The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joshua Law, today (July 26) met with university students participating in the Administrative Service Internship Programme to learn about their internship experience. He encouraged them to apply for the post of Administrative Officer (AO) after graduation.
Mr Law said that AOs play a key role in the Government and are regularly rotated to different bureaux and departments, where they take up duties including formulation of public policies that are closely related to people's livelihood, as well as allocation and monitoring of public resources.
He said, "I encourage students who are committed to serving the community to actively consider applying for the AO post in the new round of recruitment exercise which will commence in September.
"Every year we see keen competition in the AO recruitment exercise. We received over 17 000 applications last year and finally appointed 33 AOs, six of whom had participated in the Administrative Service Internship Programme in the past. In fact, in the recruitment exercises in recent years, many of the interns successfully passed different stages of the selection process and were offered appointment as an AO."
The Civil Service Bureau has conducted the Administrative Service Internship Programme for years, giving students who wish to pursue the AO career an early opportunity to get some hands-on experience of working in the Government, thereby facilitating their future planning. This year, a total of 51 university students have been posted to 18 government bureaux and departments, taking up duties similar in nature to those of AOs.
Miss Rachel Law, who is studying abroad and came back to Hong Kong this summer to join the internship programme, was posted to the Labour Department where she assisted in policy research and review, and participated in the preparatory work for public consultation exercises. She thanked her supervisors for their guidance and sharing, which enlightened her on the need for the Government to deliberate issues from multiple perspectives and strike a balance of interests in the course of formulating policies.
Interested in public policy, Miss Law said she would like to apply for the AO post as she considers the AO job diverse and challenging with opportunities to meet people from all walks of life.
Mr Dexter Yuen, who is an undergraduate majoring in law and politics, took up his internship at the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, where he was involved in the preparatory work for the mutual evaluation of Hong Kong by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. He said the internship allowed him to understand more about the Government's structure and establishment, adding that he has learnt a lot during the visits to various government departments and public organisations.
Mr Yuen had planned to apply for the AO post before joining the internship programme. He said he appreciated both the inspiration and satisfaction from the internship experience, which has further strengthened his determination to become an AO.
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