Finding work in HK

So just got back from a week long trip in Asia and spent a day in HK. I’ve been there before, but that was over 5 years ago. Wanted to see if I still liked it after having lived in NYC for 3 years. Would love to find work there, but it seems the days of westerners easily getting jobs there has long since passed. Seems like it might be getting harder too.

Despite that I still want to try. I was curious if anyone here can offer some further insight that already isn’t accessible via a basic websearch.

Thanks.

just get the classy babes…

I guess it all depends on your experience and role though generally these days it’s tough (competition is very fierce for the very few jobs that do not require Chinese language skills) in finance no matter where you come from especially if you cannot speak the local language (and lately most finance jobs including most back office jobs require Mandarin in addition to Cantonese). Frankly, I guess it may be easier for you to try Singapore as most jobs there do not require additional language skills apart from English except very few jobs (the reverse of the case in HK). Networking, I guess still remains the best option to get in. I wish you success.

If you know mandarin and you are a western, easy job access. Most of the jobs like private equity and investment banking, etcs. All their deals are mainly in the mainland (China), so knowing how to speak the language is crucial.

Really? What type of opportunities/companies? I could get down with that.

depends on your background. There are lot of money management firm that has Asia Fund which needs analyst on the ground, usually stationed in HK. They do the due diligence and company analysis, visit with the mgmt team etc. You need to locate those managers that has Asia funds, which shouldn’t be hard! Specific, there are also China Funds which are more stationed in Shanghai.

Hi, what are the best websites to look for a job in the financial services in HK (I don’t speak cantonese/mandarin)? Thanks!

in order of preference:

1._ efinancialcareers.hk _

  1. _ careertimes.hk _

  2. _ classified posts _

but the problem with _ efinancialcareers.hk _ is that they keep repeating the same job postings over and over even in this period of so much talk about the market flooded with well qualified resumes. wish u all the best.

i believe mandarin is more important than cantonese…

i believe mandarin is more important than cantonese…

^ overall yes

but HK is huge on cantonese

Cantonese is the local dialect (the defacto official language) but most jobs require all 3 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin and English) which is a bit daunting for non-Chinese.

require ALL 3? damn. I find that very very hard for any non-Chinese to master.

If it was just Mandarin and English, there are a bunch of these people. But throwing Canto in there is rough…

The language requirement in HK is really about what kind of person they want:

  1. Fluent English, Cantonese, and Mandarin --> Looking for a local HK person (or Guangzhou), international clients, but your boss is probably local

  2. Fluent Cantonese --> Looking for a local HK person, catering to HK clients

  3. Native Mandarin, fluent English --> Looking for a Chinese person, non-Chinese firm catering to Chinese clients

  4. Native Mandarin --> Looking for a Chinese person, Chinese firm catering to Chinese clients

  5. Fluent English --> Looking for any person with top level skills, international firm

  6. Fluent English + Asian Language --> Looking for somebody who was born in an Asian country, but got higher education in the US, international firm catering to all Asian clients

  7. Native English --> Looking for a white guy

#3 is growing the most by far in HK the past few years