Students should look beyond HK
It was announced on Monday the eight public-funded universities and the Hong Kong Open University have all sent out enrolment offers through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System to secondary school graduates who have met their requirements in this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education exams. According to local media reports on Monday, about onethird of 46,000 applicants have received offers from one or more of the universities they picked. This means many applicants very likely received offers from a college that is not among their top choices. This is when parents and other adults concerned are obliged to give those disappointed and even dejected youngsters a pep talk.
Those applicants probably knew it was coming because their DSE scores fell short of expectations, but that does not necessarily mean they also drew the short straw in life. After all, university education is meant to prepare students for their future careers after graduation. There is no guarantee in any university diploma or degree certificate for well-paying jobs, because employers don’t hire college graduates just by looking at their college credentials. They will ask tricky questions in job interviews and observe them closely during the probation period, because they have to make sure their investment in new recruits is worthwhile.
That is why it is up to the young students to learn as much as they can in universities, but before that they need to make some wise choices about the first, second and even third major they are going to take in the next four years. Even if they will pick just one there is usually more to think about than what majors would be popular in four years’ time. Some of them may complain it is already too late by now. True, but they should remember one can always switch majors during university education, which is four years for most majors except medicine. Needless to say switching majors is by no means easy for the student or the university; and it can prove a waste of time and energy in the end. So, think twice before deciding.
Don’t choose academic majors just for the “commercial values” of the knowledge and skills they teach. Knowledge and skills must be updated timely to give people’s careers a boost. One can acquire this awareness and basic skills necessary to continue learning after graduating college. It is also important for university students to look beyond Hong Kong when they choose majors, because the local job market is very crowded to say the least.
There will be far more job opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area than in Hong Kong in the years to come. All college students would be well-advised to keep an eye on the Bay Area’s development while studying in Hong Kong. But don’t expect things to be easier over there than here. Competition is always the best way to hone one’s skills.