Finding Work & Work Visa

Hello all. I would like to spend some time living and working in Hong Kong. I have two areas of experience that could make me useful in Hong Kong. These are teaching English and financial audit.


I have a B.A. in humanities from a USA university. I do not have any TEFL certifications or other educational qualifications. I was told this makes me ineligible for both international schools and the NET program. Chloett in another thread suggests "tutoring centers" as one work possibility. Would they hire me and be able to obtain a work visa with only a B.A.?


In financial auditing I have worked in the operations side of a hedge fund, done bookkeeping, taxes, and resort/hotel night audit. I am hoping to earn the globally recognized diploma Certified Internal Auditor, but do not have the money to pay for the exam fees now. It is almost one thousand USD. I am hoping to earn this money by working in Hong Kong. I emailed about six HK financial recruiters expressing interest in audit work at a junior level, as I am not yet certified. The reply of Ambition, a recruitment company, was typical of the responses. They said due to the market conditons now (the recession or depression or whatever this is called) and the fact I do not speak Cantonese, I would not likely be found desirable.


What can a university educated native speaker of English like me who wants to work in Hong Kong do with this set of circumstances? I already subscribe to SCMP classified with job email alerts for "English teacher".


If and when I get a job offer, how long is HK immigration currently taking to process work visas?Thank you kindly.

Thanks GreenValleys:


So, where do I get a list of these tutoring centres?

In respect of the financial field, I think you can pretty much forget about it. Given the current state of the economy and your lack of qualifications/language skills, there is no way you can compete with the current loads of unemployed financial professionals here in HK.


As for tutoring English in tutoring centres, I don't think it's worth the effort. Given you have no TEFL or TESOL qualification, you'll be barely making enough money to cover your rent & expenses, let alone save money.


I think you should stay in US and get qualified (i.e. get the CIA or TEFL) and then re-apply.

Cara: Precisely why I am not there now. I cannot afford that, and I never stated that I could. That is why I am asking people for lists of tutoring centres while I am here in Hawaii. I am not in a position to know who in HK may or may not offer air tickets or other perks. That is why I am posting questions, if you do not mind. Most people I know would want to arrange a job and get a work visa before leaving their home country. If a ticket was provided or cost loaned to me by a friend, all that remains is the housing issue and surviving until the first pay.

Thanks Cara.


I worked my way around the world from 1990 to 1993. I tutored English to adults for about two of those years. I worked in Taiwan, Greece, Austria, and Spain. I prepared students for Cambridge exams in Greece, tutored medical doctors medical terminology in English in Spain, taught at buxiban in Taiwan in addition to private students who were bankers and attorneys, and taught university students in Vienna I met while eating in their dining halls on campus.

Given Hawaii stated in his original post "I am hoping to earn the globally recognized diploma Certified Internal Auditor, but do not have the money to pay for the exam fees now. It is almost one thousand USD. I am hoping to earn this money by working in Hong Kong" I think it was quite clear that Hawaii doesn't have enough money to come to HK on a tourist visa and stay in HK until he/she finds a job. Mate, as I said before, it's in your best interest to get some qualifications before coming to HK.

Given you don't have any proper qualifications, you'll only get odd tutoring jobs here and there teaching little kiddies with their pronounciations (provided you had a working permit to begin with). They'll probably only pay a few hundred HK dollars per hour and your hours will vary. I doubt you'll earn 20-25k a month.