salary ranges in the sustainability/CSR field

I've been offered an independent contract as a Sustainability Consultant for an international company whose headquarters is here in HK. The pay is 30K HKD/month with 6 day workweeks. This seems very low to me considering the cost of living in HK and my qualifications. I'm wondering if my expectations are too high? I'm American, have an Ivy league graduate degree in Sustainability and have previously made 100k working in this field. A friend here has told me that HK companies don't value things like Ivy degrees, etc, which I found surprising given how brand-name conscious this city appears to be.


The contract is for 3 months, where they would sponsor me for a visa (which doesn't really matter to me because since I'm not a local, any company would wants me to work for them would have to sponsor me). No housing allowance; no benefits or anything.


I'm inclined to think they are low-balling me, especially as they are treating this position as a permanent one (in terms of hours and the such)... The last time I made pay this low was 12 years ago, when I was practically right out of undegrad!


Can any one of you give me some insight as to what a reasonable salary range is for the CSR/Sustainability field?


I keep hearing that this is high pay for a local but I'm not a local! I have no interest in living in a 200 sq ft shoebox, nor in moving to the NT, etc.


Thank you for your time

yes, it's quite a high pay for local.. but given that u've been working in this field for 10 years above.. i assume u're already a senior in this field.. then i think this amount isnt reasonable~


but this is a 3-month contract or does that mean the probation is 3 months and afterwards u become permanent? if so, u can see whether u like the company and maybe u could try discuss with them when they really hire u~

i think the issue is more that CSR is not valued by companies in hong kong and therefore they are not willing to shell out.


think of hk companies as the US 30 years ago, and you probably get it right

Yes, no one here cares much about CSR, so that's an OK salary- true, you're not local- a local would probably be bi- or even tri- lingual & would still get less than you. In fact they may be paying as much as they are because they can't get a local.. just not a popular field for HK folk. A local guy I know, maybe 5 years experience, isn't making half that in a similar post, despite (wait for it... ) a PhD in composting. I'd be more upset about the 6 day week, but that's me, lazy!