The 12 finalists in the ACCA Hong Kong Job Hunting Competition 2009 went all out to impress the 'board of directors'.
They were hoping to get approval for their business proposals and win one of three places in the grand championship of the nationwide competition in Shanghai this summer.
In the final, which took place on April 18 at the Conrad Hong Kong hotel, contestants were divided into three groups and given 20 minutes to make a presentation on setting up an environmentally friendly office.
Each proposal had to include business objectives, goals, organisational structure of the 'green' office, the benefits of the initiative and possible costs.
The judges represented the top management of a listed company. Candidates had to convince them that the 'green move' was worthwhile despite the global economic problems.
Once the contestants learned about the topic in the morning, they had two hours to prepare. Computer aids were provided, but there was no internet access.
'We had to search through our own knowledge base in the two hours,' said Jacqueline Ng Wing-man, who was in the first group to present the proposal.