Business job in HK/China

I'm an American living here in HK. Been here for almost 5 years now teaching. I'm starting to get curious about getting back into business here. In the states I never taught, always did customer service/sales/admin. I just got into teaching when I came here because it's the easiest and pays pretty well. I'd just like some opinions from fellow expats on whether the business field is much of an option for a guy like me 28yrs old/college level educated and out of the field for almost 5 years. By the way, I have permanent visa since my wife's a citizen and I'm willing to travel.

Again, I'd very much appreciate any opinions on what's available/where I should begin.

well that depends on what business he ends up doing, I mean if he sets up a small newspaper stand, that would hardly beat a teachers salary. Honestly speaking though, I don't think its a disadvantage having been a teacher for 5 years and you are certainly still young enough for a career change. I assume you have a college education, so getting a job should not really be a problem, particularly in a non technical sales, where really the objective is to contact as many potential customers as possible and pitch them, of which provided Hong Kong isn't in SARS mode there are always dozens around. The only problem with looking for work in Hong Kong when you are an expat, is the requirement for Cantonese as well as English, if you cant speak Cantonese then this limits the number of jobs available to just foreign companies. you should check out a company called Euromoney which is usually always looking for expat advertising sales staff, that would be a good place to start of and would give you solid experience and contacts on your resume to move on to something different, though they don't pay great after a year or two you would be able to move to something else that does. Otherwise if your looking for work, the only places I would recommend you look are the usual SCMP and HK Magazine, sorry I cant be more helpful, but the best way to actually find work is through word of mouth and networking otherwise you are limited to the techniques that everyone else uses, which is scanning the paper.

Thanks a lot for your imput! I've given quite a bit of thought over time to starting my own business and would love to do that! The main problem there is I don't have a good idea as to what to do. I could open a playgroup or learning centre(education related business) since that's where my experience lies in HK but..I think there's just too many of those around now. Too much competition. So really, I've just been giving some thought lately to working for someone doing some business. I have some college credits under my belt but no university degree. You're probably wondering how I can teach..well, it hasn't been easy and I've had a lot of doors closed to me with that but over time, I've just gained more experience and that's how I've been able to do it. Now, I'm able to do 2 part time jobs Mon-Fri @6hours a day making around 25K per month including all holidays. I'm wondering how much of a drop I'll have to sacrifice if I decide to change careers. On the downside again, my education, it always bites me in the butt! On the upside, I have been here a while and my Cantonese is conversational but not fluent. Again, I don't mind traveling.(I'd actually look foward to it) I'd also be willing to learn Mandarin if I can see an employer really would be interested in that.

I'll give that Euromoney place a look and see what they're about. Thanks

Also think about attending the various Chamber of Commerce networking nights. A few friends have found jobs through AustCham (Australian Chamber of Commerce) and AMCham (American Chamber).


AustCham has their 'Mix at Six' this Thursday night at Bar One, Level 3, Exchange Square. Might be worth a look.