, the initiative is beneficial to both, providing job seekers with valuable and practical workplace knowledge and experience, and enabling companies to connect with top talent.
In the process of launching the Young Professional Club, Classified Post and cpjobs.com have successfully connected with 10 universities’ business students’ unions to offer an extensive scheme, including an internships programme, mentoring programmes, a case competition and digital training that will cover analytics and digital marketing. Those taking part can also benefit from publicity opportunities, with event coverage in Classified Post and the Young Post. In addition, the programme will deliver career development and networking opportunities via the Classified Post, cpjobs and Young Post events.
The benefits to students of joining this programme is that they can gain valuable work experience, explore their career interests, develop and refine skills, enrich their CV and network with professionals in their chosen fields.
Joining the Young Professional Club will also bring about plenty of benefits to human resources departments. It will not only identify high-flyers as future employees but also enable them to get together with students and gain more understanding concerning their mindset and expectation. It will additionally provide good employer branding exposure to the university students.
Alex Ho, Vice President, Recruitment, Circulation & Syndication Business at South China Morning Post says he was inspired to start the Young Professional Club after attending the Joint Business University Dinner last year and finding new graduates unsure about how to jump-start their career after graduation. “At the Joint Business University Dinner, which was organised by business students of multiple universities in Hong Kong, I met with a number of brilliant individuals and was very impressed by this emerging group of young people. Their passion, abilities, social skills and career vision truly inspired me, someone who has been in the workforce since before they were born. Unfortunately, the hurdle for this group of young people is, where and how to start their career after graduation?” he says.
Ho felt that he could leverage on the South China Morning Post’s recruitment businesses, Classified Post and cpjobs.com, to help these young job seekers by equipping them with the tools and experience they needed to enter the world of work. “We saw endless opportunities for our next generation if they have the right path and network to lead them into their desired career. This is what inspired us to form the Young Professional Club, which will eventually become one of the best platforms for fresh business graduates and equip them with the practical experience and the right network to finding their dream jobs.”
He elaborates that a diverse range of high-profile companies have agreed to partner with the South China Morning Post to offer internship and mentoring opportunities. “Students not only gain valuable work experience but will also be able to explore their career interests, develop and refine their skills, put what they’ve learned at school into practical use and enrich their CV. For corporates, we hope they will be able to identify high-flyers as future employees and gain first-hand insight into the new generation,” he adds. Ultimately it plans to reach no less than 50 companies, which will provide valuable interning and mentoring opportunities to around 10,000 business students, says Ho.
The Young Professionals Club has attracted support from some of Hong Kong’s most prestigious institutions, including the Business Association at HKU?? Xx? says it was keen to get involved with the Young Professionals Club as it sees it as an opportunity to make those all-important connections with the world of business. “The programme connects local university associations with business, facilitates cross-university communication and seeks opportunities in collaborating in different business activities that benefit our business students at HKU,” xx says. Students may be passive to new business fields they are not familiar with, or positions that do not clearly specify the details of work and the type of work, Xx admits. Xx suggests that seminars could be hosted to equip students’ with knowledge of different professions and provide them with the opportunity to mingle with professionals in those professions.
Another institution that can see the value of signing up to this innovative programme is EdU?, which hopes students can hone their management skills via the Young Professional Club. “We think that the major benefits [of joining] will be enhancing leadership skills and improving interpersonal relationships. By joining in with the programme events, we hope students will get the opportunities to demonstrate their strengths and learn from their mistakes,” says xx.
The benefits of taking part in the programme for SYU?? is the opportunity to touch base with different companies via internships or firm visits. “I think that what students struggle most with when looking for employment is that they may not adapt to the new working environment or [be able to deal with] any problems. With the University Internship scheme, students can familiarise themselves with the working environment earlier, and understand the job better.”
Whether students are looking to explore their career path or simply looking for something different from their major, the Young Professional Club offers a gateway to untold opportunities. Human resource departments, meanwhile, will surely appreciate the chance to connect with some of Hong Kong’s most talented graduates and better understand what today’s job seekers are looking for from a company. “Ultimately I hope our Young Professional Club will become a renowned programme among university business students as well as recruiters, a reliable and resourceful platform that nurtures the young elite and connects them to the business world,” says Ho.
