I am grateful I could work in the General Household Survey Section (2) of the Labour Statistics Branch (5) this summer. This section is mainly responsible for calculating the unemployment rate and another relevant indices based on the results of the General Household Survey.

My duties included creating a readable file for Canadian Census Editing and Imputation System (CANCEIS). This imputation system helped to handle missing problems and inconsistencies between the data. Because the original datasets consisted of several parts and had some problems that were unreadable for CANCEIS, I used the SAS programs I had learned how to use at the CUHK. I merged the dataset and converted the format so it could be read by CANCEIS. Apart from preparing the input data using SAS, I had to prepare other necessary components for CANCEIS. For example, I had to convert all the validation rules in GHS to a Decision Logic Table in CANCEIS and check to see whether they were correctly built.

My supervisor had told me that Hong Kong was just beginning to use this system and that many problems might be found when using it. I did face many difficulties. Spending some time to understand the principles of the system and discuss it with my teammates, I still worked out the solutions and completed the tasks my supervisor had given me.

I enjoyed working in the C&SD for these two months. I am thankful to the Statistics Department and C&SD for giving me this experience.

Over the past two months, I was mainly responsible for the Technical Secretariat. I had three tasks: conducting desktop research for seasonal adjustment methods and big data development, testing the effectiveness of frequency for seasonal adjustment methods and assisting in the SAS programming and tabulation work for a study of the earnings mobility of Hong Kong university graduates. I was quite confused with my task at the beginning, however, fortunately my supervisor was friendly and was always willing to listen to my difficulties. Finally, I successfully completed over 2,000 revised tables on time thanks to the supervisor’s helpful reminders.

Because my supervisor knew I was interested in machine learning, she invited her colleague to set up a talk for me and another summer student. He mainly focused on how machine learning can help distribute the codes for shipping statistics, which would undoubtedly boost efficiency. This really widened my horizons and helped me learn more about the mechanism of machine learning.

I am so grateful to have been selected to join the C&SD programme this summer. I learned a lot and enjoyed the working environment of the department. With my nice colleagues, I had a fruitful and memorable experience during the two months. I hope the skills I learned this summer can be applied to my future career.

I was very pleased to have this precious opportunity to work as an intern in the Census and Statistics Department this summer. I was assigned to the Balance of Payments Branch (1) and supervised by a statistician, Miss Tam.

My main assignment was to conduct desktop research on the latest international developments in the International Investment Position (IIP), mainly in the area of the IIP reconciliation statement and IIP by currency. At the beginning, I was entirely new to the concepts of economic statistics and it was difficult for me to perform research on these challenging topics. However, thanks to the expertise and guidance of my supervisor and colleagues, I quickly picked up the conceptual ideas of the research topics.

Throughout the entire internship, I not only gained financial knowledge, I also acquired practical soft skills. I had regular consultations with my supervisor, who gave me professional suggestions and guided me in improving the organisation of the results I got. This was useful not only for this internship but also for my future career. At the same time, my supervisor talked to me about the work of the department and statisticians, which helped me acquire a more concreate understanding of the C&SD workplace.

I was glad to have this valuable experience working at the C&SD. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dr Ho, Miss Tam and my colleagues. This real-life work experience will certainly help me in the future.

Working at the CCRB during a two-month summer internship was a great experience. I am grateful to have been given an opportunity to work with Professor Zee and the CCRB staff. They all offered to help me with my work at the CCRB.

The main task I was assigned was to do a report analysing a dataset. To do the project, I was asked to use the statistical skills I had learned at school. Before writing the report, I was asked to write an analysis plan to determine what statistical method should be applied to the analysis and what the objective of the report was. Because it was my first time writing an analysis plan, it was not done well at first. However, Professor Zee kindly explained how to do it. He also taught me the importance of communicating well with others, because knowing what your supervisor required was important.

Apart from writing the report, I also had a special experience during the internship: collecting first-hand data. In school, we seldom got a chance to collect the data ourselves. Most of the time, we were given a dataset by the professor to do the analysis. However, during the internship, there was another study in which subjects had their retinal images taken and their health information collected to examine their life styles and analyse their risk for stroke. Through this process, I understood that data collection was an important part of the analysis because the data we obtained would affect its result.

I am grateful for this valuable opportunity to work at the CCRB this summer. The people I met there were nice and they taught me a lot that the books did not. It was great to be a part of the CCRB’s summer programme.

This summer, I received the chance to do a summer internship at the New Media Group, which enriched my summer life and improved my practical statistical skills.

This internship lasted one and a half months. During these days, I tried various tasks, such as acquiring and managing data from primary or secondary data sources, interpreting data, analysing results using statistical techniques, providing ongoing reports and filtering and cleaning data by reviewing the reports. These tasks gave me a clear picture of my future job. They also reminded me to learn to convert theory into practice, which was good for my progress. Through this experience I recognised myself again. I found that I lacked a little bit of creativity, even though I made a down-to-earth effort. In the days to come, I will try my best to make up for my weakness and improve myself.

What impressed me the most was that the people at the NMG were hardworking and cooperative. Whenever I was confused or had trouble they were all happy to help me work it out. Therefore, I made friends and learned a lot from them.

In a word, I really appreciate that our department and the New Media Group gave me this precious opportunity and let me grow up.