{"id":4710,"date":"2019-03-12T17:28:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T09:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.ift.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2021-04-08T11:43:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T03:43:57","slug":"ift-career-day-2019-offers-job-opportunities-in-macao-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/ift-career-day-2019-offers-job-opportunities-in-macao-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"IFT Career Day 2019 offers job opportunities in Macao and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u6587\u6458\u8981 \/ Summary in Chinese<\/span>\n

The 2019 edition of the annually-held IFT Career Day, a job fair for the Institute\u2019s students, was held at the Taipa Campus on 5 March. It featured 56 employers offering an aggregate of more than 2,500 positions across a number of industries, ranging from tourism, to human resources, to mass transportation. Hundreds of undergraduates, particularly Year 4 students, joined the day-long event to find out more about job opportunities available in Macao and beyond.<\/p>\n

Studying at IFT does pay off, according to a graduate employment survey by the Institute. It showed most bachelor programme students graduating in academic year 2017\/18 were enjoying attractive salaries within 6 months of completing their studies. The survey\u2019s data indicated that 3 in every 4 IFT graduates in employment had found work in the tourism and hospitality sector. The median monthly salary among such graduates was approximately MOP15,300.<\/p>\n

IFT President Dr. Fanny Vong says the Career Day is a priceless opening for students \u201cto learn more about job opportunities and, even more importantly, about long-term career prospects.\u201d Dr. Vong adds: \u201cIt is one thing to know about a company through newspapers, social media and so on, but it\u2019s another thing when they send a team to campus to show you the career prospects they have available.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IFT President says some of the representatives sent by companies participating in the IFT Career Day are themselves IFT alumni. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a student-to-student talk,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a more frank, honest kind of sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel was one of the firms that sent an IFT alumnus to this year\u2019s IFT Career Day. Ms. Iris Zhou, Assistant Trainee Manager at Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel, says she feels the knowledge and skills she learned at IFT now give her a competitive edge in Mainland China\u2019s hospitality-sector labour market. \u201cIFT is a very good and very professional hospitality school,\u201d she says. \u201cIt really develops students\u2019 talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diverse job offerings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The IFT Career Day has been, over the years, expanding its scope beyond the Macao employment market. The 2019 event provided information about employment trends in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and even as far inland as Chengdu, the capital of Mainland China\u2019s Sichuan Province.<\/p>\n

Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel was among 4 entities from Mainland China taking part in this year\u2019s IFT Career Day. Ms. Zhou says the hotel was mainly looking to attract job candidates from Mainland China that are currently studying at IFT, and who might be interested in developing a career in the Mainland hospitality market after graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our students are from the Mainland and naturally they may want to look for job opportunities there,\u201d says IFT President Dr. Vong.<\/p>\n

Kai Wang, a Year 4 student from the Tourism Retail and Marketing Management programme, says he can see new career opportunities arising from the development of the Greater Bay Area. \u201cIt\u2019s the future heart of the world,\u201d Kai says. He was one of the students attending the IFT Career Day 2019.<\/p>\n

Even though he is originally from the Mainland\u2019s Shanxi Province, Kai admits his preference would be to stay in Macao to start his career. \u201cI did an internship in the luxury retail business and this industry is going pretty well in Macao,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

One Macao project providing plenty of job opportunities is the Cotai resort Lisboeta, slated to open in early 2020, with a roster of non-gaming facilities. Ms. Choco Cheang, Human Resources Executive at the firm behind the development, says the company is looking to hire IFT Year 4 students graduating this year, so they can start work immediately.<\/p>\n

One of the company\u2019s \u2018secret weapons\u2019 in order to attract IFT students is that its resort will feature what management says is the world\u2019s first boutique Line Friends Hotel: the property takes its theme from \u201cLine Friends\u201d, the cartoon characters associated with Line, a mobile messaging app popular in Asia. \u201cMany of the students really like Line Friends, so they are very interested,\u201d says Ms. Cheang. The executive also believes Lisboeta\u2019s focus on general hospitality will be attractive to IFT graduates looking for either front-desk work or a management position in an international-standard hotel.<\/p>\n

The IFT Career Day 2019 also featured job opportunities for those interested in joining Macao\u2019s casino industry. VIP casino gambling service provider David Group, for instance, took part in the event \u201cto hire some new blood from IFT\u201d, says Ms. Cylia Wong. The Executive Assistant in the group\u2019s recruitment team praises the Institute\u2019s graduates for their ability to speak more than one language and for being \u201cready to learn new things\u201d. Fresh graduates may lack professional experience, \u201cbut if they are willing to learn, they are easy to teach,\u201d says Ms. Wong.<\/p>\n

David Group is particularly keen on \u201cenergetic\u201d students from IFT, she adds, because the company is expanding in Asia, namely in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia, which means new recruits should expect a career in which travelling around the world for work is part of the job description. \u201cIf they understand our company culture, they can have a long stay with us,\u201d says Ms. Wong.<\/p>\n

Broad horizons<\/strong><\/p>\n

The IFT Career Day 2019 shows that the range of employers interested in taking on new graduates from the Institute extends well beyond the tourism and hospitality industries. \u201cWe are happy to see that we are also getting retail and human resources companies coming here, and even companies in the mass transportation sector,\u201d says IFT President Dr. Vong, pointing out that the future operator of Macao\u2019s under-construction Light Rapid Transit system, MTR Railway Operations (Macau) Co Ltd, attended this year\u2019s job fair.<\/p>\n

Participating companies value the knowledge in fields such as retailing and marketing displayed by graduates from the Institute, Dr. Vong says. \u201cThe curriculum we have designed for students helps them cultivate a good working mindset and a positive attitude to service; things that are applicable to all business sectors, especially now that service users are demanding more individualised attention,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

IFT is also keen on encouraging its students to \u201chave an open mind, and not just enclose themselves within a very narrow path of development,\u201d says Dr. Vong. \u201cAfter working in another industry, maybe they will come back to the tourism and hospitality sector with more ideas and a fresh perspective,\u201d she adds. \u201cThat is why we are always providing students with opportunities to open up their horizons through exchanges, internships and short trips.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Macao student who has taken advantage of such opportunities is Kate Kwan. The Year 4 student of Tourism Business Management attended an internship at the UNESCO World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region, in Shanghai, in Mainland China. It changed her outlook, she says.<\/p>\n

Kate is now keen on furthering her studies, namely by obtaining a master\u2019s degree abroad. \u201cAnd then I would like to find a job opportunity in Shanghai,\u201d the Macao resident says. \u201cI think there are many career opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and in Mainland China,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\r\n
Employers at IFT Career Day 2019<\/i><\/i><\/div>\r\n
– DFS Cotai Ltd
\n\u2013 Air Macau Co Ltd
\n\u2013 AsiaHospitalityCareers.com
\n\u2013 AXA China Region Insurance (Bermuda) Co Ltd
\n\u2013 Banco Delta Asia S.A.
\n\u2013 Conde Group
\n\u2013 David Group
\n\u2013 DFS Cotai Ltd
\n\u2013 EGL Tours (Macau) Co Ltd
\n\u2013 EvolutionHR Consultancy Ltd
\n\u2013 Ferre Human Resources Co Ltd
\n\u2013 Four Seasons Hotel Macao
\n\u2013 Future Bright Group
\n\u2013 Galaxy Entertainment Group
\n\u2013 Grand Coloane Resort
\n\u2013 Grand Emperor Hotel
\n\u2013 Grand Hyatt Macau
\n\u2013 Grand Lapa Macau
\n\u2013 Haoliwoo Real Estate of Network Ltd
\n\u2013 Hello-jobs.com
\n\u2013 Holiday Inn Macau
\n\u2013 Hotel Lisboa
\n\u2013 Hotel Royal Macau
\n\u2013 JC Human Resources Consulting
\n\u2013 JW Marriott Hotel
\n\u2013 L\u2019Arc Macau
\n\u2013 Lisboeta
\n\u2013 Louis Vuitton Macau Co Ltd
\n\u2013 Macau International Airport Co Ltd
\n\u2013 Manpower Services (Macau) Ltd
\n\u2013 Manulife (International) Ltd
\n\u2013 Melco Resorts & Entertainment
\n\u2013 Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd
\n\u2013 MGM
\n\u2013 MSS Recruitment
\n\u2013 MTR Railway Operations (Macau) Co Ltd
\n\u2013 New Yaohan
\n\u2013 Regency Art Hotel
\n\u2013 Richemont Luxury Macau Ltd
\n\u2013 Sands China
\n\u2013 Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel
\n\u2013 Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel
\n\u2013 Shun Tak Holdings (Macau) Ltd
\n\u2013 Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain
\n\u2013 Smart United Asia Ltd (Macau Branch)
\n\u2013 Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A.
\n\u2013 Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16
\n\u2013 Starbucks (Macau) Ltd
\n\u2013 Tak Chun Group
\n\u2013 The Nuance Group (Macau) Ltd
\n\u2013 The Ritz-Carlton, Macau
\n\u2013 The St. Regis Macao
\n\u2013 Valiram Luxury Ltd
\n\u2013 Vang Iek Group
\n\u2013 Vweed Creative Group
\n\u2013 Wing On Holidays (Macau) Ltd
\n\u2013 Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A.
\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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