Career Forum 2007
28 Apr 2007, (Saturday)

Every year about two to three thousands graduates from university engineering departments make their way into the job market, providing a fresh wellspring of human talent for the local infrastructure and construction industries. However, we have also seen the number of large-scale construction projects and capital investment initiatives from the government as well as the private sectors diminish over the years. These have made it difficult for those wishing to enter the civil and building services engineering industry to have clear views of their career prospects.

The Career Prospects of Civil and Building Services Engineering - Career Forum 2007 held on 28th April, 2007, was jointly organised by Joint Engineering Training & Education Fund and A-Performer.com, a subsidiary of the Sing Tao News Corporation. The industry leaders in attendance at this event gave their views about the future development of the employment market. Moreover, they encouraged graduates to advance their careers in mainland China, Macau and overseas.

Established in 2004, the Joint Engineering Training & Education Fund has been raising financial resources and organising different kinds of activities to provide training, internships and educational opportunities for engineering undergrad majors and graduates. To this end, a fund raising concert will also be held this summer by the Fund.

Mr. Wai Chi-Sing, director of highways, Highways Department
Speaking in the Forum, Mr. Wai Chi-Sing encouraged students to make longer-term career plans instead of just looking at present salary offers. In the financial year 2006/07, the government and private sectors will invest about HKD90,000 million in infrastructure and building construction projects, among which government expenditures will comprise a quarter of the total. While seeing potential job opportunities, Mr. Wai said that students should also explore options overseas in view of today's highly developed market in Hong Kong.

Mr. Edward Chan, executive director, Maunsell Structural Consultant Limited
With more than 10 years' work experience in China, Mr. Edward Chan pointed out that there are many promising opportunities on the mainland in terms of career development. In fact, the professional knowledge of engineers trained in Hong Kong is highly valued by industry practitioners in China. Mr. Chan also explained that different roles are played by independent checking engineers, developers, and design companies in China.

Mr. Vincent Tse, managing director, Parsons Brinckeroff (Asia) Limited
Poised to become the 'Las Vegas of the Orient', Macau has recently unveiled various large-scale construction projects, including the airport extension, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, and the highly anticipated "Cotai Strip" development project. In addition, more than 30 hotels will open over next few years with total hotel room capacity exceeding that of Hong Kong. According to Mr. Vincent Tse, Macau is the place where engineering professionals can fully reach their potential.

Mr. Philip Lai, director, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited
Another speaker Mr. Philip Lai said that in Hong Kong's high density, fully saturated engineering market, there are fewer advancement opportunities compared with other regions. That's why he strongly recommended that students look to overseas markets to bolster their work experience, earn professional qualifications, expand career horizons and deepen training in order to think in more multi-perspective ways. "Becoming an engineer is by no means a simple task at all," he said.

Mr. Victor Cheung, director, J. Roger Preston Limited
Mr. Victor Cheung defined the work carried out by building facility engineers, which ranges from lighting, air-conditioning, and ventilation to fire prevention and other aspects, to help keep buildings operational.

Mr. Ian Edwards, director, Gammon Construction Limited
Applying his extensive 25 years of solid experience in the civil engineering industry, Mr. Ian Edwards managed many high profile projects, including the Hong Kong International Airport, the most recent Airport Passenger Terminal, and the Kowloon-Canton Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Terminal. He said that being a top-notch engineer means not only having good knowledge about technical aspects, but one should also be an excellent manager as well.

Dr. John Luk, project advisor, Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited
Dr. Luk shared his own personal experiences with the Forum participants and outlined the range of duties and career paths he saw as an engineer working in developers.

Mrs. Margaret Cheng, head - corporate human resources, Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited
Comparing the work attitudes between local and mainland students, Mrs. Cheng pointed out that local students prefer to gain more international work experience while students from China want to establish their own businesses instead. As a veteran human resources professional, Mrs. Cheng emphasised the importance of maintaining a good work attitude, because employers - "Hire for the Attitude, Train for the Skill".

In conclusion, in view of the stable yet saturated market in Hong Kong, many are seeing infrastructure and building construction projects growing in other world regions. That's why students who look to civil engineering as a life long career should not limit themselves to the Territory but rather must take advantage of opportunities to develop their experiences in other countries …and create your own milestones.