recent Californian Fresh Grad.

Hello All,


HK is kinda new to me. I'd appreciate some help.


I'm a recent fresh grad from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) from the States trying to find employment in Hong Kong or Shanghai/Beijing. Good GPA and a double major. I don't have HK ID/residency/citizenship. I did study abroad in Shanghai for 5 months with light research experience.


I would like to ask if employers in Hong Kong or China are willing to hire foreign fresh grads? I'm willing to take a local's salary. I've heard great things about HK's economy and so I want to gain some international experience. Thanks for the help.

If you don't have family or very close friends (the kind you can shack up with for 6 months) then the chance of you finding anything other than an English teaching job is very poor.

If you are trying HK/China because things are bad in California, it will be even harder for you over here.

If you want to come over out of real interest, then the best bet for you is to get recruited by a multinational company, and try to get an HK assignment.

HK companies value experience, not degrees. New grads here make about HKD 10-15k per month, that's USD 1300-2000. You will not get an visa sponsorship for those kind of jobs. China is even harder, there is no reason to hire entry level employee who does not speak Chinese. They will assign interpreters only to senior level staff.

So if you really want to come over, but cannot get an multinational to assign you as an entry level, then I suggest get some work experience first. Then try in a few years as an experienced expert, and maybe get one of those cushy expat packages.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Can i get some more input from other viewers?

Agree with the other posters. Not impossibe, but I'd say you'll struggle. If you're really committed to the idea, you need to be really really determined, patient and think creatively. You might want to consider applying for unpaid internships to get some experience out here and maybe a toe in a few doors, but that has obvious financial consequences and may not even be that easy to achieve.


For a permanent role, you're up against a lot of local graduates (on the mainland, million, literally), all of whom have the advantages of (i) Language, and (ii) No visa/work permit issues.


That said, good luck!