1994 Section A

Tapescript

Part I
Sellers : Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Jobs '94. My name's Peter Sellers, and I'm President of the Hong Kong Careers Institute. As you probably know, the Careers Institute organises a forum each April especially for Form Seven school leavers. Last year's forum was a great success, and I'm sure Jobs' 94 will be equally successful. The aim of this year's forum is to highlight three interesting occupations for you - so we've been careful to choose three very different ones for you to consider. We're very pleased to welcome three speakers to our forum. The first is Mr Martin Leung, who's an Assistant Buyer for the Toto Department Store in Causeway Bay. Our second speaker's Mr John Larkin, the Food and Beverage Manager of the Eagle Hotel, which of course is where we are now. Finally we have Mrs Betty Wong, who's the Managing Director of Lucky Toys. As I'm sure you know, Lucky Toys is one of Hong Kong's largest toy manufacturers and exporters. I'll ask Mr Leung to speak first. Leung : Thank you, Mr Sellers. Good morning, everyone. I'm sure all of you are familiar with Toto as customers, but I doubt if you understand everything that goes into running a successful department store. I'll begin by mentioning a few points: polite and helpful salespeople rude sales people will frighten away any customer; effective marketing - without effective marketing people won't know what we have to offer; and last, but certainly not least, clever buyers. By clever buyers I mean buyers who know what our customers want. That's where I come in. I work as a buyer for ladies fashions. It's my job to choose clothes for our store to sell. Most of the time it's a great job to have, but I'll try to point out some of the drawbacks as well as explain why I like it. First of all, I like my work because I love fashion. I enjoy the whole scene, everything to do with it, and I think I'm lucky to earn my living doing something I like. Another plus is that I'm allowed to make my own decisions. That's important to me, I hate being told what to do all the time. However, I must be honest and point out that being a
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decision-maker can be stressful - it's not always easy to be the one who decides whether to buy a certain fashion or not. On the brighter side, you'll be interested to know the job brings travel opportunities. In the last year I've been to three exciting cities - Milan, Tokyo and New York. You may not realise, though, that long flights can be exhausting and unsettling. It takes a whole day to get back from New York, for instance, and it's hard to concentrate on your work the next day you feel so sleepy. Also, overseas trips mean being away from your family -You really miss them when you're away. I should at this point explain that you can't start off as a buyer - you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. We hire Form Seven graduates as trainees and they start work as sales people. What qualities do we look for in trainees? A good academic record always helps, I'm sure you all realize that. Participation in extra-curricular activities is important because employers look for energetic people who like to get involved. The ability to speak well always impresses employers, too. That means clear pronunciation of Cantonese as well as English. A pleasant outgoing personality is a must - customers are not always easy to deal with, so the personality of all job applicants will always be considered carefully. Perhaps the most important quality is an eagerness to learn - you'll progress faster if you've got that eagerness to learn every aspect of the job, so you won't remain in a low-paid position very long.

Talking about learning, as you've probably guessed, successful applicants are entered in various training courses. We teach a course on basic fashion - you'll need a good knowledge of fabrics, colour schemes and accessories if you're going to succeed. Then there's a course in consumer psychology, ... you know, things like how to convince a customer to buy an item he or she's considering. There's a course on personal grooming - we want our staff to look their best, which is why we run this course. As well as the usual advice on caring for your general appearance, the personal grooming course gives specific advice on how to look you best in Hong Kong's humid weather. And finally there's course in spoken Japanese, to cater for all those big spending tourists.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'll be pleased to answer your questions later. Seller : Larkin : Now I'd like to ask Mr John Larkin to speak. Mr Larkin? Good afternoon, every body. As Mr Sellers mentioned earlier I'm the Food and Beverage Manager of this hotel, and I supervise all our restaurants and bars. And if you want to be manager like me you'll have to work you way up to it. You start as a trainee. We have various entry level positions for trainees and each requires particular qualities. First of all, you could be a waiter (this applies to girls as well, we don't use the term 'waitress' any more). To be a waiter you need to be cheerful and know the menu well. In most hotels, the menu changes fairly often, and you have to be able to explain our dishes to customers who are not familiar with them. Or, you could be a barman (perhaps I'd better say 'barperson' so as not to exclude the girls). You need to know how to mix drinks - not as simple as it looks - and you must have a good memory - to remember what our regular customers like to drink. Also, you should be a cashier - for a cashier speed's essential and so's accuracy - customers don't like to be kept waiting nor do they like getting the wrong change. Finally, you could be an assistant cook - for this position you have to be able to work under pressure, you'll be very busy at times... oh, and you have to be good with your hands the food has to be laid out attractively on the plate. Trainees are closely observed and graded along the following criteria or standards. The first is how well they relate to our customers. Are they friendly and polite? The second is how well they get on with each other. Are they easy to work with? And finally how well can they work on their own. Can they work without constant and close supervision? Let me give you some of the benefits of working at an international hotel like this. Even if you don't get the chance to work abroad you'll have the advantage of meeting people from other countries, which makes your working life more varied. Then there's the possibility of rapid advancement - it's promotion on merit so good work is rewarded. And I mustn't forget to mention that you can look forward to substantial cash bonuses - last year we got an extra 4 months' salary. All in all the Eagle Hotel is a great place to work.
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But like Mr Leung, I'll be honest with you. It's not always easy. First, you'll have to work nights and weekends - 'unsocial hours' people call them. Secondly, the work's physically tiring - it's not easy to spend eight hours a day on your feet, even for healthy young people like yourselves. And then you may have to deal with rude customers although I must emphasize that most of our customers are very friendly. I think it's time for the next speaker. Thank you for your attention. Sellers : Wong : Thank you, Mr Larkin. Now we'll hear from Mrs Betty Wong. Thank you, Mr Sellers. At Lucky Toys we manufacture a wide variety of toys and games. What we're looking for today is quality control officers. As you may know, most of our manufacturing is now done in China - the labour costs there are much lower - but we must be sure that standards of quality are maintained. That's where a quality control officer comes in. What does a quality control officer do? First you must ensure that the factory equipment is in good working order; some of the machinery is quite old, in fact, so it requires careful maintenance. Then you make sure the products themselves are up to standard - the standards are always clearly set down to help you do this; you must also satisfy yourself that the products are exactly what the customer ordered, this means checking that the customers' preference for things like colour, for example, has been met; then there's the packing ... you must see to it that the products are packed properly so they won't be damaged in shipment. It's demanding and challenging work. And there are particular difficulties working in China. First of all, travel isn't easy - though things are slowly improving. It's much better than it was a few years ago. People may try to deceive or trick you they want you to accept sub-standard goods. It's the same the world over. Lastly, you can't refuse to attend dinners, which are held almost every night. You can't say 'no' without upsetting people, even if you're feeling tired and would prefer to eat something simple.

Now let's be more positive and look at the rewards of the job, apart from the salary, I mean. You'll be working independently no boss is supervising you all the time, and another thing, by doing this work in China you'll gain valuable knowledge of how to run a business.
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What qualities are we looking for in potential quality control officers? You must be able to speak Mandarin ... oh, I should say Putonghua, I suppose. That's because we do some business in the northern provinces. You must be tactful or diplomatic - you'll have to be able to criticize people without hurting their feelings. And of course, you can't inspect what you can't see, so good eyesight is a must. I think that's all for now. I'm sure you'll have some questions for me later.

Part II
Sellers : Now members of the audience will have the opportunity to put questions to each of the speakers. Please raise your hand and, when I point to you, tell me your name and then ask your question. Yes? My name's Jenny Chau. I'd like to know what benefits each company offers to its employees. That's always a question someone asks. Let's start with Mr Larkin. Well, I've already told you something about what we offer at the Eagle, so I'll mention a few other things. First, we provide free health care you and your family won't be worried by the cost of visiting the doctor. For this reason we like to keep you healthy, so we provide a fitness centre for our employees to use. And perhaps most important of all, the meals we provide for staff are free, and most people say they're excellent. Sellers : Seems to me your staff are well looked after. Let's hear from Mr Leung now. Well, at Toto all our employees get a 40% discount on our merchandise, that's very generous by any standards. Then there's the annual picnic, where everything's provided for you. this year it was at Clearwater Bay. You can bring your family and everyone has a great time. Also, we have a staff club where employees can relax. The club's

Chau :

Sellers : Larkin :

Leung :

well equipped, too - it even has a karaoke machine. I think that's about it. Sellers : Wong : That sounds very favourable, too. Now it's Mrs Wong's turn. Thank you. Lucky Toys isn't such a large organisation so the benefits we offer are rather different to those of big companies. As I mentioned earlier, you'll be working in China a lot, and we pay your basic living costs while you're in China - that means hotel room, food, laundry etc. Back in Hong Kong there's the company bus service - there are several routes available to pick you up and bring you in to our Kowloon office. And like the meals Mr Larkin mentioned our bus service is free. Thank you. Let's have another question now. Yes? I'm Pat Li. We've heard about three different jobs this morning, and I'd like to know which job I'm best suited to . So what I'd like to do is give each of the speakers one of these sheets which gives personal information about myself,... you know, my character, academic details and my interests ... to see if I'm suitable to work in their field ... There's a challenge for our speakers! Ok, give me the sheets. Luckily, they're quite brief. ... Right. Let's see what our speakers think about Pat. Who's going to start? I will. She's definitely suitable for a career in fashion. Look at what it says on her sheet. She mentions she's got artistic ability. She got grade A for Art in the CE exam. Pat's excellent artistic ability is important because it'll help her to recognise good fashion designs immediately. Not everyone can do this, but this ability to recognise good designs ensures that the fashions she chooses will sell well.

Sellers : Li :

Sellers :

Leung :

Another reason Pat's suited to a career in fashion is that she has very good language skills. That'll help a lot, because obviously it's a big advantage to be able to talk business directly with foreigners, without an interpreter to slow things up. That leads me to another point in Pat's favour. As I mentioned earlier, there's quite a lot of travelling involved in this job, and I notice it actually mentions here that Pat likes travelling - I think that's important because she'll enjoy the frequent
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trips abroad she'll have to make. Happy people make good workers, that's what I've always found. Pat really should think about a job in the fashion field - she'd be wasted in the hotel business or in quality control. Larkin : That's not true. I think a hotel career would suit her very well. Pat's artistic ability is also an advantage in the hotel field, simply because everything in the hotel has to look nice. As for Pat's language ability, obviously it would be another point in her favour in hotel work. As I mentioned earlier, our guests come from all over the world so her skill in languages would be a big asset. I'm confident a hotel career is the right choice for Pat. Wong : But Mr Larkin, Pat doesn't seem very suitable for hotel work to me. Let me read what she says about Maths: 'I'm rather weak at Mathematics and I dislike statistics and anything to do with figures.' Would she be able to manage the accounting side of hotel work efficiently? No, I don't think so! Accounting is quite important in hotel work, too. Pat's been honest enough to mention her weakness, and I'd say it makes her unsuitable for hotel work. You've got a point there, Mrs Wong. She'd be better in fashion. I notice she describes herself as 'outgoing' as well. An outgoing personality is right for the fashion world because you have to meet a lot of people. It's no use being quiet and shy, you'd never be successful. Wong : I think you're overlooking some of her other attributes. She mentions two qualities which make her perfect for quality control ... The two qualities I mean are good concentration and attention to detail. Both of these are vital in our field. You've got to concentrate, keep your mind on what you're doing so that you'll notice straight away any poor quality materials that are used, not when the order is complete. As for the second quality, attention to detail, this means she'll make sure the product matches the customer's requirements. Remember, a customer can refuse to accept the goods if the details are wrong, for example if a garment has a zip instead of buttons. Then we lose money ... As for her language skills, both Mr Leung and Mr Larkin have mentioned this as being helpful in their fields, but neither of them mentioned that it says she speaks seven Chinese dialects .. She mentions Chiu Chow, which

Leung :

makes her perfect for us, because as I said earlier, a lot of the work is in China. Larkin : But I don't think you've noticed Pat says she's rather impatient. Being impatient must make her unsuitable for quality control. Everyone knows there's a lot of production delays in China, when the machine breaks down or there's a power failure for example. These constant production delays must demand great patience from the staff ... But there's a more important reason why Pat's unsuitable for you, Mrs Wong. In quality control artistic ability is not an advantage, it's a drawback. That's because in quality control you have no artistic freedom. You can't decide what a certain toy should look like, it must match the specifications, it must be exactly what the customer ordered. Leung : I agree with the points you've made, Mr Larkin, but I'd like to point out that Pat's impatience must surely make her unsuitable for hotel work, too. It costs a lot of money to stay in a hotel, and guests will complain if they're not treated properly. It's obvious her impatience would be a drawback in dealing with guests. But it's a different story in the fashion field. As a fashion buyer impatience will actually work in her favour.

Larkin : Impatience ... work in her favour! How can you say that? (incredulously echoing Leung) Leung : In the fashion field you have to move quickly to be the first with new ideas, which suits impatient people like Pat. She's definitely best suited to work in fashion. I can't see she has any drawbacks at all. But she's admitted she's poor at Maths and she hates anything to do with figures. In the fashion business you have to work to a budget like everyone else. What if she does her sums wrong and spends too much? You wouldn't be pleased, would you, if she overspent? Any failure to work to a budget would surely cause you problems. OK, OK, I suppose her weakness in Maths is a bit of a disadvantage. Well, it won't matter at all in quality control. She won't be doing any accounting work.

Wong :

Leung : Wong :

Larkin :

I'd like to take up a point Mr Leung picked up. Pat's outgoing personality. He mentions it's important in the fashion industry, but I feel an outgoing personality is equally if not more important in the hotel industry. Guests expect warm, friendly staff who will treat them like friends rather than hotel guests, and this personal touch makes the guests keep coming back. that's why we prefer outgoing people. One final point I'd like to make, although Pat hasn't said anything about her appearance, we can all see that she's a very good looking girl. Her attractive appearance would be another point in her favour in hotel work because it helps the hotel maintain its image of excellence.

Wong : Sellers :

I'd like to say ... Sorry, we'll have to stop there. It's obvious Pat Li won't be short of job opportunities. It seems all three of our speakers would be happy to offer her a job. But what about the rest of you? There's just time for me to summarise some of the things you should all bear in mind. First, you should be honest about your weaknesses. Your weaknesses are just as important as your strengths when planning your career. You'll notice that Pat Li did admit she wasn't too good at Maths. Also, be prepared to start at the bottom, don't expect to be an executive right away. There are many very successful people who started life as office messengers, for example. And finally, don't just focus on the immediate future ... bright young people like you should be looking for a career, not just a job, so think of the long term prospects, too. Well, I'd like to thank all of you, the speakers and the audience, for attending this forum. I hope it has given you a few ideas