Transcript

My name is Yu Xi Chau. I studied complexity science for a Master's degree from 2009 to 2010, and then I proceeded to do a PhD in complexity science from 2010 to 2015.

Afterwards, I went back to Hong Kong to become the first data scientist for Hong Kong Jockey Club, and then I'm now the data science manager for A.S. Watson - the world's largest health and beauty brand.

So I went back to Hong Kong in 2015. I've always been motivated by a desire to solve real-life problems, and at the time I was really lucky because data scientists jobs are very in demand in Hong Kong. So I applied for two jobs and I got offers for both of them, and I decided to join the Hong Kong Jockey Club because it gave me the opportunity to build a build a new team from scratch.

I think some of the advantages I had in Warwick was that it exposed me to many real life experiences, like projects with different organizations or business partners. So in my cv I obviously put those to my advantage, and introduced to my future employers about my experience with, for example, the British Telecom or the British Antarctic Survey - which are both British reputable organizations - and those I think really helped me to convince my future employers that I had some experience of business and I can solve real life problems.

So after I graduated I deliberately looked for data science or roles in artificial intelligence, especially in applying them to real-life problems. So I was very lucky, I applied for two jobs and I got two offers, and in the end I decided to go for a role that offered me to build a team, to build up my own team. So that's how I went for my first graduate role.

If I have to find three things to recommend to graduates who are looking for a job - first of all, be open-minded about the job market, second of all, do a lot of research on what the role entails and what you can bring to the job, and the third recommendation is to really ask yourself how can you be very good at what the job asks you to do in one year's time.