Current employer: Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province
Current job title: Website Operation Executive
Current location: Guangzhou, China
“Cherish your time at university, please. Value your time in school and take advantage of educational opportunities as much as possible. Also, make sure that you think about career-planning as soon as possible.”
What is the most difficult thing which you have faced in your career?
In China the tourism industry has started relatively later than in the rest of the world; in fact, it has only really begun to take shape over the past 30 years. So, most jobs China related to the tourism industry are on low incomes. Despite having two master’s degrees in the tourism field, it is still not easy to find a satisfactory job in China.
What is the best, most exciting or fun thing that you have done in your career?
The most exciting thing in my career happened last year when I was working for the tourism administration of Guangdong Province. I accepted a task to plan and build in just 20 days the Guangdong Cultural Pavilion. It was a really big challenge to finish in such a short amount of time, including collecting resources and keeping track of quality control. In the end, the project was well received which gave me a great amount of pleasure and fulfilment.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get in to the same line of work?
As a Website Operation Executive, you have to have a good set of skills in certain areas and also a focus on crucial components: you must have an ability to use website content such as structure planning, channel part planning, event planning, and project management; you need strong communication and interpersonal skills; strong organising and coordinating ability; and also a strong computer software skill-set in MS Office suite and PowerPoint capability.
How did studying at Plymouth help you?
For me, I think the experience taught me two things. The first thing I learnt is that I have a kind of survival ability, that I can live in any city and any country in the world even though I might not know anybody. The other thing I learnt was that I had an ability to deal with setbacks; now I understand better how to explore my own desires and dreams when presented with opportunities and challenges.
What is your favourite memory of studying at Plymouth?
My most precious memory is the one month spent in Penzance as a market researcher for the youth hotel. As a member of the research team – through questionnaire surveys, group interviews, on-site observations and some other ways – I had a great time compiling the research. Significantly, the research results surprised the managers of the hotel and strongly improved my understanding of the tourism market.
Is there anything else which you would like to share with our current students?
I have two tips: cherish your time at university, please. Value your time in school and take advantage of educational opportunities as much as possible. Also, make sure that you think about career-planning as soon as possible; meditating on preferred job outcomes and planning for your future career is a significant component to succeeding after graduating.
