The MUST Career Day, held by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), has reached its sixth year, with over 140 employers looking for qualified graduates to join their teams.
Organized by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Planning of MUST, the annual three-day recruitment event kicked off yesterday. It offers employment at 140 companies, including casinos, hotels, banks and financial groups, retail stores, and real estate groups. Besides those from Macau and Hong Kong, 15 mainland employers are also in attendance
According to Liu Liang, the president of MUST, during the past five years the university has contributed a total of 13,500 graduates to the labor market and to further higher-education institutions, 40 percent of whom were local residents. “Among all graduates, 90 percent either began their working careers or continued on to further studies,” revealed Liu.
Although both the gaming and hotel industries still dominate the event, governmental organizations, telecommunications and IT companies, and airlines are also important sources of employment. Air Macau brought its recently launched “Macau Local Cadet Pilot Program” to the event. Carmen Hong, human resources manager for Air Macau, told the Times, “We have been attending this event for several years, but the pilot training program is new. We want to train local pilots.” Hong informed the Times that Air Macau employs 30 pilots, but most of them come from Europe. “It’s a little bit difficult to find professionals for some positions. Good language skills is one of the criteria.”
Nevertheless, the slow-down of both the gaming and hotel industries, coupled with the growing potential of other fields, has made some fresh graduates lose interest in casinos and hotels, in spite of the large numbers of students still applying for those jobs. Vivian Wong, a local hotel management student at MUST, told the Times: “I am studying hotel management, so hotels and casinos are still my top choices.”
A finance student surnamed Li, said that she has “ no personal demands concerning salaries and other things. It’s important to get a job first, and I wish to work for finance companies.”
Having started in 2011, MUST Career Day is now an annual event. Beyond the job opportunities, it also features lectures on interview skills, company culture and other topics that could help students better prepare for their careers.
Around 2,500 MUST students are expected to graduate this year. Staff reporter
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