This year’s Youth Career Expo themed “Youth Employment Starts Now” will take place tomorrow and Sunday at the Venetian’s Milan Ballroom, offering more than 1,100 jobs in nearly 20 sectors, the Labour Affairs Bureau’s (DSAL) Employment Department Chief Lei Lai Keng said yesterday, adding that 20 seminars will be held during the expo.
The Labour Affairs Bureau, Association of Chinese Students of Macau (AECM) and Macau New Chinese Youth Association (MNCYA) co-hosted a press conference about their Youth Career Expo at the bureau in Areia Preta district yesterday.
Lei noted that 75 companies and organisations will participate in the expo, including eight enterprises from the mainland, while the remainder are local companies and organisations, covering a wide range of industries and sectors, with over 1,100 vacancies on offer. She urged young job seekers to take their résumé, academic qualifications and skills certificates to the expo and apply for a job.
About the online platform for job applications launched by the bureau last month, Lei said that around 856 applicants have submitted their curriculum vitae (CV) so far, with 375 having been interviewed by companies, involving 513 jobs, in the meantime.
Lei noted that the bureau at the time of the press conference had received 1,197 applications for appointments at the expo, while 1,027 youths have registered to attend the seminars. Lei said she expected nearly 3,000 young people to attend the expo over the weekend.
According to a statement handed out during the press conference, more than 70 companies and organisations will take part in the expo. The statement added that over 70 percent of the vacancies are being provided by companies in sectors such as leisure and tourism, retail, finance, information technology (IT), and electrical and mechanical engineering.
The statement pointed out that a youth career service area will be set up to provide a “full” range of employment support services for young job seekers, such as mock job interview workshops, résumé writing skills workshops and youth entrepreneurship support services.
In addition, personal career planning services will be provided by the participating youth associations, so as to assist young people who are preparing for further education and college enrolment in exploring their potential career interests through analysis and guidance, the statement noted.
In order to strengthen local youngsters’ understanding of the labour market and entrepreneurship environment in the mainland, a “Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin” area will be set up at the expo in conjunction with government entities and companies from the zone that will participate in the expo.The companies involved in sci-tech, finance, and health will provide more than 70 vacancies, the statement said.
In accordance with the government’s COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures, participation in the expo will be carried out only through prior appointments. Young job seekers interested in participating in the job fair can access the website: https://youthcareerexpo.org.mo/booking/ to make an appointment, the statement said, adding that successful applicants will be sent a text message to sign up and remind them to take along their Macau ID card and CV. The statement underlined that only a small number of places will be available for on-the-spot registration.
Enquiries can be made by calling 2835 8963 during office hours or visiting the expo’s website: https://youthcareerexpo.org.mo/.
Meanwhile, Lei told reporters after the press conference that the number of people who had made appointments to participate in the bureau’s various job-matching sessions had so far exceeded the actual attendance.
She pointed out that in the worst cases only half of the people who had made appointments finally showed up for the matching sessions. Lei underlined that if job seekers were willing to attend the matching sessions, their success rate would be high – about 50 percent.
Lei reaffirmed that the employment environment in Macau has changed, hoping that the public can adjust their mentality when looking for a job. She added that at the moment the matching sessions held by the bureau are focused on the service industry.
With the resumption of the mainland’s tour groups to Macau and the renewed granting of e-visas, the bureau’s future job matching sessions will be more focused on the retail sector selling luxury goods and fashion items, Lei said, adding that a seminar was held last month to train job seekers on sales skills. Lei also said that the bureau will work with different associations to enhance job seekers’ basic skills, such as basic knowledge of the English language, to help them get on in their future jobs.
Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Employment Department Chief Lei Lai Keng (centre), Ieong Wai Hin (left), chairman of the Association of Chinese Students of Macau (AECM), and Macau New Chinese Youth Association (MNCYA) Vice President Wong Chi Choi, address yesterday’s press conference about this weekend’s Youth Career Expo at the bureau’s headquarters on Avenida do Dr Francisco Vieira Machado in Areia Preta district. – Photo: Yuki Lei
