nan | 楠木

Went back to THU a couple of times this month, to do campus presentations and stuff. And once again I feel that job-hunting desparation mood in the air.

I think I’m very fortunate to have ended up joining a company that I really like, in an industry that I’m fascinated in. Luck once again played it’s part. If I were to have joined some of the competitors in this industry, I’m not sure if I’d still like it so much. Because this is a people industry, and I am very lucky to have joined a firm with the nicest people.

Enough self-bragging. I just feel that so many students are being very short-sighted in their job-hunting. They are easily attracted by the industries or firms that pay big bucks, and for the extremely few talented individuals who do get hired, perhaps they have no idea what they’re in for. For the last couple of days SLB has again been causing sensations on campus, and all of a sudden it seems every student wants to be a FE. I’m not sure if they’ll indeed like such a tough job. And some expressed their extreme frustration at missing out on the interview, and therefore hastily saying goodbye to a company that they “had been interested in for more than 2 years”.

Hmmm. I actually really wanted to say that might not be such a bad thing. Because the fact is, not many students know a lot about the industries out there. Most of them can’t really tell the difference between some of the commonly called “non-technical” positions, which is a totally ill-defined concept to collectively represent a bunch of professions which have absolutely nothing in common.

Not that you can really blame the students. University education, in terms of preparing students for their careers, has been severely lacking. Which is an understatement in and of itself. If a typical hard-working student spent all his time on his school-work, he would know about zero of all the professional careers out there. And he still has to make a choice when he faces graduation.

And because of this, they jump to the easy conclusion that whichever job pays more must be a superior job. So that puts I-banking at the top of the list. And then consulting. And then some rare technical firms like SLB. And then P&G and the rest of the FMCG industry, as well as the IT firms. And then perhaps, domestic companies.

But this one-dimensional categorization of the careers out there is seriously misleading. Even if you’re capable of joining an I-bank or a consulting firm, you still should not take that offer unless you’re absolutely sure that that’s the career you are really crazy for. And you shouldn’t be crazy about it simply for the money. At the end of the day, the financial compensation you get, is only a small part of the reward of developing a career that you really love.

Went back to school today to do a campus workshop. Saw a lot of friends, even a high school friend who’s now entered graduate school.

And of course did a lot of discussions. There was such a strong sense of de javu. Last year I was probably in many similar occasions, only that I was not on stage, a listener instead of a speaker. The change of roles has calmed me, made me more mature perhaps, but many similar feelings are evoked.

So many critical issues to address. And it’s so easy to become really obsessed with the details. So easy to forget whether the career path is suitable or not, just lured to it because of the obvious reasons.

I don’t know last year if I really thought it through that this is the perfect career for me. But I felt it was a chance to redeem myself, get myself back on track. I was not a top performer at school, but I wanted to be a top performer in the next stage of my life.

In that sense, I was lucky, because usually only top performers get offers. But I had my unique strengths, which helped me. And I’m grateful for that, but it also reminds me not to make the same mistakes I made back in school. I should try to be consistent in my efforts.

After the workshop, lots of students came up to ask questions. One student took a long walk with me, as I walked through the campus. I found he faced some of the same issues I did last year, but maybe a bit worse. He was eager to enter the industry, maybe not for all the right reasons. Chances, to be honest, were slim. I tried not to discourage him too much, but to give him as many honest opinions as I could. I hope he can achieve his goal, after working really hard.

Shinzo Abe, the new Japanese prime minister, visited China last week and met with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao. This is an ice-breaking visit, which hopefully will set problematic Sino-Japanese relations back on track.
I don’t know if the nationalists are disappointed (or even angered) with this sudden turn of events. They probably wish that Wen & Hu took a harder line — at least requesting Abe to clearly state that he will not visit the Yasukuni Shrine.
What’s really interesting though, is how fast events developed. China is Abe’s first visit abroad since ascending to power. The event partially confirms my belief that neither Chinese nor Japanese politicians want the cold relations between the two countries to continue. Koizumi stepping down provided both countries an opportunity to improve relations without losing “face” domestically.
It’s true that the two countries have some serious issues outstanding. Historical issues are a part of this, but I still believe they should only be taken at face-value — the real conflict is not whether Japan truly acknowledge their sins in WWII (though this itself is an issue) but rather Japan acknowledging the rise of China as a major power in Asia. This is the root of all conflicts between the two: China is rising, and Japan has to learn to cope and adjust to the changing Asia.

A few observations I made during my trip to HK.

HK has a democratic system installed, so you can feel the presence of day-to-day politics. On the road I often saw posters of local politicians advocating very down-to-earth policies, such as policies that address a very specific and simple issue.

Another implication of this democracy is that people are free to express their opinions. Two cases jump to mind: one, in the campus of CUHK, there was a “statue” for the students to let out their dissent, and they would put the picture of whomever they had complaints about on the “statue”, and afterwards they would probably hit or swear or do whatever they liked. On the day I was at the campus, the face on the statue happened to be the current governor of HK.

The 2nd case is probably more controversial. On the streets of Mong Kok, I happened to come across a demonstration by the infamous Epoch Times. Anybody familiar with anti-mainland movements should know them. They are basically a group of people against the communist government. The fact that this demonstration was allowed is proof that in HK the political environment is indeed very free and open. Now some people will probably argue that this has its faults, since in the case of Epoch Times, you could argue that they are just stirring up unrest. But I’ve always believed that blocking or restricting freedom of speech does not achieve anything, even if freedom of speech means tolerating some strongly conflicting opinions and claims.

HK people are more civilized, in that drivers drive fast but always shows courtesy to pedestrians. Speaking of which, the public transportation is friendly and easy to use.

Night-life is not as vibrant as I had thought, but maybe that’s because I’m not going to the right places. Anyway I’m not a bar or club type of person.

HK may be more traditional than the mainland in some respects. The Chong Yang Festival (9.9 of the lunar calendar) is celebrated as a public holiday.

A lot of expensive cars on the roads, probably because it’s so expensive to own a private car in HK. Therefore only the well-off end up buying, and they buy good cars. I saw lots and lots of BMW/Benz/Audi convertibles, and even a Lamborghini.

Short summary of things I’ve done so far in HK, bullet point style:

• Stayed at CUHK for 3 days, or rather, in a village to the west of CUHK. The campus is quite beautiful with excellent facilities.
• For the last few days, have been staying in an apartment next to the race-track in HK island. Very down-town I guess.
• Haven’t been doing much sight-seeing as Molly is preparing for her mid-terms. However, have been to some shopping malls, and anticipate some furious last-minute shopping activities today and tomorrow.
• Bought a Michael Crichton book, State of Fear, which is essentially a critique and attack on the conventional wisdom known as Global Warming. Again it’s controversial material, but that’s when Crichton is at his best. Finished his book basically in one go, and I’ve been inspired to do some more googling. It’s a very deep topic, maybe will write about it some time.
• Watched a couple of late-night junk films on Star Movies. And I do mean really junk films. Like lowest ratings I’ve ever handed out on my films list. Come to think it, I can’t see the logic in putting them in the list in the first place.