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Many aspects of student life have been tough during the pandemic. To assist students to gain meaningful career experience, HKU Business School has a career service team that helps students with job and internship searches. During the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, they organised a “Career Skill Enhancement Workshop Series” covering the likes of financial interview preparation, storytelling in business presentations, industry overviews, as well as networking and carrying out social-professional conversation.

Students were able to connect with industry professionals using the likes of live polling and virtual face-to-face Q&A sessions, gaining the critical industry knowledge needed to enter the market. This was augmented by a “Fireside chat with professionals — enhancing professional presence”, where students learned the essentials from industry professionals. Other initiatives included a partnership with Facebook to offer Blueprint Marketing Certificate free examination vouchers for students.

A screenshot of live polling which allows interaction and better understanding of the audience in the “Networking and Social Professional Conversation” webinar.

In a year where the whole world has turned upside down, students are still pursuing internships. So what has the experience been like for them? Amber Cheng, a BBA(Law) Year 4 student, took a four-week virtual internship at BlackRock that she found through the School, assisting in product positioning, client product strategies, along with data analytics.

“There have been an ample number of trainings and virtual meet-ups with mentors and colleagues from the company. Although not being able to interact with people face-to-face and network with people outside the team has been a disadvantage, overall this has been a great experience,” she says.

Meanwhile, Rain Wu, a BBA(Acc&Fin) Year 3 student, was an intern in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley for six months, starting in January 2020 before Covid-19 hit Hong Kong. “We had around one and a half months of working from home, during which my job duties were not particularly affected, because the company provided remote working facilities and I also set up a workplace in my home,” says Rain.

During an internship, Rain worked on an airline restructuring and many other exciting projects. So have there been any down sides at all? “We have had longer working hours. When working from home, there’s no clear boundary between life and work. There has also been a lack of interaction with people, and little chance for us to meet with colleagues and network. In the long-run it can actually make people feel lonely,” adds Rain.

Loneliness was not an issue for Elvis Ngai, a BBA(IBGM) final year student, who undertook an internship co-organised by the School and Neuberger Berman. During his internship, Elvis felt that he was part of the family because the company was concerned about the health and wellbeing of all its employees. “They offered us plenty of masks and sanitisers when supplies were tight in the market,” he says. For young people looking to start a career, a little love and care can go a long way.