With a record attendance of 13,000 visitors, the Hong Kong Science Park Career Expo 2019 proved a resounding hit.
This year, more than 1,600 positions were offered by over 150 companies. The number of job offered was 60 per cent more than last year. Most vacancies were in four main areas: biomedical technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, smart city, and fintech.
“The event is not only a career fair but also a platform where visitors can get a true sense of the burgeoning innovation and technology (I&T) scene and the opportunities available,” said Jojo Cheung, chief marketing officer of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).
“Job seekers have chances to chat with start-up entrepreneurs onsite. They can feel entrepreneurs’ passion and understand the persistence needed to get ahead.”
Overall, about 80 per cent of the jobs on offer were related to R&D. The rest included openings in design, marketing, business management, HR and accounting. HKSTP will keep close contact with participating companies and follow up with them on the number of applicants recruited at the Expo and for what roles.
“We build an I&T ecosystem, so I am happy to see so much interaction between candidates and employers,” Cheung said.
She noted that AI, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud technology will create new types of job opportunities, spurring demand for data architects, cloud programmers, data scientists, and AI developers and engineers.
In this respect, it helps that Hong Kong has a pipeline of talent, with around 10,000 university graduates each year in mathematics, science and engineering.
At the Expo, Science Park incubatee Dayta AI was a first-time exhibitor, offering between five and 10 jobs for machine learning engineers, software engineers and business associates.
“Our business is AI-related solutions, such as chatbots,” said company co-founder and chief executive officer Patrick Tu. “We also promote value-added solutions for retail chains, using facial recognition to analyse shopping habits, the length of time involved, and the type of products sought.”
He added that fresh graduates shouldn’t worry too much about lack of work experience or which university they attended if applying to his firm. A degree in computer science is an advantage, but the main thing is to show passion for the work because AI is not taught at university and staff must learn on the job.
“We encourage new recruits to get their hands dirty by handling a new project from concept to delivery,” Tu said.
Another first-timer Sanomics, a biotechnology company based in Science Park, has helped to revolutionise cancer treatments by providing genomic tests for patients, and recently expanded into Thailand.
“We had job openings for medical lab technologist and research officer,” said Ann Wong, their HR and administrative manager,
She noted that applicants should not be afraid of trying something new and that there is an increasing demand in the R&D sector for candidates with doctoral degrees.
Visiting the various booths, job seekers like Candy Hung, who is currently studying for an MPhil in pharmacy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was able to chat with biotech experts, entrepreneurs, and recruitment managers. Many of them appreciated the chance to get free career advice and helpful insights on the current job market.
A highlight of the Expo, 60-second Talent Pitch, attracted more than 70 entrants, with the 10 finalists including contestants from South Korea, Taiwan, Nigeria, Malaysia, mainland and Hong Kong. They were given an opportunity to impress 27 would-be-employers-cum-judges with a 60-second personal pitch on stage to secure interview opportunities. It was a huge success with a total of 62 job interview sessions happening on-the-spot and one of the participants received the employment offer.
The Most Competitive Talent Award of the Talent Pitch went to Dora Liu from Fujian, who studied media management at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She wanted to explore the career opportunities in the growing I&T sector.
