Source: My UM
Have you ever had a nightmare like this? You are writing a resume for job applications after graduation from college, only to find yourself staring at a piece of paper that is entirely blank except for the part about education. If you don’t want this nightmare to come true—with nothing to show in your resume for the four years in college, then you must cherish the time you still have and improve yourself in every way, so you can produce an impressive resume after graduation. In this article, some UM alumni share with us how they turned their college experiences into an asset in their CVs.
Becoming More Active
Currently, there are more than 100 student associations on campus, presenting a bewildering array of choices for freshmen. Ng Ka Fai, a sophomore from the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), started out his freshman year expecting to focus entirely on his studies, but soon changed his mind because of the influence of a group of good friends from his residential college. ‘I met a group of friends from the RC,’ Ng says. ‘They are all people of action and are keen on organising events. Over time, I also became more active.’
Ng is now an active participant in the activities organized by his faculty, RC, the Marketing Society under the UM Students’ Union, and Chao Kuang Piu College. This year, he was elected the first president of the Inter-College Council through a voting activity conducted among the ten RCs. ‘I hope that when I write my CV after graduation, in the part about extracurricular activities, I can present myself as a leader and organiser, instead of just a participant, ’ he says.
Organising events taught him the importance of listening and improved his problem-solving skills. Moreover, it taught him how to discover people’s talents and put their talents to best use. Now, one year after starting college, Ng is a completely different person. Every academic year, he would set himself new goals. This year, he hopes to organise an inter-college carnival that involves all ten RCs, the first of its kind at UM. In the next one or two years, he plans to launch his own brand with some friends. ‘College life should be different from life in middle school,’ he says. ‘You should try to constantly surpass yourself.’
To Avoid Lifelong Regrets
Shelly Cai, a fourth-year student from the Faculty of Law (FLL), serves in different associations. She is the vice president of the UM Fencing Club, the director of academic activities of the Asian Law Students’ Association – Macao Sector, and a PR Student Ambassador. She also loves writing and photography, and conducts research under the guidance of FLL Dean Prof Tong Io Cheng. During the summer break, she was invited to teach a summer fencing course for children organised by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau. ‘My life goal is to become a university professor,’ she says. ‘To achieve that goal, I need to learn knowledge in different fields, so I can better communicate with my future students.’
‘There are certain things in life, which, if you do them, will make you regret for maybe two years, but if you don’t try them, you may regret for the rest of your life,’ says Cai. ‘Fencing is one of those things for me. It’s tiring and you get injured easily. So maybe you regret it every minute you are doing it. But if you don’t try it, you may regret never making the first step. College years are a time for experiencing different things so you can make your CV more interesting. When you graduate, you will thank yourself for all the effort you have made.’
Learning to Be More Methodical
Miles Ni obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering from UM. While studying at UM, he served as the director general of the UM Postgraduate Association, the chief supervisor of the Macau Association of University Postgraduates, the vice president of the General Assembly of the General Association of Chinese Students of Macao, and a member of the Basketball Team. Currently, Ni works as a project engineer at a construction engineering company. He believes his experiences in the student associations at UM have been very beneficial to his current job. ‘I had to handle lots of different things at the student associations every day, which allowed me to learn how to do things in a more methodical way, improved my communication skills, and taught me finance basics and social etiquette. All of these are very helpful for my current job,’ he says.
Improving Soft Skills
Katy Lui, an alumna from the FBA, started a branding and design company with her younger sister after graduation. She is mainly responsible for the planning and operational aspects of the company. She says she didn’t waste any opportunity to learn new things during her four years at UM. She participated in an overseas exchange programme organised by the Honours College. She was among the first to live in a residential college on the old campus. She was also a member of the English Debating Team. She even wrote a paper on consumer behaviour, which was accepted by an international conference on marketing and earned her an invitation to give a presentation in Singapore. All these experiences helped to improve her CV. ‘The most important gain for me is that I have improved my soft skills at college. I met people from mainland China and other places, people with different personalities and cultural backgrounds. And in the process, I learned more about the different interesting cultures in the world,’ she says. ‘My experience in the debating team helped improve my logical reasoning, critical thinking, and spoken English. With these skills, I am able to communicate with my clients more effectively at my current job.’
The Training from Hell
Agnes Lam, a UM alumna and an associate professor from the Department of Communication, used to teach public speaking and debating. She was a member of the debating team while studying at UM. At the time, she and her teammates practiced several nights a week, and they often debated universities from Hong Kong. In the absence of an opponent, they would practice one-minute speeches by themselves. Some teammates would play the role of an opponent and try to tear down each other’s arguments.
Sometimes they would also practice talking back to people on TV. They had three coaches back then, who were all very stern. One of them was particularly so. Even when they won a competition, he would say, “You think you did a great job? Rubbish! ’ Lam describes the experience as ‘training from hell’, which actually made her smarter and increased her emotional intelligence. ‘At first, I would easily fly into a rage when being verbally attacked like that,’ she says. ‘But after repeated practice, I became smarter and was able to remain calm when the coach jumped down our throat.’
During her early days in the debating team, Lam also served as the secretary of internal affairs, responsible for writing meeting minutes and letters of application for funding. Being from a Chinese school, Lam initially didn’t know how to write meeting minutes in English, so the senior members gave her a book and asked her to learn from it. ‘I think whatever job you do, as long as you are willing to put in the effort, eventually you will learn something, maybe you will even discover your hidden talent in an area you didn’t know you could be good at,’ she says. Apart from being a debater, she was also a founding member of the Communication Society, and a member of a concern group for academic system, whose main task was meeting with faculty and university management to discuss university policies and affairs and providing feedback and suggestions. Looking back on her college years, Lam says, ‘You can do anything as long as you are interested in it. The interests you cultivate in college might become useful skills in the future.’
