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Hong
Kong: Careers in Transition and the Getting Back to Work Foundation
By Jeff Hasenfratz
A sharp economic downturn. Record unemployment. Bird flu. The Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome epidemic. What’s next for Hong Kong?
Strategic job hunting, perhaps.
While it is probably too early to say that Hong Kong middle managers have
given up their belief in the return of secure jobs in good companies, it
does appear that some have begun to take a more strategic approach to job
hunting. This approach–based on maintaining self-confidence, acquiring
a deep knowledge of oneself and of available opportunities, and using the
right tools and techniques to address those opportunities–is advocated
by the Getting Back to Work Foundation (GBTWF).
The GBTWF, a registered charity in Hong Kong, is the brainchild of Nigel
Cumberland, the head of a local executive search firm. Faced with a flood
of resumes and too few client openings, Cumberland and others held a free
seminar in early 2002, which drew 500 participants. Encouraged by this turnout,
he applied for and received charitable status for the organization, which
later became the GBTWF.
Since January 2003, the GBTWF has held half-day workshops and monthly seminars
that have drawn hundreds of participants. The GBTWF’s target audience
consists of out-of-work “sandwich” managers and professionals:
those not offered company outplacement support or help by Hong Kong government
programs. Thus far, the seminars have drawn a mixture of local and expatriate
managers, most ranging in age from their late 20s to late 40s.
Speakers cover a wide range of topics, including personal assessment, opportunity
identification, networking, Internet research, tools development, and tips
and tactics for those wishing to become an entrepreneur or to work in China.
Thirty-five to forty percent of each seminar is spent on questions and answers
and networking. Seminar presentations are posted on the foundation’s
website, which also
includes a chatroom.
A sea change in approach to job search in Hong Kong? Perhaps not, but enough
indication that Hong Kong residents, a resilient bunch, aren’t yet
ready to be cowed by challenges–economic or pestilential.
About Jeff Hasenfratz
Jeff Hafenfratz is Managing Director of Mindsight, a career management
services consultancy offering talent retention, career and executive coaching,
and outplacement services in Asia. He is a qualified executive coach and
a Mandarin-speaker.Email Jeff.
Look at the Getting Back to Work Foundation website.
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