NETWORKING SKILLS FOR CHEVENING
Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your networking skills, and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future.
(minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
Business networking is important in my everyday job. As the media contact point in my current and previous organizations, one of my duties is to acquire and maintain relationships with journalists. It is not said on the job description, but having a good relationship with reporters in the Finance sector makes me able to invite press to interview my company's spokesperson, cover stories and publish press releases.
During my two year tenure in XXX, I have represented the Hong Kong office to attend all kind of events in Langkawi, Bali, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, including award presentation ceremonies and regional sports tournaments. I am an open minded and sociable person that my social skills are recognized by management. I was nominated to represent HK to attend a regional bowling tournament despite the fact that I haven't played bowling since high school. The reason is management trust I can represent HK office well as one of the purposes of the event is relationship building among different offices. I did not let them down and managed to mingle and make new acquaintances from other countries.
During my university study, I joined Cultural Diversity Ambassador Programme as one of the 29 ambassadors from 15 nations in HKU to promote respect and embrace cultural diversity among different nationalities. We together organized an Opening ceremony of "Respect, See it again" exhibition at HKU and performed an African fashion show with an original song performance.
We local student ambassadors have brought international and mainland students to different interesting places in HK, such as the wet market, public housing estate, refugee foundation and other small shops and restaurants. We exchanged ideas and learned how to appreciate the differences among us. It is a memorable experience to me because an ordinary thing to us can be a treasure to others. Until now, I still keep contact with some of the international friends I made during that time, this friendship will be life-long.
I also participated the Cultural Mentorship Programme and joined HKU alumni Association. I cherish the bonding and the time we spend together and would like to give my two cents to my younger fellows.
I started travelling on my own to other Asian countries a few years ago and volunteered in Taiwan, Cambodia and Thailand during my trips. I made with locals no matter they are the travel agents or other volunteers in the NGO. Most of the time I stayed in a hostel and enjoyed chatting with strangers like a long-lost friend. The people and conversation exchanged, instead of the landscape or tourist attractions, is the thing that you always look back after the trip.
My purpose of applying Chevening award is much more than getting the funding. The opportunity to know and learn from other Chevening scholars, the experience to attend Chevening alumni activities and being part of the Chevening network are the unmeasurable privileges. I believe a group of like-minded people with diverse specialties but sharing the same dream can be very powerful.
