Focus・The GBA
HKBU has nurtured over 140,000 graduates since its inception in 1956 and many have made their mark in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). In this section, we are pleased to feature alumni who have been thriving in the GBA and to share their experience on how they capture business and career opportunities there.
Sharing by Alumnus Keith To Kin-tak on Mapping out His Career in the GBA
Alumnus Keith To Kin-tak
Alumnus Keith To Kin-tak (Business Administration; Finance) obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Finance degree (FinTech and Financial Analytics) from HKBU. After graduation, Keith joined the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme which was run by the HKSAR Government, and was subsequently placed as Assistant Manager, Greater Bay Area at HSBC, and has stationed in Shenzhen. He has since been working in the GBA for over a year.
1. Why did you choose to start your career in the GBA? How did you manage to secure a placement from the GBA Youth Employment Scheme?
I remember that when I completed my Bachelor degree, the global job market was hard hit by COVID-19. Most of the major economies found themselves plunging into recession and Hong Kong could not be left alone due to its externally-oriented economy. Huge thanks to the support from HKBU, I was granted the chance to enrol in the MSc in Finance programme (FinTech and Financial Analytics).
After one year of postgraduate studies at HKBU, I could see that business opportunities were (and still are) abound in the Central Government supported GBA. The HKSAR Government has also been encouraging graduates to take advantage of the growing potential of the GBA by working there. To me, it is an opportunity I cannot miss. Apart from the huge assistance in terms of the support from the Central and HKSAR government, the huge market size in Mainland China is also an appealing factor for working in the region. As a fresh graduate then, I considered it a great opportunity to take advantage of the GBA development to start my career, to grasp the chance to widen my horizon and to explore the nature and behaviour of different markets. I strongly believe that mapping out my career in the GBA will help me crystallise my own goals in life.
To take the first step of my career path, I am sure I should “walk into” the GBA in person, to really explore something that I may not have seen or thought of before. Therefore, I started to submit my application for a placement opportunity, mostly from banks, under the GBA Youth Employment Scheme (GBAYES). I was really lucky that after going through the assessment and interview stages, I was offered a job at HSBC in its Commercial Banking division in Shenzhen, thanks to my internship exposure earned in Nanjing during the summer break in year 3 at HKBU. So, it is rather crucial for us to tightly grasp any chance to earn more exposure during college time. Furthermore, we should also try to formulate our career path early in order to get prepared.
Keith (first from left) kicks start his career journey in the GBA through the GBA Youth Employment Scheme.
2. Please briefly introduce your work at HSBC. What have you gained from working in the GBA?
As I mentioned before, I landed a job at the HSBC Commercial Banking division in Shenzhen. The Commercial Banking division of HSBC in Hong Kong is regarded as one of the most gigantic banking streams due to its dominant market share in the customer segment. However, when we walked across the Shenzhen River, where HSBC is regarded as one of the foreign banks on the Mainland, the situation is completely different. There, the Commercial Banking division is still actively trying to nurture its share of the market by leveraging HSBC’s global business network and its hallmark as a renowned international bank. I consider myself lucky to be a part of the team of HSBC Shenzhen to help promote its business in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Area. Even though my work life over the past year has not been easy, I must thank the huge support from my colleagues across the GBA. With the concerted effort of the team, our division is able to achieve a satisfactory business performance over the year.
Through working in the past year in the GBA, one thing is pretty obvious to me: the culture and the behaviour, no matter under what work settings or in daily life encounters, are quite different from those in Hong Kong. Compared to the extremely tensed lifestyle in Hong Kong, Shenzhen or even across the GBA, would be relatively at ease in the work place and in daily life encounters. There, people tend to focus more on inter-personal relationship. To be honest, Shenzhen, where I am currently based, is regarded as one of the most monotonous cities within the GBA due to its lack of “characteristics or unique personality”. Most people there would tend to go to other cities in the GBA or even go out of the Guangdong province during their holidays, since other cities would have much more attractions to explore.
To make the long story short, one of the important things that I learnt when working in Shenzhen is how to cope with different challenges on a daily basis, like how best we could serve our clients, how one should set up a good working relationship with colleagues at all levels, etc. We really have to put on different hats in various roles to get the best result. How I can capitalise on my strength but at the same time play it well under different scenarios is of strategic importance. I think in the past year, I have really learnt a lot.
Keith has the chance to visit Tencent Headquarters with his colleagues at HSBC.
3. What is the biggest challenge so far in working in the PRD Area? Please share 1-2 tips for starting a career there.
To me or others, the biggest challenge I see in working in the PRD Area is definitely the ongoing travel restrictions between the Mainland and Hong Kong, as well as the social distancing restrictions practised in both places. It is entirely understandable to have the appropriate control measures in place to cope with the pandemic. However, from the business point of view, with the cross-border restrictions still in place, adverse impacts are invariably there for the business interactions between Hong Kong and other parts of the GBA. With these restrictions still in place, the growth potential of Hong Kong and the entire GBA will be hindered and it also makes ongoing business planning difficult.
Apart from the differences in business operations, the overall culture and living habits in Shenzhen are quite different from those in Hong Kong. These include, among others, the types of cuisines available, the convention of the road system, etc. It will take some time for a new comer in Shenzhen to get used to the culture and living habits there. One thing is however for sure: if we keep an open-minded attitude, we will find the journey and experience more fascinating; or else we will just see the challenges that may blur our journey to a new horizon.
