Should I move to Hong Kong?

Hi,


I am currently in my last year at the University of Florida in the USA and will be completing my degree in Finance later in the year. My girlfriend graduated a few months back, and will be in Hong Kong by the time I graduate (She is a HK/Australian citizen). We are serious and have been dating for a couple years now. I was considering my options and one I am considering is to try to find entry level work in Hong Kong when I graduate.


1) How hard would it to get a working VISA in HK, not having any sort of job lined up? I would probably just have to go over and look for work upon my arrival if that was possible.

2) Not knowing much Cantonese and only a little bit of Mandarin, what kind of hindrances would I have in my job search? Would I still be able to find an entry level job in finance?

3) What kind of salary and hours could I expect for this type of job?


Thanks for any help you all can provide, it would be much appreciated!

"1) How hard would it to get a working VISA in HK, not having any sort of job lined up? "


As far as I know you can't but I may be wrong. However as you say you could come here on a tourist visa and apply for jobs. The fact that you will be willing to relocate here without company assistance is a big plus. A bank would probably not relocate an entry level employee anyway.


By all means don't wait until you are here, though. Start applying now. Contact companies. Contact headhunters.


You could also marry your girlfriend, although I would only advise this if you are planning to marry her eventually anyway. ;) Having said that, I don't know if this actually confers a work permit and how.


"2) Not knowing much Cantonese and only a little bit of Mandarin, what kind of hindrances would I have in my job search? Would I still be able to find an entry level job in finance?"


Depends on the job but plenty of people work here in finance without a word of Cantonese. There are many entry level finance jobs (growing industry here) and as mentioned the fact that the company does not have to pay an expat package works in your favour.


Many finance companies do look for (some) Westerners. Not saying they don't look for locals as well but sometimes they find that Westerners have an easier time in Western companies. In any case a mix.


"3) What kind of salary and hours could I expect for this type of job?"


Depends on what "finance" you mean, but in investment banking, I would say in excess of HK$350k a year as entry level, plus a bonus. Bonus is very much dependent on which area you work with, and of course performance. Entry level bonuses tend to be quite small.


Are you a US citizen? In that case note that you are taxed globally and thus subject to US taxes on your HK income. Paid HK taxes are subtracted first of course.


Finance people will typically work around from 9a to 6p-8p five days a week but there are significant variations. Many FX traders work 4am-3p for example due to time zones. Given HK's location cross-region conference calls tend to be at night.

Why do you say that starhkg? As far as I know Americans are the second or third biggest expat group here.

Thank you for the responses. This advice is highly appreciated!

cara- i think ecareken was making the point that Filipinos (and I would add Indonesians) are by far the largest 'expat' groups in HK, not the British as stated by mrssmith...we just don't usually see them that way...(why is that?)

"I used to be an office management..." and "... you may consider to take care of a ..." I don't mean to cause offence, starhk, but those are prime examples of why international companies operating out of Hong Kong need to recruit employees who speak and write perfect English.

Cara: the one thing you forgot to provide was an EXCUSE for an immigration officer to grant the working visas. You need to be a little bit creative on that but not too much.


All what people need in HK is an excuse. Of course it also depends on the officer in charge but I have heard so strange stories about both accepted and rejected applications that it seems that there's no coherent practice there.

It is a completely different issue to hire an expat per se or to hire someone on a traditional expat package (which is not offered to someone who's hired locally to similar capacity within the same company).


I know start-ups that have hired expats since day 1. They have managed to do so because they've also hired locals and could show that the position that an expat took, could not be filled locally.

Thank you all for the responses! It seems like the VISA will be quite a hurdle. I was hoping to send my in resume and use a few contacts to try to get an interview or two, and go to HK as a tourist for my ninety day time limit to see if I would be able to land awork VISA and/or in this time. I know it sounds risky, but at worst I could get a nice vacation out of it even if nothing comes of it.


mrsmith- How long does it take to get ESL certified and where could I get it done?


starhkg- My girlfriend has grown up and lived in HK for about half of her life, and we have done long distance on and off for more than two years now, so I doubt the city will change her much from the way she is now.


axptguy- Thank you very much for the especially detailed responses.

EDIT: "a work VISA and/or job"


The edit feature does not seem to be working for some reason.