Source: My UM
Vita Vitasoy is a household name in Macao, but did you know the manager of the company’ s Macao branch, Wayne Pang, is a graduate of UM? If you are one of those who are busy looking for jobs or internship opportunities, take a break from job-hunting and get some inspiration from Pang’s story—how he went from working as a salesperson after graduation to becoming the manager of Vitasoy’s branch in Macao. Now a boss himself, Pang also shares some useful job-interview tips.
Work to Pay for Undergraduate Study
Pang was one of those lucky people who knew early in life what they wanted to do. While still in middle school, Pang discovered that he was very sensitive to numbers and liked to analyse the meanings behind numbers, so he made up his mind to study business administration after graduation. He was among the first group of students admitted to UM’s inaugural finance programme, and was also one of the first students to study at UM after the university reformed its under graduate programmes from a three-year system to a four -year system. But his under graduate years at UM were not easy . ‘At that time there were few scholarships and no education loan in Macao. I didn’t want to ask my family for money , so I studied during the day and worked at night to earn tuition fees,’ Pang says. ‘For a time I worked as an auditor. After eight hours of classes, my working day just began. Every day I only got to sleep for three hours. I still remember how I used to hide in the bathroom with a book to study for exams.’
First Job after Graduation—Salesperson
Many of Pang’ s classmates considered a high paying government job to be their top choice after graduation, but those who successfully landed such envious jobs right after graduation were in the minority. Pang’s first job after graduation was a fabric salesperson. ‘Selling seems to have nothing to do with my major , but the analytical skills I gained from doing projects at UM and my sensitivity to numbers and things really came in handy at this sales job,’ Pang says. ‘The ability to think from a financial perspective and to anticipate changes in consumer behaviour from changes in Big Data was particularly useful.’ Within six months of graduating from UM, he became clear about his interest in the fast-moving consumer goods industry and the career path he wanted to pursue.
Value Experience over Money
Later, he joined Amoy Food. Certain about the potential of the Greater China market, he made sure to mention his desire to work in mainland China in every self-appraisal form submitted to his superiors. ‘Once I met a senior manager from Shanghai by chance, and he asked me if I would like to be transferred to Shanghai, and I said yes without a moment’ s hesitation,’ Pang says. ‘So I became the first trainee in Shanghai. I didn’t get any raise but I valued experience over money .’In 2007, years after his transfer , the company changed hands, and Pang felt it was time to come home.
Loyal Manager at Vitasoy
As luck would have it, after the idea of returning to Macao formed in his head, Pang learned that Vitasoy’s regional manager for Macao was approaching retirement age. Always a believer in the potential of the fast-moving consumer goods industry, Pang expressed his interest in this position. Impressed by his experience in managing a big company in mainland China, which few people had at that time, Vitasoy snatched him up immediately. Over the years since Pang’s return, Macao has experienced rapid economic growth, with talent poaching becoming the norm in many industries. But Pang has stayed loyal to Vitasoy, simply because of the sense of happiness and fulfillment he feels from seeing people holding a Vitasoy drink on the street.
Far-sightedness and Communication: Secret Ingredients of Success
Now Pang is not only Vitasoy’s regional manager for Macao, but also serves as the president of the Associação académica Sol Matinal (Academic Association of Morning Sun). How does he manage to juggle two demanding roles? Far – sightedness and communication are his secrets. He encourages today’s young people to be far -sighted, and not to be blinded by short-lived gains or fooled by an illusory sense of superiority because of their college degree. He believes that the most important thing in finding a job that suits one is to know where one wants to go. He also believes that more often than not success is not the result of the ef fort of any single individual, but rather the result of a combination of factors, such as doing something at the right time, being in the right place, and the solidarity within a team.‘Whatever your position, you should always make an effort to know those who work on the front line,’ he says. ‘Even a mover or cleaning worker deserves to be known. Their lives, their families, their difficulties, etc. Because what your employees need the most is a fair and caring work environment.’
