HKU is a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation within touching distance of China and its Silicon Valley-esque Greater Bay Area. The school offers students the unique opportunity to see Asia at its most cutting-edge.
HKU MBAs also benefit from a global perspective, with a diverse and innovative curriculum blending eastern and western business cultures with specialization tracks in London, New York, and China.
The experience means HKU MBA grads go on to work with disruptive innovators in an array of industries, along with some of the world’s most prestigious companies. They also earn impressive salaries to match.
Which companies hire HKU MBAs?
Companies that hire HKU MBAs include Fortune 500 multinationals like JPMorgan Chase and CBRE Group, and Big Four accounting firms like PwC and KPMG. Consultancies, ranging from boutiques like Typhoon Consulting to international firms like Boston Consulting Group, are also among the top recruiters.
With the program’s focus on driving innovation, cutting-edge disruptors like digital energy solutions specialist Schneider Electric, and fintechs like Blockchain Communications Worldwide Limited (BCW) and AI Link Group Limited, also hire HKU MBA grads.
Leaders in the luxury sector like Gucci and Pernod Ricard are also among those employing members of the class of 2021. Although the program experienced disruption due to the pandemic, an impressive number of students landed jobs with almost 90% of those who were actively seeking employment receiving offers after graduation.
Companies hiring HKU MBAs
Most popular industries for HKU MBAs
HKU MBAs launched diverse careers after graduation. As many as 80% of students who successfully secured jobs were able to change either their location, industry, or function.
The highly lucrative consulting sector was the one of the most popular industries for HKU MBAs, with 24% of students landing roles in the sector. The MBA’s focus on tech saw many students land roles in technology and innovation. A total of 15% of students entered the technology and innovation sectors.
When Jason Ding enrolled in the HKU MBA, his main focus was expanding his network. But he’s since picked up a plethora of skills which he’s used to secure a role at ABinBev, the world’s largest brewer.
“When I look back at my entire MBA journey, it’s a journey about evolving,” he explains. “It helped me evolve from an executor to a leader.”
Jason’s development was as much about learning soft skills, such as communication, as it was about his business skills and theoretical knowledge. Combined, they prepared him for his current role.
“The MBA taught me to question ‘Why?’” he says. “Why the company wants this project, why the manager wants to get it done, why I’m the one to do it.”
“Once I figured out the ‘Why’s’, the path to success became clearer,” he adds.
Fellow class of 2021 grad, Nicole Yoo, landed a management role with Gucci after graduation. This sees her drawing on expertise she developed during both the core and elective sections of the program.
The core period helped her acquire knowledge of business fundamentals like finance and accounting, while the elective period allowed her to focus on retail marketing. The combination gives her the confidence required for her new leadership position.
“I need to lead a big team and make critical decisions for the business,” she explains. “During the MBA I experienced people’s diversities and different perspectives, which helps in the workplace with my team.”
One of the 21% who took a role in finance, Kannes Wong used the HKU MBA to land a role with Zurich International in Hong Kong. The program’s focus on cutting-edge technologies helped develop her understanding of the direction of the industry.
“I gained valuable knowledge of the applications of cutting-edge technologies including AI and Blockchain,” she explains. “More importantly, I learnt the use cases for how to adopt these technologies for scalable companies and fintechs.”
“This newly acquired knowledge can be applied well in my new job,” she adds.
For all three students, and the majority of the class of 2021, the HKU MBA provided the skills, connections, and knowledge to land top jobs after graduation.
If you're looking for a career in a competitive industry like consulting or finance, the HKU MBA has a proven record in helping students launch their careers.
But it's in tech where the program excels. The focus on cutting-edge, disruptive technologies within the curriculum, along with the unique access to tech hubs in both Hong Kong and China, make this a strong option if a career in tech is your goal.
While tech, finance, and consulting, are often top industries for MBA grads, HKU also has a proficiency in marketing with a large proportion of the class of 2021 taking up marketing roles. There's also the potential to launch a luxury career, like Nicole.
No matter what industry you're looking to enter after graduation, at HKU you'll experience a unique blend of eastern and western business cultures.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - MBA Programmes HKU Business School
Student
Verified
23/02/2023
On Campus
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
Hatim
Verified
6/02/2023
On Campus
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.
Student
Verified
6/10/2017
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!
Student
Verified
1/10/2017
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
Verified
29/09/2017
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.
Student
Verified
2/09/2020
Blended
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.
Student
Verified
3/11/2017
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.
Student
Verified
12/10/2017
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.
Student
Verified
6/10/2017
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.
