Road to success: Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma shares with students the seven tips to success.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma has suggested seven tips for students to find success in the financial-services sector. He encourages them to equip themselves for a career in the industry.

The tips are:

* be prepared to work 20 hours a day;

* have a 'never give up' attitude;

* acquire good language skills, not only English and Cantonese, but also Putonghua;

* hone good interpersonal and communication skills;

* gain international exposure;

* sustain lifelong learning; and

* be able to think 'out of the box'.

Speaking at a forum on industry/academia collaboration on nurturing financial talent today, Mr Ma said human resources are the most invaluable asset for Hong Kong, and the financial-services industry is a major pillar of the city's economy.

"To maintain and further strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre, we must make concerted efforts to expand and further enhance the quality of our human resources to support the future development of the financial-services sector," he added.

Internship appeal

To enhance the quality of human resources, financial services professionals and academia have committed to providing more internship programmes for local students.

HK University Vice-Chancellor Professor Tsui Lap-chee said to deeper collaborate with the industry and nurture financial talents for Hong Kong, collaborations such as summer internship and work-study will give valuable opportunities for students to learn from practical experiences beyond the classroom.

Advisory Committee on Human Resources Development in the Financial Services Sector Chairman Chan Tze-ching appealed to the industry to offer more internship programmes, which are an effective learning tool for local students.

"Internship plays a pivotal role in enhancing our financial services talent. It is a bridge between the visual world and the real financial world," he said.

Mr Chan wrote to all the professional bodies and trade unions in the financial-services sector earlier this year to call for them to provide more internship opportunities for local students. Guidelines to provide employers with "tips" on organising internship programmes were also published last month.