Ron Kwok started the 14-month full-time MBA at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in July 2015. Only four months in, he landed a job at Microsoft in Hong Kong.On the HKU MBA’s London track, Ron spent a month in Beijing, nine months in Hong Kong, and four months in London, before taking the MBA triple jump – changing role, industry and location – and kick-starting a new career in Asia.
Prior to his MBA, Ron worked in engineering sales in Canada. He trialed a tech startup developing mobile apps for the retail industry alongside his full-time job. Determined to pursue a career in technology in Asia, he joined the HKU MBA, ranked number one in Asia by the Economist for seven consecutive years.
And for good reason. From the 2014 and 2015 HKU MBA class combined, 85% of students were hired within three months of graduation. 84% secured jobs in Asia.
Now, Ron works for Microsoft Azure, helping Microsoft’s partners develop scalable services and solutions on its cutting-edge cloud computing platform. He was recruited on campus at HKU to the Microsoft Academy of College Hires (MACH) program.
Why did you decide to pursue an MBA at HKU?
I wanted to move out of North America and explore a career in Asia. Hong Kong is a very fast-moving environment. The people here are very accepting towards new concepts and quick to develop new solutions to suit local needs. So Hong Kong always attracts new technologies, services and solutions. That’s a big advantage over other locations.
An MBA made sense to build my network in the region and learn more about a different way of doing business. And with the HKU MBA, I wasn’t going to be based only in Hong Kong, but also in Beijing and New York, London, or Shanghai. Being able to explore Asia and Europe in an accelerated program made HKU stand out. Plus, the class size is relatively small which makes for a very tight-knit group.
How did the job at Microsoft come about?
The HKU Career Development Office organized an event where a Microsoft representative came in to speak about the MACH program. I wanted a career change and I decided to apply. I started the MBA in July 2015, and I was confirmed for the job in November.
What does Microsoft look for in its MBA job applicants?
Microsoft looks for innovative individuals that are aware of what’s going on in the world and in the marketplace. They didn’t ask a lot of technical questions in the interview. It was more about my views on cloud technology and how it can improve business cycles. You have to be open-minded about how businesses are changing with globalization.
Can you tell me something about working at Microsoft that most people wouldn’t know?
Microsoft opens up a lot of doors for its partners. There are lot of success cases backed by Microsoft - from consumer apps to TV channels - that people aren’t even aware of.
What I’ve learnt since joining is that the organization is much more flexible and accommodating than I expected. You can pitch a project and, if you prove it can be valuable, it can be launched very quickly. For a company this size to be so fast-moving and flexible is pretty impressive.
What should applicants think about when looking to do an MBA?
Think about what you want to achieve at the end of the MBA. Have a general idea of where you want to go in your career and personal life. The rankings are definitely important but for me it was more about the school’s strengths. I was shooting for a career in technology and I picked my school accordingly.
Would you be where you are now without the HKU MBA?
Definitely not! Microsoft’s MACH program is catered towards MBA graduates. And HKU’s Career Services supported me from writing my resume all the way to the interview.
They held a series of workshops on resumes and cover letters, and they organized mock interviews with real HR professionals. They told us what to say, what to ask, and gave us industry insight on how to succeed.
I wanted to relocate to Asia and explore a different career path. HKU helped me achieve those goals.
Student Reviews
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - MBA Programmes HKU Business School
Academic
Very good academic, caes course amazing, ccs are all amazing, professors are excellent, the architecture and infrastructure is splendid, people here are awesome, made some really nice friends, and teachers support us
Diversified culture
I highly recommend The University of Hong Kong to students all around the world because of their diversified culture, teaching standards, and the people which make the learning experience better every day.
A place where you best understand local and international cultures
With plenty of experiences available, HKU provides a plenty of experience for me to explore our own and other countries culture. She has excellent teaching and research staffs in the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity. Time allocate to students are considered sufficient and staffs are ready to reach anytime.
Besides academic, she has various subsidised programmes that allow students to explore. This credit should be given to GenEd (general education) Office to provide different interesting programmes. These ranged from guest speaker giving talks on China-Hong Kong relationship; Contemporary art in Asia; or holding mini forum on geopolitics. Most, if not all, of which are free of charge!
Life at HKU
Pursued the SHS degree at HKU, academic and clinical staff members were very devoted and passionate. The academic program is under constant reviews, staff members are open minded and willing to modify the program with regards to students' opinions. Career prospect is good. Uni life is fruitful, many different activities for students to choose. Great facilities supporting learning.
Student Life in HKU
As an Accounting and Finance year3 undergrad student in HKU, the university provides lots of opportunities for me to learn and explore my interests.
You could join a wide variety of activities, like being an committee member of societies and joining hall activities. As for me, I chose to join the winter exchange programme, be a committee member, and did volunteering servic and had latrine construction and volunteer teaching in Ghana, Africa. I also organized lots of activities for societies and had lots of meetings with company representatives. As for school work, it is okay normally but definitely u got a lot busier during November and April. You got a lot more free time compared to CUHK and HKUST. And of course, this is considered as the most ‘international’ uni in HK in a way that I could make friends coming from different countries.
Just wanna add, HKU has a good location for foodie as its near Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. For those who love night lifes dont miss this. I didnt speak of anything i dislike coz there isnt anything i dislike much, but if I do have to say, it is the hall life of many local students, such as having cheers at night and never sleeps that may disturb others.
Academics
I think it’s a great university that gives you a lot of opportunities in terms of academics as well as extracurricular activities. The education system is fairly westernized and the professors are good for the most part.
International, stratified and political
Adequate resources and very convenient campus with sufficient channels to expand your social and professional circle. Also politically active, and perhaps too biasedly so. Its law school is firmly established, with the longest history in Hong Kong. Practical and professional training, with a constant atmosphere of anxiety and competition that encourages a relatively focused and narrow vision of career outlook. Good range of extra curricular activities available.
Life in HKU
HKU provides students with lots of opportunities in multidisciplinary researches and experiences. This encourages students to widen their horizons and prepare for the future. The programme I attended organised both local and oversea field trips that allowed me to have the first hand experiences of relative aspects. It was very useful for my later career.
BSocSc
I am a graduate of the BSocSc programme several years ago. I appreciate that the programme provided a flexible choice of majors and minors. Even I was admitted into social sciences programme, I could explore various streams of studies in and out of the social sciences faculty, including global studies, human resources, politics, science and music. I did a double major in psychology and sociology. Among all learning experiences in lectures, tutorials, field trips…, I would say the internship experience was one of the most memorable part of my university life. The faculty offers a credit-bearing internship programme in which students can go to various NGOs to work on social issues, ranging from poverty, education to adjustment of ethnic minorities. Students can be placed locally or overseas, depending on placement quota, their personal preference and past experience. I went to a social service agency that serves adults who are intellectually challenged and have autism spectrum disorder. It was an eye-opening experience in observing how different professionals work together to provide training for those people and reflecting on how psychological knowledge could come into play. I was also able to gain some hands-on experience in leading an activity.
There are more and more internship opportunities for university students. It is just another way to gain practical experience apart from applying for interns in government agencies or business companies, especially in organisations that would not openly recruit interns but only work with tertiary institutions.
It should be noted that for some majors/courses, there are really a lot of people studying. When I was an undergraduate back then, we often expected a lecture with 100+ students and a tutorial with nearly 20 students. If you favour close student-teacher interaction in small classes, you may look into the enrolment of particular courses.
Great curriculum arrangement for my program
Teachers in HKU are dedicated to education students, for both undergrad and postgrad. The school is over 100 years old and it is one of the most pretty school I have ever seen through my life. But there is one thing that I do not like is that for some program, including mine, we could not receive our diploma right after we finished out program. We have to wait for another couple of months to receive that.
