Programmes Undergraduate Programmes Student and alumni stories

On the fast track

Kim Chan, alumni stories
BBA China Business’14
Kim Chan

Kim Chan, Assistant Associate Director of Convoy Financial Services Limited, made a flying start to his career working as a part time intern – when he was still a second year university student.

“It was tough at first when I had to cope with school projects and manage client accounts at the same time,” Kim recalled. His job depends on a strong network, but that was something he did not have. How did he manage to build up his accounts?


Age challenged

When he first entered Convoy, he was nervous. Everyone in the office were seniors with many years of experience - and he was only a student.

“I started to doubt myself. I wondered, can I really do this well?”

He started building his own network from his boss’s client base. A typical workday during his intern years was sandwiched between school hours: early morning and evening classes with work in the afternoon.

“I was young and many colleagues referred to me as a student, never mind how hardworking I was. They thought age mattered. Being young and bright didn’t come into the equation.”

As part of the Post-90s generation, (sometimes stereotyped in Hong Kong and mainland China as over-protected, immature, and irresponsible), Kim spent a lot of time countering negativity. “Through failures, you remember the pain and learn from the mistakes,” he says.

Upwardly mobile

Soon Kim’s boss and clients recognized his hard working attitude and forecasting ability and referred more clients to him. His career began to take off. He was promoted three times within one year, first heading up a team in Hong Kong, and currently recruiting a new team in Shenzhen.

Kim believes that promotion does not depend on how long you have worked for a company or seniority; rather it depends on attitude and ability to exceed beyond your formal work responsibilities. “If you have such qualities, anyone can be successful –but of course, passion for the work comes above all else.”

“When you enter the work field you need to work hard to prove yourself. Blaming others for not giving you a chance will lead you nowhere. Have you tried your best to achieve your goals before complaining? You cannot change the views of others, but you can work hard to prove yourself.” This is his life philosophy.

Words of advice

“The future is unknown, we cannot be sure of our success. Instead we can work to reduce the chances of failure.”

– Kim Chan 

(Jun 2015)