The programme's reputation has drawn professionals from all over the world, including Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States.

But those who want to break into the local or regional job market face difficulties because of professional and cultural practices inherent to the area.

In response to this, the career advancement and management programme was introduced, spearheaded by Marjorie Chang Ching-wai, administrative director for career services of the MBA programme.

Chinese University's 16-month full-time MBA course, founded in 1966, has an alumni network bigger than any other graduate business school of administration in Hong Kong and China, according to the school. Internalisation is one of the key elements of the course. The newly admitted full-time class this year has students from 13 countries including Britain, the United States, France, Germany and the mainland.

When Ms Chang joined Chinese University last year, she wanted to deviate from the type of standalone career counselling traditionally offered and create a structured format of career development to provide contacts for students and help them maximise skills and meet career goals.

The process, called 'career coaching', lasts for the duration of the degree and includes individual counselling, psychometric assessments, workshops and skill training in aspects such as networking, influencing, communication skills, project management and management consultancy.

Despite the programme being voluntary more than 90 per cent of the students choose to take part.

'Those who want to change careers usually need more help and advice,' Ms Chang said.

Some of the common issues faced by overseas students in developing their career are language and cultural issues. Andre Liem, a US citizen with a background in information technology, faced these issues.

He decided to take an MBA to solidify his business experience in the IT field.

Although Mr Liem is now a senior consultant for IBM, he said landing the job was not easy.

'From a macro standpoint, the job market is difficult towards the coming of the new year. I think it's seasonal in Hong Kong, the job market only starts to pick up after the Lunar New Year,' he said. 'I had my fair share of interviews, but I was looking for a specific type of job.'

He still faces language problems, but has tried to compensate by looking for opportunities where English is used.

However, his most valuable learning experience was how to understand Asian culture. 'Coming here taught me a lot about how to interact on a business level with eastern society,' Mr Liem said.

He said that although the process of finding a job was similar to the US market there were subtle differences in the ways interviews were conducted.

'In any conversation, there is always cultural pretences,' he said.

'So aside from timing it right, I would advise other overseas students to be prepared and understand the culture a little bit more. What works in the west may not work here ... sometimes [the west] has this go-for-broke attitude, but over here that tactic doesn't always work. Study your interviewer. Just through conversation you will be able to get a sense of what they're looking for.'

For graduate Jennie Zhong, a Canadian citizen born in China, speaking fluent Cantonese, Putonghua and English removed the language issues that Mr Liem experienced. The human resources officer who works for Goldman Sachs said her most valuable experience from the MBA was the exposure to Asian business practices.

'It's a lot more competitive in Hong Kong than in Canada,' she said. '[But] there are also more opportunities.'

Career coaching at Chinese University continues to grow and helps students overcome the issues they face in new environments.

Ms Chang said: 'Language and cultural issues are major challenges. Equally important emphasis should also be given to knowledge about the market, understanding the practices of the region and how much experience they have in the region.'

The career coaching tries to offset these challenges by preparing students earlier, including encouraging them to learn Putonghua or Cantonese at the beginning of their course.

'We also give them more experience in Chinese practices through visits to China and by organising functions such as CEO talks. They can also connect with our senior alumni and other executives in the local business community,' Ms Chang said.