The critical thinking skills and creativity of ACCA Hong Kong Job Hunting Competition finalists were put to the test as they assumed the consultants' role to revive the flagging business of a professional service firm.
The 12 finalists were randomly grouped into three management consulting teams. They were given two hours to develop a proposal that would turn around the business of an international firm, and prepare a 20-minute presentation. Afterwards, each team answered questions from judges who assumed the role of the prospective client. The teams also questioned each other.
Carman Ho Ka-man, a second year bachelor of global business studies (BGBS) student at the Chinese University (CUHK), was named the winner. First runner-up was Jason Leung Ho-cheong, a first year BGBS student at CUHK and second runner-up was Sabrina Lee, a second year bachelor of law student at CUHK.
Group 2 was voted Best Team by the audience. Team members were Lee, Leung, Oscar Pang Ka-chun, a first year BGBS student at CUHK who was third runner-up, and Eva Ting Yi-fan, a second year bachelor of professional accounting student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) was the competition organiser. Top executives of multinational corporations were the judges. The companies were Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, Fortune International Group, Kingdee International Software Group (HK), KPMG, and PwC. Chairwoman of ACCA Hong Kong, Rosanna Choi, was also on the judging panel.
While all finalists demonstrated excellent communication and presentation skills, Ho stood out because she took charge of the morning preparation from the beginning, says Paul McSheaffrey, an audit partner at KPMG. 'She volunteered to organise the discussion and set a time limit for each part of the presentation. All the way through, Carman contributed her ideas. She did not dominate the discussions, but listened to others' opinions attentively.'
Josephine Cai, a senior manager at Fortune International Group, agrees. 'Ho contributed a lot of ideas during the morning preparation session. She gave a lot of examples to support her stand.'