Placement

All students undertake an internship, known as “Placement”, normally in Semester 2 of their third year. The Placement carries 3 credits and is undertaken either on a project basis, involving a minimum of 7,500 words of translation work, or on an hourly basis for a period of not less than 42 hours. The choice of mode will depend on the needs of the employer and on the nature of the work undertaken.

Some students may prefer to intermit their studies, taking one year out to do a full-time year-long placement. In this case, a further 3 credits will be awarded, meaning that a total of 6 credits will be awarded to students who take a one-year Placement.

Students typically fulfill their Placement in organizations where translation or the use of Chinese and English form an important part of their daily operation. The nature of the work may include editing, translating, interpreting, copywriting, text drafting, information collection and extraction, proof-reading, vetting, or preparation of Public Relations literature.

In the semester before their Placement (Semester 1 of Year 3), students take the course “Professional Studies” as a preparation for their Placement. The course covers a variety of issues including workplace ethics.

Students are usually paid a reasonable salary, generally two-thirds that of a graduate employee with equivalent responsibilities. The employing institution is required to treat the student fairly, and provide training for the job as required.

Some of the many companies and organizations who have participated in the Placement programme include:

  1. Cable News Network (CNN)
  2. CNN Turner
  3. Chanel
  4. Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)
  5. Green PR Company Ltd.
  6. Hong Kong Jockey Club
  7. Hong Kong Red Cross
  8. Linguitronics Company Ltd. (Taiwan and Shanghai)
  9. Securities and Futures Commission
  10. Transamerica Life (Bermuda) Ltd.
  11. UNICEF
  12. Upfront Associate (HK) Ltd.
  13. Wordidea Language Services Limited


During their workplace training, students will have access to professional advice and counselling support, and the Programme has established a network of Professional Mentors who are experienced graduates of the Programme. Assessment of student performance is based on employer feedback and on a portfolio submitted by the student.

Sharing from Students

damon-leung damon-leung

You may ask why a translation student would need to work in a hotel for an internship. My duties were to welcome guests, to provide assistance to residents, to assist the front desk, and so on. Most of the time I was using Japanese for communication. When there were guests who didn’t understand Japanese or English, but only Chinese, then that was my chance to shine – as an interpreter.

While working at the hotel, my duty was mainly to coordinate between the staff of front desk and the guests, as well as to provide explanations to the guests about facilities and attention items of the hotel. I had to answer their questions one by one patiently and became the bridge of communication.

katy-hui katy-hui

It has been a fruitful year being an intern of the Equal Opportunities Commission. During the one-year internship, I have learnt about the four ordinances implemented by the EOC and the areas they apply to. This has increased my knowledge of the four ordinances and related skills such as the use of glossaries in different contexts, and it will be very useful for my translation of the respective materials such as legal documents and my work experience on those topics in future.

Also, the commission always encourages interns to engage in a lot of activities. For instance, taking part in the press conference held by the commission and helping in the seminars or conferences organized by the commission. It is an unforgettable experience for the other interns and me as we learnt a lot from different specific fields and learnt the skills to translate the related documents, and how to interpret those special themes, which improved our translation studies a lot.

gigi-cheung gigi-cheung

It was a fruitful year with the full-time placement in the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). I had a taste of being a real employee in the workplace. As a Publicity/Translation Assistant under the Corporate Communication Division, I got well acquainted with every stakeholder of issues and cases. Doing frequent translations of news and legal papers, and also providing interpreting and whispering services, really helped to improve my bilingual writing skills. Being involved in publicity projects, such as liaising with the RTHK2 radio programme, gave me a chance to get along with different social communities and boosted my confidence. Apart from the general duties, I attended several workshops and courses which provided me knowledge of Equal Opportunities and business writing skills. And I had an opportunity to participate in various voluntary work too.

Expanding my networking through working with different organisations, and even publicity parties during the placement in EOC, are gifts for me to further my study in Communication and Public Relations, and also develop my career in related fields. I am thankful to have had a group of nice and pleasant colleagues and officers who had much work and life experience!

car-che car-che

As a one-year internship, I have been working in Madbox Communications, a public relations agency. During the year, I played the role of a project assistant to help the company conduct multiple tasks and facilitate their job progress. I have come through a variety of work and without doubt, these provided me chances to explore my potential in different areas and a platform for me to practice. 

Working in a public relations agency requires multitasking skills, not to mention Madbox Communications is a company consists of a wide range of brands and customers. After a thorough understanding of this industry, I found that to act as a successful public relations agency, communication skill is not the only crucial skill. It is also important for one to have a flexible and innovative mind for coming up with brilliant campaign ideas and handling unexpected and instant cases.


This internship surely has broadened my horizon and enriched my knowledge in numerous areas. I have gained treasured experience in handling tasks of different categories. The operations of linking the brands, journalists, and consumers, through different platforms, are extremely interesting and impressive. By alliancing different stakeholders, I am able to take a peek into a world that I have never explored before, which is novel.

Madbox Communications provided a nice and relax working environment. Colleagues are very friendly, which they will teach and explain things patiently. I truly treasured this one year experience and am glad to have all the opportunities given.

The Internship Program had given me the opportunity to meet and bond with gifted university students from all over the world. In the journey of ups and downs, together we made mistakes, we learnt, and we grew. We also shared uncountable happy moments. I learnt from my fellow colleagues and “intern-mates”, not just as an employee, but also as a person. I was fortunate to have the pleasure to work in a supportive team where open communication was highly encouraged. Whenever I encountered difficulties, my team was always there to offer me help, advice and guidance. There I also learnt the importance of peer support. No one is perfect, which is why we need to work in a team. Every decision we made as an inclusive team was people-oriented. The more we cared about each other, the more we achieved together.

It was a busy yet fruitful year. #Internlife at CHANEL was challenging, but that was what made the experience more precious. By participating in various translation projects and PR campaigns, I earned valuable experiences, put what I learnt in school into practice and most importantly, learnt from a team of talented and innovative individuals. There was not a second spent in vain.

Over the course of 7 months, I have acquired multiple skills at the editorial division of the CUHK Press, including but not limited to editing articles and books and understanding how a university press operates.

Before COVID-19 began to flare up, I was pleased with the opportunity to go to CUHK directly, and learn from my employers, who were both editors. They have taught me how common grammatical mistakes can affect an entire article, how redundant ideas in a book can be lessened to create a more desirable effect, how to negotiate with the author about the changes in the book and how to express oneself effectively and articulately. These experiences were all very eye-opening and useful, and even helped me pass an entrance test for a part-time job after the internship!


Other than practical matters, I also learned about the operation of a university press. Throughout these few months, I was fortunate enough to grasp the ‘birth’ of a book, from illustrations to drafts to the final product, and it was all incredibly fascinating to see. Fun fact: did you know that the more details a book has, the more expensive it gets to produce?


What I mentioned above brought me another perspective about books, and I’m very thankful for all the opportunities I was given at the CUHK Press.