A new round of the Administrative Service Summer Internship Programme began in mid-May this year. The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, met and interacted with more than 50 university students participating in the programme today (August 1), encouraging them to apply for civil service positions such as the Administrative Officer (AO) post, for charting a brighter tomorrow for Hong Kong.
During the gathering, Mrs Yeung listened to the interns share their experiences and achievements during the internship period, and encouraged them to strive to equip themselves to serve the community and contribute to the country, making reference to her own experience of over 30 years in the public service. Mrs Yeung said, "We are in great need of talent who love our country and Hong Kong, who dare to be innovative, who are willing to rise to challenges and who are dedicated to serving the public, to support the Government in its governance and to promote the development of Hong Kong at full speed on all fronts. This internship programme enables young people in Hong Kong to gain hands-on experience of working with serving AOs and learn about the operation of the Government and the mission and role of an AO, thus facilitating their future career planning. In fact, in the past five years, one in six newly recruited AOs has participated in the programme.
"The Government will be recruiting a new batch of AO, Executive Officer II, Assistant Labour Officer II, Assistant Trade Officer II, Management Services Officer II and Transport Officer II in September. We have earlier announced a new initiative to allow all students who are pursuing a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification and graduating in 2024 or 2025 to apply for the above six grades. Recommended candidates will be granted a conditional offer and will join the Government upon graduation to work together to build a better Hong Kong. I encourage all students to proactively consider joining the civil service, especially the AOs, to make good use of your knowledge, talent and enthusiasm to contribute to the community."
The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) organises the Administrative Service Internship Programme every winter and summer. The CSB received around 270 applications for the summer programme this year, and among them selected 66 students studying in local, Mainland or overseas tertiary institutions as interns. They were assigned to some 20 bureaux and departments to handle duties comparable to those of an AO.
AOs are professional public administrators who play a pivotal role in the civil service system. They are responsible for a diversified range of work including the policy formulation and implementation and resource allocation, co-ordination and promotion of district work, as well as the external promotion of Hong Kong. They are posted to different bureaux and departments at regular intervals with opportunities to sharpen their skills, accumulate experience and broaden their horizons in different areas of public policy work. The Government will separately announce details of the new round of the AO Recruitment Exercise in September 2023.
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