Management Associate, Marketing - Hi/ti BEng in Logistics Management and Engineering
"STARTING EARLY IS THE BEST DECISION I MADE FOR MY FIRST JOB HUNTING."
Ke Khelrin joined Hilti as a Management Associate through a two-year fast track career development program which gives new hires the opportunities to work in both areas of Engineering and Marketing. She first worked as a Design Engineer, and has just joined Marketing in July.
Before landing her first job, summer internships helped Ke Khelrin understand more about herself and start finding out what industries might interest her. One summer, she worked with a professor on designing an innovative curtain wall of a major building in West Kowloon District. After the internship, passing by the construction site of the building always made her very happy. She started to do research on the construction and sourcing industries, and also seek advice from professors, seniors, friends as well as career advisers. Then, she decided to join the industry since she finds excitement in getting to help build structures that people depend on. Knowing that what she helps build matters to people in the community is one of things she finds the most rewarding. The discovery also greatly facilitated her later job hunt as she focused on the jobs from these industries and started to establish connections with potential employers from the same industries.
Another major thing she discovered through internships is that Hong Kong is where she wanted to start her career! She loves the thriving business world and competitive job market here.
She started her first fulltime job hunt in her last summer break at university. In the beginning, she was still unsure about what would be a suitable job for her. She procrastinated but fortunately soon gained the momentum to try taking some small steps - she updated her CV, talked to seniors, did some research online and met up with career advisers. She managed to submit her CV to a few companies in October. In the same month, she was contacted by Hilti for her first full-time job interview. After having a few more rounds of interviews and assessments, she finally received an offer by the end of November. Looking back, starting very early-reviewing her CV, seeking advice and doing research on companies and industries-is the best decision she made for her first job hunting, especially when there were a I ot of other responsibilities for final year students, such as working on the final year project and enrolling on all required courses for graduation.
"AS LONG YOU ARE APPROACHABLE AND WILLING TO MAKE FRIENDS, YOU WILL FIND SOME
REALLY GOOD ONES."
Ke Khelrin is Chinese-Indonesian, and her family has a strong Chinese culture; she can therefore relate to many things in the Hong Kong culture. Although there wasn't any cultural shock, Ke Khelrin found it hard to make friends with locals when she first came to HKUST because of the language barrier. But she was approachable
and willing to make friends, and soon found some really good ones both in HKUST and her workplace.
In terms of hobbies, Ke Khelrin started playing futsal
when she was in junior high school. In university, she played in the football team. Playing for HKUST was indeed one of her best memories in university life. As the right full-back, she needed to prevent the opposing players from scoring goals using her physical strength and technical skills, as well as decide on the best time to take on a more attacking role - but it was also important that she did not overanalyze the situation.
This is very similar to her studies in Engineering - she simply applied what she knew and thought outside the box! try playing American football in the USA, she would like to if she had the chance to do it all over again.
"ONE ADVICE WHEN SEARCHING FOR JOB -TRY TO FIND A COMPANY THAT VALUES ITS PEOPLE MORE THAN THE BUSINESS AND YOU WILL BE TREATED WELL."
People often say a woman in the construction industry is a lady in the men's world. Ke Khelrin is happy that there is no sexual discrimination nor bad women stereotype in Hilti. She hasn't encountered any difficulties working there nor heard that it is harder for women to climb the company ladder. Hilti actually does have a lot of female executives. Ke Khelrin therefore believes that it is important to find a company that values its people this Management Trainee position is to grow and learn how to become a better professional. As long as she focuses on her job, there will be more joy in pursuing what she's after. She believes that surviving through times like this will be very beneficial for her in the future.
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Ke Khelrin is glad to see customers showing respect
and loyalty to Hilti's products, often considered one
of the most reliable construction products not only in Hong Kong but also around the globe. Once she attended a meeting with some clients and they shared stories of how they had used Hilti for 20 years and seen how both their business and Hilti had grown throughout the years. Ke Khelrin finds it really interesting to see how the business and loyal key customers can in fact grow together in an industry where small problems can result in huge consequences, including fatalities.
"NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE BEST CAREER IS
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There may be times when students feel confused and desperate with their career prospect, perhaps even thinking that they have chosen the wrong major or even the wrong university. Ke Khelrin advises students to believe that they are in HKUSTfor a reason.They should actually be grateful for having the chance to learn in one of the best universities in the world, which provides students with a lot of opportunities.
She also believes that the university is the starting point of one's career so it is important for students to learn and absorb as much information as much as they can. It is the best time to equip themselves and also to fail - because they will then learn a lesson and make better decisions later.
Ke Khelrin also emphasized the importance of taking advantage of resources at university. For example, students should not be afraid to reach out to professors and ask questions, or even brainstorm ideas with them. They can ask questions in lectures, tutorials, and most importantly during the teachers' office hours.
They will be amazed how much professors can help them understand the materials and on top of that, how willing they are in sharing their experiences so students can gain a better understanding of different aspects of career development. Professors also have contacts with industry experts so students may be able to invdve in projects and apply what they have learnt in class, as well as understand practicable sdutions in the field. Ke Khelrin concluded with this very important note:
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Getting a
''HeadStart'' Internship
Mentorship X Fellowship X
The HeadStart@HKUST Program carries the mission to offer HKUST's first- and second-year undergraduate students a "head start" in this increasingly global, competitive and dynamic society, through an early workplace immersion and career development scheme.
Three major program components - "Internship",
"Mentorship", and "Fellowship" - are designed
to provide our students - the HeadStart Fellows - with a holistic experience of workplace training and early career immersion.
Aligning with the HKUST core values, this Program is raising our Fellows to be embracers of the "can-do" spirit. With the collaborative efforts of our educators, business partners, and elite corporate mentors, the Program also expands the Fellows' horizons and equips them with the vision and capacity to become instrumental future leaders.