As the economy worsens, university students are coming under pressure to improve their job hunting and interview skills to secure the job or internship they want. Many companies are cutting back or putting their recruitment plans on hold because of economic uncertainties. To further equip undergraduate students with the soft skills needed to find jobs and put them on their career paths, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Job Hunting Competition is expanding. Entering its fourth year in Hong Kong, the nationwide competition has become even more competitive with the addition of a fifth city. The event aims to simulate job hunting for university students and provide them with a platform to bridge the gap between the skills they already possess and the skills that employers want. This year, the competition will be held in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and newcomer Chengdu. The top three regional winners will have a chance to represent their city and take part in July's grand final in Shanghai. Full-time, non-final year students in any discipline at the nine local universities can apply to take part in the competition in Hong Kong. Students from the University of Macau can also compete in the Hong Kong stage of the event. With more than 260 applicants from Hong Kong and more than 5,000 from the four cities last year, an additional city will significantly intensify the competition, and competitors will face greater challenges this time around. 'Through the competition, we hope to provide students with real-life scenarios and give them the experience of brushing up on their job hunting and interviewing techniques,' said Kelly Chan, president of ACCA Hong Kong. 'This is also a good chance for students to win an internship at one of the sponsors. It is crucial for students to grasp this type of opportunity to polish their interview skills amid a tough economy.' Applicants have to answer three questions in order to become eligible to progress to the three-stage competition. 'One of the questions asks applicants to use an animal to accurately describe their respective strengths and weaknesses,' said Lydia Lai, student promotion manager. 'The answers to this question will help the judging panel to screen for the shortlisted candidates.' The competition will start early next month with a Business Language Testing Service (Bulats) English test, sponsored by the British Council and Cambridge ESOL, that is based on realistic business-related situations, and a new aptitude test for the 60 chosen applicants in Hong Kong. In mid-March, 24 semi-finalists will face a panel of three or four judges during a 30-minute group interview where students will be tested on how they express themselves, and their analytical and communication skills in Cantonese, English and Putonghua.The 12 finalists will attend a career planning workshop where recruitment agency Michael Page International will share tips on how to approach job interviews and writing resumes. The students must then produce the best possible solution in a given case while in their groups. Seven judges, including ACCA representatives and human resources or finance executives from the sponsors of the competition, will judge the students based on their analytical, communication, presentation and language skills. The winners will receive a cash prize, a trophy and, more importantly, a chance to compete in Shanghai in the grand final, and a summer internship at one of the sponsors. This year, 10 companies - Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, DTZ, Ernst & Young, Hang Seng Bank, Horwath Management Services, KPMG, Orient Overseas Container Line, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Assurance and the Venetian Macao Resort - are offering internships to the top performers. This competition gives university students an opportunity to simulate job-hunting with real human resources managers and receive expert training to fulfil their career aspirations. As an added incentive to the competition winners, internship sponsors may become permanent employers. 'To get prepared for the competition is not something the students can do within weeks,' Ms Chan said. 'They should have long-term exposure to global economic, political and social news so that they have an all-round knowledge and views of what is happening in the world.' The South China Morning Post is the official media sponsor and Classified Post is the official recruitment sponsor of the competition. ACCA Job Hunting Competition 2009 Application deadline February 23 BULATS English test and aptitude test March 6 Semi-final (group interview) March 23 Career planning workshop March 28 Final round April 18
