On 12^th February, 2025, Moon Chun Memorial College, University of Macau held a talk titled “Be Your Own Career Planner.” Resident Fellow, Alice Hong (Global Career Development Facilitator), guided students in understanding their own career planning in greater depth, providing resources to help them make wise career choices in an ever-changing world.

Alice started by explaining the meaning and importance of career planning. Career planning is not only about choosing a profession but also about discovering one’s life goals and values. Then she explained how to use the Life Career Rainbow to map and analyze one’s career stages. The speaker also discussed the five key elements of career planning: self-understanding, exploring the external environment, decision-making, goal setting, and action. Alice encouraged students to get to know themselves through various methods, understanding their interests, abilities, and values. Additionally, she emphasized the importance of exploring the external environment, including understanding different professions, industry trends, and market demands.

During the case discussion, Alice specifically explored the career development of the “slash” generation, introducing how to find balance and a sense of achievement between different roles. This session sparked enthusiastic discussion among the students, who eagerly shared their thoughts. Finally, Alice concluded by emphasizing the importance of setting life goals, reminding students not to forget inner satisfaction while pursuing career success. The rich and inspiring talk received widespread acclaim from the students.

“By learning the concepts and knowledge related to career planning, I have gained a clearer understanding of myself. I used to be confused, but gradually I recognized my strengths and preferences, as well as my weaknesses. At the same time, I have learned some effective ways to assess future career interests, and can preliminarily determine which jobs are more suitable for me. This has made me less anxious about the future and more calm and confident.”  – Grace Liu (Year 1, FAH – Portuguese Studies)

“This talk helped me understand that career planning is not just about planning for a job, but for one’s entire life. Before making a career plan, we need to understand ourselves, think about our characteristics, strengths, and interests. Through case studies, I realized that people can have multiple careers and that social roles can constantly change. This talk made me understand myself better and gave me the courage to pursue my dreams. It was truly a meaningful event.” – Rain Sun (Year 2, FSS – Psychology)

“Attending Alice’s career planning talk was incredibly beneficial! She used a Life Career Rainbow to clearly illustrate the key points of different life stages: developing basic work skills at 15, accumulating and building work skills and experience after 25. Each stage of life comes with different social roles! This talk completely shattered my previous belief that “one plan sets your life in stone.” Now I understand that life is like playing a video game; you need to update your gear and adjust your strategies at each stage.” – Lawrence Wang (Year 3, FST –
Electromechanical Engineering)