First To be honest, HR at big companies really do prioritize the school listed on your resume.

Especially in the finance, consulting, and technology sectors, during campus recruitment season, a single position can attract thousands of resumes, leaving HR unable to review each one individually. In the first round, keyword screening places significant weight on the applicant’s university name.

So you’re saying we have to finish in the top three at Hong Kong—I completely understand. This isn’t about vanity; it’s rational.

But the problem is that many people interpret “rankings are useful” as “only rankings are useful.”

As for the top three offers in Hong Kong, once you’ve received them…

Two years ago, one of my students went to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong, drawn by its reputation as one of Hong Kong’s top institutions.

In my graduating year, I submitted over sixty resumes, and the response rate was actually quite good—HKU’s reputation did help me pass the initial screening. I interviewed with seven or eight companies; most made it to the final round, and in the end, I received two offers. One was for a course consultant position at an education‑training institution, an entry‑level role with a monthly salary of HK$20,000.

He told me during our post‑interview debrief that the candidate sitting next to him was a graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and every one of the three internships listed on their resume was in a relevant field. By contrast, aside from the prestigious HKU name, there was nothing else to distinguish his own resume once you scrolled down.

The University of Hong Kong’s reputation got HR to open the resume, but once they’d flipped through it, it was a whole different story.

In the same cohort, one student who attended Baptist University’s business school—whose institutional ranking was far behind that of HKU—began an internship in Central as early as his sophomore year. During his sophomore summer, he landed a position at a boutique investment bank, and by his junior year, he had moved on to an asset-management firm. Upon graduation, he applied to over a dozen companies and, within three weeks, secured four interview invitations—three of which led to final-round interviews—and received two job offers, one of which came with a very competitive starting salary.

He said something very straightforward: on my resume, I didn’t list which school I graduated from; instead, I highlighted the data I’ve analyzed, the projects I’ve led, and the deals I’ve worked on.

The prestige of a top school helps you get through the first hurdle; after that, it all comes down to what you’ve actually accomplished.

I’ve given this matter some serious thought later on. Here’s my conclusion.

In the job‑search process, your ranking is just a doorbell. Once the door is open, the interviewer inside doesn’t care about your rank.

Consider what you’ve done, what you’re capable of, and how your past experiences align with this role.

So you chose a highly ranked school whose curriculum doesn’t align with your career goals. You secured the entry ticket, but once the door opened, you had nothing substantial to showcase inside.

I chose a school with a lower ranking but rigorous coursework, abundant internship opportunities, and a location close to the industry’s hub. It may take a bit more effort to get in, but once you’re there, you’ll have one real‑world project after another you can proudly showcase.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t look at rankings. I’m saying we shouldn’t focus solely on them.

Staying in Hong Kong or returning to the mainland—your choices differ.

When returning to mainland China for employment, HR generally categorizes Hong Kong universities into three tiers: the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, with all others falling into the third tier. If your goal is to land a management trainee position at a major mainland‑China company or to pass civil service or institutional‑employment exams, then the name of your alma mater matters far more than you might expect.

But if the goal is to stay and work in Hong Kong, the situation is different.

In Hong Kong’s finance, legal, and real estate sectors, employers don’t take such a one-size-fits-all approach to academic qualifications. Take accounting, for example: programs accredited by the HKICPA are offered at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University. If you graduate in accounting from Hong Kong Baptist University and perform the same duties as your colleagues at the University of Hong Kong in KPMG’s Hong Kong office, no one will view you as being any less qualified.

I have a student who is currently working at Cathay Pacific as a management trainee. He originally chose the Hotel Management program at Hong Kong Polytechnic University—not the University of Hong Kong or the Chinese University of Hong Kong. However, HKPU’s Hotel Management program is among the best in the world and maintains a direct industry‑university partnership with Cathay Pacific. He was offered a pre‑employment offer during his first semester of his third year.

If I’d stubbornly pushed ahead and enrolled at the University of Hong Kong in a major I wasn’t really interested in, I might still be sending out resumes today.

There’s also something that few people mention: GPA.

Let me offer an observation that may seem somewhat counterintuitive.

The GPAs at the top three Hong Kong universities are notoriously hard to achieve. In some programs, the department-wide average GPA doesn’t even reach 3.0. You work your tail off to get in, then spend all four years struggling to maintain a 2.8 GPA—only to submit your resume. Meanwhile, students from CityU or PolyU, with 3.5 GPAs and two internships under their belts, look far more impressive on paper.

When HR sees a 2.8 GPA from HKU and a 3.5 from CityU, which one do you think is easier to land?

I’m not saying that HKU necessarily inflates grades—this varies from program to program and requires case-by-case analysis. But you should research and ask: what is the GPA distribution across different universities for your target major?

When job hunting, your GPA and internship experience together often carry more weight than the name of your alma mater. The school’s reputation may determine whether an HR recruiter even opens your resume, but once it’s open, it’s your GPA and work experience that decide whether you’ll be shortlisted.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your own circumstances.

Back to the specifics.

If your goal is a management trainee position at a top-tier company or a role in the public sector—where academic pedigree carries significant weight—then ranking should be given greater consideration. There’s no need to feel embarrassed about this; that’s simply how things stand.

If you’re fairly certain about the industry you want to enter—whether in Hong Kong or back on the mainland—then prioritize your school’s alignment with your career goals, its reputation within the industry, and the ease of securing internships.

If you’re still unsure about your future path, choose a school with less pressure on your GPA and a broader range of general‑education courses. This will give you time to explore and adjust your direction.

There is no one-size-fits-all formula, but there is a decision-making framework.

Ranking, major, location, and GPA—among these four factors, prioritize them based on your own circumstances.

The most clear-headed decision I’ve ever seen was made by a student last year.

He estimates his scores are strong enough to apply to the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Social Sciences, but he hopes to pursue UX design in the future. The University of Hong Kong doesn’t offer an undergraduate program in UX, whereas the Hong Kong Polytechnic University does—and its School of Design enjoys a very strong global ranking.

He went to Hong Kong Polytechnic.

At first, his family was a bit hesitant—after all, his grades were strong enough to get him into HKU. But I still remember what he said back then: “What HKU can offer me is the kind of reaction people have when they hear my school’s name. What HKUST can give me, though, might be the feeling of waking up every day and looking forward to going to work.”

I didn’t try to talk him out of it. I just figured it was a calculation he’d made himself.