IFTM alumna Ms. Annie Loi Sin Kei has been pursuing a career in event planning, marketing, and public relations since graduating from the Institute in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Business Management. She was recently promoted to Assistant Vice President of Public Relations, Corporate Office at Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. With a higher position on the corporate ladder, comes added responsibility to support the development of fresh talent, Ms. Loi says.
“I hope that I can be a good mentor, to provide good guidance to my team members,” she states.
Ms. Loi says her current position means putting the focus on the professional advancement of her team members. “In addition to keep improving myself in professional terms, I also want to build a strong team by sharing my experience with young members and leading them to achieve more.”
She highlights that event planning involves intense teamwork: a project cannot be successfully concluded without it. “Therefore, how to lead your team, how to allocate tasks efficiently and reasonably, and how to build team members’ sense of belonging are important things.”
Ms. Loi credits part of her career success to what she learned during her time at IFTM – going beyond academic knowledge. “The soft skills I accumulated during those years are the most precious and useful things I got from the Institute,” she says.
Ms. Loi explains that IFTM provides a series of courses with diversified content, as well as exchange programmes and other activities, requiring students to complete a large number of group projects in order to graduate. That means undergraduates get plenty of opportunities to work with different fellow classmates. “In that process, students build their communication, coordination and presentation skills, all of which are very important later on, for work purposes.”
The IFTM alumna also praises the Institute’s curricular internship scheme. She says it is a great way to prepare students for the labour market, and to equip them fully with relevant knowledge and skills for their career development.
“When I was an undergraduate at IFTM, it was not that common for higher education institutions to have such an internship programme,” Ms. Loi recalls. “It provided IFTM students with more opportunities than those enjoyed by students from other institutions, in terms of understanding the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as of getting early job offers.”
IFTM students studying for a bachelor’s degree are required to complete a 6-month internship. The Institute’s strong links with tourism and hospitality enterprises locally and outside Macao ensure the internship opportunities offered to undergraduates are of high calibre.
Putting IFTM training to good use
After graduating from the Institute, Ms. Loi worked in the event planning industry for a few years. She later joined the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office of the Macao SAR Government, a body that was in charge of planning and organising government official activities.
She says her IFTM training shaped her outlook from the outset of her professional life. “Whenever I needed to plan for a high-level activity or coordinate visits by national delegations to the Macao SAR, I would draft a concept for every step of the event, and plan how preparation should be done,” Ms. Loi explains. “The knowledge I gained at the Institute has been helpful for me to overcome difficulties and organise my tasks.”
The current COVID-19 pandemic is posing challenges for new entrants in the labour market. Ms. Loi suggests fresh IFTM graduates use this period to enhance their skills and develop new capabilities, including in fields novel to them.
“Although job opportunities have decreased due to the pandemic, this situation won’t last forever,” she says. “They can take this as a good time to invest in self-enhancement; furthermore, students can opt to participate in different activities to meet more people and expand their network.”
Ms. Loi advises IFTM fresh graduates also to look beyond Macao for work offers, and to go out of their comfort zone when it comes to exploring job opportunities. “They should not set any limits to them,” she says. “There might be attractive chances for work on the Mainland, including in the rest of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, or overseas.” She encourages fresh graduates to equip themselves well and develop their talent, to ensure career development.
