CityU launches job creation initiative to boost the employment opportunities for Class of 2020 graduates

Paid Post:CityU Graduates Employability Support 2020

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CityU Career and Leadership Centre organises Careers Festival every year to actively cooperate with different companies encouraging employers to create more job opportunities for graduates. (The picture was captured at CityU Careers Festival 2019)

Published: 11:36am, 7 Jul 2020Updated: 3:43pm, 7 Jul 2020

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As Hong Kong’s graduate-entry level employment market is squeezed by the double whammy-impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and months of social unrest, City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has unveiled an innovative job-matching Career Launch Scheme (CARLS), designed to maximise Class of 2020 job-seeking graduates’ employment experiences and job landing opportunities.

Open to CityU Class of 2020 graduates from University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded and Taught Postgraduate (TPG) programmes, CARLS aims to match job-seeking graduates with employers who can offer employment opportunities for at least three months or more. Supported by HK$10 million specifically set aside by CityU for the initiative and other career support, one-third of graduates’ monthly salary capped at HK$6,000 per month will be matched for a maximum of three months. Professor Horace Ip, Vice-President (Student Affairs) explains that, CARLS has been set up primarily in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has triggered an estimated 40 per cent drop in graduate entry-level jobs from last year. “As a leading globally recognised university ranked 48th in the world*, CityU takes the responsibility of helping our students with their employment endeavours very seriously,” stresses Professor Ip.
*Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings 2021

Professor Horace Ip, Vice-President (Student Affairs), says Career Launch Scheme has been set up to support graduating students’ employment in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While CityU graduates, like all fresh graduates in Hong Kong, are entering a challenging employment landscape, CityU is committed to supporting them tirelessly. “We want to show we care about them and help them to stay positive in any way we can,” says Professor Ip, who adds that helping students to prepare for their professional careers has begun since the first year they joined CityU.

To identify suitable employment opportunities, a special task force has been established to leverage CityU faculties, departments, schools, colleges and alumni connections with employers. “The connections are extensive and span almost every industry sector,” Professor Ip says. CityU has also engaged about 15 career consultants to coordinate with employers of different industry sectors to identify job opportunities and provide support to CARLS. Employers can apply to join the scheme online while graduates can find out about available jobs via the in-house online job platform and SMS notifications. Highlighting the mutual benefits for students and employers, CARLS aims to bring together graduates who are unaware of jobs that are available, and employers who are unable to connect with job-seekers with the skills they are looking for. In some cases, Professor Ip explains, employers may not be able to offer a permanent position, but instead, can offer project-based employment opportunities. “The opportunity allows our graduates to make a good impression,” Professor Ip notes. “When the economy picks up again, graduates with positive impression could be in a better position to land a permanent job.” To date, more than 150 employers have joined the scheme and provided over 500 job positions. “If more students want to join the scheme, we will look for ways to expand it,” says Professor Ip.

CityU has launched a series of win-win initiatives to connect graduating students with employers in face of Covid-19 pandemic.

Describing CARLS as a “win-win initiative for both students and employers”, Alice Leung Kirkwood, Section Head of Career and Leadership Centre (CLC) says while graduates may not land their first job as their dream job, they gain skills and experience they can build on. “Our graduates are able to network and build relationships, while employers can see the skills they can offer,” says Leung Kirkwood who explains that CARLS is part of a series of coordinated efforts designed to create work exposure opportunities that help boost graduating students’ employability and job landing opportunities.

Alice Leung Kirkwood, Section Head of Career and Leadership Centre says in addition to CARLS, “Career Month” and “One Final-year Student, One Employability Consultant” Scheme are also the major initiatives to boost graduates’ employability and job landing opportunities.

For example, with face-to-face interviews, job seminars and career workshops on hold, CityU has been embracing virtual solutions to help students transit from education into employment. During the recent “Career Month” held between 25 May and 19 June 2020, over 1,500 students took part in more than 60 training sessions, including special seminars on facing adversity and job opportunities on social media, career preparation workshops, sessions on job search skills and recruitment talks. “Our career consultants have made a concerted effort to contact each graduating student to see how we can help them,” says Leung Kirkwood. For instance, professional career and employability consultants have organised one-on-one consultations with graduating students to offer personalised career advice and help them develop their career aspirations under the “One Final-year Student, One Employability Consultant” Scheme. “The response from students to all the programmes has been enthusiastic,” says Leung Kirkwood who notes that students have given the programmes a 9.2 approval rating from a possible 10. In addition, senior professionals from the finance, education, construction, IT and professional services sectors also provided online career talks. Supporting companies include Citibank N.A. Hong Kong, KPMG, New World Development Co Ltd, Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd, foodpanda, etc.

Rocco Li, Senior Manager, Human Resources Office of KPMG in Hong Kong, thinks CityU’s “Career Month” provides ideal opportunities to engage employers with students, and encourages graduates to stay proactive in this challenging times.

Rocco Li, Senior Manager, Human Resources Office of KPMG in Hong Kong says that, participating in CityU’s “Career Month” provides an ideal opportunity to engage with a large number of candidates. “CityU nurtures a lot of top students,” notes Li. During live online career insights session Li conducted, he was able to interact with about 200 students. When asked what impresses him about his interactions with students, Li says it is those students that follow up with him after the sessions. “When students have similar technical abilities, those that take a proactive approach by following up with me through email or LinkedIn are the ones that stand out,” says Li who provides his contact details to career talk participants.

With more than 10 years of experience in the campus recruitment space, Li says when students are invited for an interview, a key thing they can do to differentiate themselves is to be familiar with the corporate culture of the organisation they are applying to join. Li says this is especially important if a job candidate is applying to join KPMG. He suggests that watching webinars and networking through professional social media channels are good initial ways to learn about an organisation’s corporate culture. Reflecting on the current graduate job market, Li points out while graduates are facing challenging times, they should keep in mind that organisations still need top talent to ensure the future success of their businesses.

More information about CARLS and overall supports for 2020 fresh graduates can be found in the following link: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/graduates-employability/CARLS.htm