Alumna Lulù Huang on Talent Acquisition and Recruitment with Huawei

Alumna Lulù Huang graduated from JCU in 2015 with a double degree in International Affairs and International Business. She then went on to earn an M.Sc. in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford. Lulù is currently working as HR Business Partner at Platform. On October 28, Lulù will give a talk called “Talent Acquisition and Recruitment with Huawei” in the context of Professor Antonella Salvatore’s Professional Skills for Career Development course.

Lulù Huang

Lulù Huang

Tell us about your background.
I’m of Chinese descent, but I was born and raised in Italy. As a bicultural kid, I’ve struggled with fitting in, but as I grew up, I learned to embrace my diversity and realized that’s what makes me who I am. I wanted to increase my knowledge of other cultures, languages, and ways of being. This curiosity and passion brought me to JCU, where I found exactly what I was looking for, and more.

You’re currently working as HR Business Partner at Platform. What are your main responsibilities?
My main responsibility is to liaise between our business and HR departments. I provide professional HR solutions to the needs of the business departments, from workforce planning, staff onboarding, and development, to incentives and performance management. I am also in charge of some HR modules concerning leadership, external workforce management, and incentives.

You have a B.A. in International Affairs and International Business, and an M.Sc. in Contemporary Chinese Studies. What made you decide to combine these fields?
I have always had many interests and struggled to choose a specialization. This led me to choose a double major that combined my passion for international topics and allowed me to study how states interact, and how companies maximize their profits in such environments. After obtaining my B.A., I decided to focus more on the study of contemporary China, again from a multi-disciplinary perspective, to learn more about my family’s country, which is also a key player in today’s world.

How have your studies at JCU impacted your career?
Studying at JCU has taught me to develop analytical and critical thinking, and most importantly how to communicate my ideas clearly. I believe that taking a Public Speaking class in my first year has been beneficial in this sense, and I think it can help other students too. Politics classes have reinforced my training in this direction, while business classes have allowed me to refine my teamwork skills, which are essential for the job market.

What advice would you give to students who would like to pursue a career in HR?
HR provides a wide variety of opportunities, in HR operations (quite “technical” in a way) or in a more strategic direction. However, a common denominator in HR is that it deals with people, so I would highly recommend to those wishing to pursue this career to deepen their knowledge of psychology and organizational behavior, and more generally to always be open to listening to their employees. Last but not least, acquiring “hard skills” in labor law or compliance is always a plus.

How has the Center for Career Services helped you professionally?
I will forever be grateful to the Center for Career Services for their help in finding an internship just two weeks after I graduated. My experience at FAO, first as an intern and then as a consultant has been an important milestone where I learned to adjust to the job market and apply the knowledge I acquired during my studies.