Cambridge Mentorship Program

Nearly 30 students turned up on the 1st of the 3 seminars and we had a very good interactive session where the speakers shared their experience in working at various consulting firms and the students asked a lot of questions about how to get in this industry.

The speakers were:
Dr. Dominic Chan (Engineering, Trinity, also PhD Cambridge) - Decisive Consulting, he formally worked at McKinsey & Company, a-connect
Ms Lily Cheng (Engineering, Trinity) - She formerly worked at Boston Consulting Group
Ms Karen Cheuk (SPS, Trinity, also Wharton MBA) - Bain & Company
Ms Ada Chu (St John's) - McKinsey & Company

The Friends of Cambridge University in Hong Kong will be running a series of mentoring seminars aiming to provide insight and career advice to our young students and recent graduates, so they can get to know the different type of professions, obtain first hand information from the established alumni, and thus make well informed decision on important issues such as career and further studies.

How I wish there were programs like these when I was an undergraduate. We now have the opportunity to share our experience and perhaps past mistakes with the young ones. These stories will be invaluable to them. The dates of the seminar series are:

(1) Sat 26 July 2008 4-6pm: Consulting industry
(2) Sat 16 Aug 2008 4-6pm: Banking and Fund management (PE, VC, Hedge)
(3) Sat 30 Aug 2008 4-6pm: Startups (new ventures) and further studies

Guest speakers are all Cambridge alumni who are very experienced in the above topics. They are current or former executives in corporation including McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain & Company, Booz & Co, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, and various fund management company and startup companies.

Venue (new location: Conference Room, 23/F, The Bank of East Asia Building,
10 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong
Capacity: 30 people per session*

Format: Casual (30mins of mingling, 1 hour of panel discussion and then followed by 30mins of Q&A and mingling)

If you are a Cambridge students or a Cambridge graduates who are interested in finding out more of the above topics and would like to attend the seminar, please Email us to indicate your interests.

* Priority will be given to Cambridge students and recent Cambridge graduates.

Mentors

• Make reasonable effort to provide help and guidance to the mentees, e.g. share their career experience, introduce the mentees to other resources if possible

Mentees

• Remember that the mentors are providing assistance out of good will, be thankful and be reasonable when requiring the time and effort from the mentors
• Consider becoming a mentor when it is your turn

Mentors
Alumni with experience (in-depth or otherwise) in certain industries who are willing to share their experience with others

Mentees
Alumni or undergraduates who would like to learn from the more experienced alumni in general or in certain specific areas, priority will be given in the following order, 1) undergraduates 2) Recent graduates (graduated within 2 years) 3) Other alumni.

Liason
A mentee who also acts as a coordinator of a mentorship group. Faciliating the events and help manage the web site.

• Facilitate the sharing of experience among the Cambridge Hong Kong community primarily between alumni and undergraduates and also among alumni
• Build a strong alumni network and provide a central contact point to enhance communications among alumni
• Last but not least, organize social events that can be enjoyed by alumni of all generations

The Cambridge University alumni community in Hong Kong has grown to a considerable size. In order to consolidate our resources, build a strong community network and to continue the process of enlightening each other, we propose to create a mentorship program that will connect experienced alumni with the undergraduates and recent graduates of Cambridge University. Through a series of activities from drinks, dinners to a grand annual event, people can share their experience, advice with one another. Many local Hong Kong universities have similar programs that are welcome by the students and alumni alike. It is our belief that our Cambridge alumni community can greatly benefit from such scheme.