University graduates - you’ve all worked hard
A few of my friends have recently graduated last year, heading out of university and proceeding to the next step of their lives. This bunch of friends include my best pal, some of my mates in high school, and a lovely bunch of people I also got the privilege to know in university. Some have seek further education, to further develop themselves, some have changed their career path totally and decided to go for another undergraduate degree and some have just gone straight to work. Traditionally and currently in most cases, professionals are more likely to get a stable job therefore the uncertainty of your future is less of a worry if you’re studying medicine, dentistry, accountancy and law. I’m glad to be studying medicine in this sense, but I wonder what other people will be doing after they have graduated from faculties like business and what people feel like when they decide to go for another undergraduate degree. Thus, I went and asked some of these postgrad friends.
The job market at the current moment is inevitably worst than say 20 years ago, so people who are finding jobs are having difficulties acquiring their desired stable income. A lot of friends who have graduated in Hong Kong seem to have taken routes of banking after getting degrees like International Business, Mathematics, and Business Administration. They all seem to as well think that the job is only a bridge to another slightly better job as promotion in a bank is relatively unlikely. One of my friends however could not find a job, because of the criteria companies use in hiring people - Chinese and English proficiency tests, that seem to kill many international students in the selection process. The companies seem to look at Chinese more importantly for unknown reasons so despite a higher English proficiency of international students, it does not compensate for the poorer Chinese competency. Furthermore, because of the minimum pay increase to 8000 HKD per month recently in Hong Kong, people are expecting higher wage jobs when coming out of university. People are more picky on jobs and companies are more picky on people they hire.
If we look at people who graduate and decide to go for another undergraduate degree, all of them went for a second degree that will give you a professional qualification, such as Law. This profession is somehow oversubscribed in Hong Kong and I believe the market is very close to saturated. I wonder if the profession’s reputation of high pay and job security will be holding in 5-10 years time. Yet, nobody has really gone for another degree that is not professionally related. Asked a few people about how they feel in doing another degree in university, they all say that they wished they have had done it earlier rather than wasting 3 years on their previous degree. When they told me that, I sense they had a feeling of regret and slightly tired and annoyed view in having to continue in university. I feel as if they felt what they have done in 3 years not worthwhile. I think it’s really a shame that people think their degree was useless just because the job market does not have many vacancies available for certain subjects in university. I think employers in Hong Kong also need to realize that people studying subjects unrelated to business/finance/marketing can also be of use and perhaps do as well if not better than as person with a degree of that category. A mixed group of employees with a different background is better than an unmixed one I would say.
I will not write too much more despite having loads and more to say on the topic. I have realized the difficulties of postgraduate life and I do feel your pain. For those who have jobs, I hope you succeed in the future. For those who are looking for one, I wish you all the best of luck getting a good job. For those who will go into university once again, I will say your degree is not waste and wish you every success in academia. Lastly, I do miss all you senior medics who have offered me guidance over the past few years and I appreciate the hard work you have put in to finally become doctors. I hope to follow a similar but different path soon! :)
