Professional Preparation Programme

Professional Preparation Programme for Engineering Students (2022-23)

The Professional Preparation Programme (PPP) is jointly offered by the Faculty of Engineering and CEDARS – Careers and Placement. Over the years, the programme has been well received and we have had over 1400 students participated.

For this academic year, we are joining hands again to offer the Professional Preparation Programme to all undergraduates.

Aims:

• To prepare students for entering the job market
• To enhance the employability of Engineering students
• To improve students' overall competitiveness in the graduate job market
• To develop more advanced career planning and interview skills to improve students' chances of success

Programme Schedule:

Registration

Registration is open to all BEng undergraduates until 9:00am, 10 March 2023 (Friday).   

Module Descriptions

1. Job Offers Evaluation, Workplace Etiquette and Communication (3 hours)
   This module aims to help students learn how to make informed decision when considering a job offer by providing strategic guidelines ranging from choosing a job which best meets one’s needs, evaluating multiple job offers to the proper etiquette for declining a job offer. In addition, students will be given useful tips on essential working / office etiquette and communication skills to establish better working relationships and experience in the workplace to increase productivity.
2. CV & Cover Letter Writing and Interview Skills (3 hours) The module aims to equip you with the techniques of writing impressive CV and cover letter in order to increase their competitiveness in their job application process. You will also learn what to do before, during and after interviews, how to answer common interview questions, and ways to prepare for interviews.
3. CV Clinic & Mock Interview (2 hours)This module provides written feedback on CV and cover letter writing based on your submitted work. It also prepares you for an actual interview by helping you learn what is expected in a real interview situation so as to increase their chance of success. You will receive both written and verbal feedback on your performance.

   ** This module is only open to students who have attended the CV & Cover Letter Writing and Interview Skills modules, with priority given to students in Year 3 and above.

   1 preworkshop assignment – preparation of mock job application together with personal CV & cover letter, to be submitted before workshop.

Attendance Requirement and Policy

You are required to attend the enrolled module(s). You should therefore check your class schedule before enrolling.

If you cannot show up at any module due to urgent matters, you will need to send a brief email message with relevant proof to let us know why you cannot attend to show respect to the time and resources others spent on preparing for the workshop. The email can be sent to PPP@cedars.hku.hk at least 3 working days prior to the module.

Important Notes

1. Successful / Unsuccessful applicants will receive email notification from CEDARS within 3 working dats after deadline.
2. A reminder email will be sent to successful registrants before each module. Stay tuned to our emails.
3. Students will be required to
   (1) sign in the Zoom Meeting (with their FULL name); OR
          sign on the attendance sheet (f2f)
   (2) complete an online feedback form after each module.
   These two together will form a complete attendance record. Please remember to do both.

Interested students please register via Professional Preparation Programme for Engineering Students (Semester 2) 2023 | CEDARS (hku.hk).

Selected qualitative feedback of Professional Preparation Programme from Engineering students

• The workshops provide comprehensive materials with detailed explanation.
• The feedback by the instructors is very constructive and helpful.
• The PPP enables us to understand the market and the job opportunities.
• We learned how to deal with difficulties and turn it into an opportunitity to show our ability and strengths.
• The PPP may teach us how to prepare for assessment centers of big companies.
• Overall, the PPP workshop is satisfactory. The facilitators are really qualified and do well in leading us in the workshop. And the workshops have given us an all-round training of our capabilities in all aspects for job hunting and characteristics formation.