Skip to main content

What it Takes to Become a Project Manager in Hong Kong

The reason I was interested in project management was I found in Hong Kong the product management role is not that abundant.  And it seems to be more concentrated in retail and banking industry. So I start to think what are the areas I can transit into where my experience in the product management can play to its advantage.

I looked into user experience, where my knowledge in functional requirement and business strategy helps bridge design with monetization, this industry seems a rather young industry but it is also a high growing space.

The other space I looked into is project management. As Hong Kong is a place where limited product is developed while a lot of products gets used, customized and integrated. Project management seems a good area to go.

A simple search on 2 major job search sites in Hong Kong is enough to show the result:

  Monster JobDB
Project Manager 932 687
Product Manager 79 313
User Experience 86 46

There are a lot of demand on the market for Project Manger. 

When I first analyze the job description, I found most of them require a computer science or information technology degree, some even bachelor degree. So as i read the job description for the first 20 that belongs to “Associate” level, I start to doubt if i can get a job even if I take a master degree.

I thought to give up for a second. I mean, based on the job description on the web, I can’t even get an interview opportunity, let alone a job offer. I may get a junior role but sincerely I don’t think it is a very smart move. 

I have failed once on the product manager route for the fact that product manager only exist in big company and it depends on budget and product initiative; project managers are the same. 

So I gave up. In 2017 I will not care about project management skills. I will focus on UX and product management skills. 

I hope my analysis help you to see your job search from the HR's perspective, many of them have a checklist and they will directly discard the CV that does not fit the bill. Of course, many headhunters claim to be able to help you bypass this checklist. The truth is, they make money from any hire, why should they be helping you who does not fit instead of another person that fit the criteria. Of course, in the case you are their last candidate or this person is your close friend, that can be true. 


This article may not be exactly what you look for, you want to see why you should choose project management as your career right. Well, if you want to live in Hong Kong, are computer science by education, very happy to work in chaos most of the time, don’t mind delay, don’t want hands-on, don’t mind most of what you do does not have a visible deliverable, project manager is the perfect job for you.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Storyboard 101

Since I made up my mind to go into the field of user experience and design, I’ve been constantly amazed by how many different concepts and terminologies we have come out in different professions to mean the same thing. One of them is the concept of a storyboard. Today I joined a design meetup event by “Design by Night”, the theme of which is to draw a painting to illustrate how we solve a problem using a possible solution. We drew the problem and solution from two boxes and no matter if they make sense to us or not, we have to build the connection. The problem I drew was mosquitos, and the solution, Jack Ma. Just the perfect solution. I can think of a zillion ways how he can solve the problem. One possible way is for Alibaba to sell Mosquito Repellent to everybody in the world, delivering through ship, plane, truck,  motorbikes  and even on foot. We will apply them to ourselves and to all animals around us. Mosquitos will have nothing to eat and...

8 Takeaways on Productive Usability Tests

Please, test it.  The fact you believe in your idea, or that your investor do as well, it means a lot about creating a wonderful team and culture. It does not mean your customer will buy into that.  There is a long way between what the market opportunity (as the market analysis and the founder’s vision is) and what the actual product is. Of the thousands of products in different countries that seems to solve the same problem (you may call them competitors if you want), which one will win the customers’ favor now and in the future? Usability test helps to provides insight on that. Or in other words. usability test tells you, at the current state of mind, your customer will most likely find your product to be value if you do … in the following way … and … in the following way ... As you can see, these findings can be translated to what you can include in your MVP, why a certain design or feature did not meet the expect...

6 Ways Machine Learning AI Will Transform Retail Experience

Machine learning utilizes big data to understand users' needs and to provide them relevant information. To a retailer, how will machine learning improve the way they interact with their consumes? In this article, I will talk about 3 pioneers that has already been using AI to provide a better user experience and what are 5 areas you, as a consumer, can leverage on the AI power to improve your shopping experience. In terms of machine learning, currently, most of the implementation is focusing on the awareness/discover stage. Understand your need and suggest the right products:  The North Face shopping assistant powered by Watson through agency Fuild, then you go on the website to search for the perfect garment, all you need to do is to answer from simple questions, and the shopping assistant will find a list of results base on your needs. Give directions when shopping in store: Macy’s On Call powered by Satisfi and Watson help consum...