THE JOB-HUNTING competition being held by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for university students in Hong Kong has reached the semi-final stage. Thirty applicants have completed the mock-interview round.
Held over two days, the group interviews gave students a chance to hone their interview techniques and get valuable feedback from the honorary judges.
'All the students were outstanding and I was impressed with their skills and level of confidence,' said guest judge Simmy Cheng, who is the senior manager for human resources of corporate administration at Overseas Orient Container Lines (OOCL).
On both days, each group interview was divided into three stages. In the first stage, students had to introduce themselves and comment on why they should be chosen.
To make the contest challenging, the organisers asked the candidates to speak in Putonghua - and only for a minute, thus making it important to be clear and concise.
'Some students had difficulty with this. Spending too much time on the self-introduction, they ran out of time to answer the question,' said Alice Lau, guest judge and senior resourcing and relationship manager, Hang Seng Bank.