“In the past year, I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Frankly speaking, I had never thought about working in the regulatory sector of the finance industry before joining the organization. Due to a number of reasons, I ended up applying for the job right before the deadline of the application, had an interview and got the offer. Everything was so sudden and honestly I was not even sure what to expect from the program at the beginning. 

Awash with anxiety and uncertainty, I started the job in June 2017. I was assigned to work primarily with the Fixed Income Team, but was also allocated with a number of tasks from the Hong Kong & China Equity Team as well as the Foreign Equity Team. At the beginning, it was rather tough because all in a sudden I had to learn a range of new terminologies that had never appeared in my previous internships or lectures. Because the daily routine tasks were all required to be completed before a compromised deadline, it was fairly nerve-wracking in the first few months. However, as time went by, I started to get used to the internal systems, various financial terminals and the department’s operation as a whole, so my time working in the organization turned out to be very fascinating. 

My colleagues were extremely friendly and they would unreservedly demonstrate to me how to deal with different tasks whenever I encountered difficulties. Outside of work, our division would occasionally organize activities for us to relax and socialize with each other. 

All in all, the placement program was an amazing experience and I was absolutely delighted to have made the decision of taking a gap year and working in the HKMA.”