Software Developer in Hong Kong

[gert]

Hi everyone,

Hope this does not break list etiquette. As I understand it, only potential employers cannot post(?). Anyway...

Wannabe expat here. Been hanging around the forums for a couple of months to get a feel for the expat situation in Hong Kong. I recently got married to my gf for many years, who is a native HK resident, and am know looking for a way to break into the labor market in HK.

I have a tad over 5 years professional software development experience. Most of it at IT consulting companies, although I did a short (5 month) stint at a bank (not trading system).

Lately I have been developing mainly on MS platforms and applications (C#, .NET, VBA, SQL Server, Office, Sharepoint, ASP), but I have worked quite a bit with Java/J2EE earlier. I have mostly been developing web and client applications, but would love to move into more server based development, as I am much more interested in developing functionality than UI.

I consider myself more of a problem solver than a technology specialist, as I am happy to juggle any number of technologies within a given project and am quick to pick up anything new that is needed. Educationwise, I have a BSc in Business Administratin and Economics with a 27 month IT diploma course on top of that. I am fluent in English, German, and Danish and have the intention to pick up Cantonese ASAP.

At the moment I am happily employed in Denmark where I am from, so I am still hesitating to take the plunge and just come to HK with nothing set up in advance. But the day may soon come when I have to.

If any of you have an interest in anyone with my profile or know someone who does, fell free to PM me and I will be more than happy send my CV.

FYI everything has already been sorted with HK Immigration and HKID has been issued.

And a big thanks to anyone who read all the way down to this

[jimbo]

sounds like you shouldn't have a problem but send your c.v to the big i.t recruitment agencies in HK and get your details out there.

Rober walters and manpower are good places to start.

[gert]

Thanks for your advice, jimbo.

I already interviewed with a two of the bigger agencies when I was in HK last month, but haven't heard anything back from them since then.

The wife's getting a bit impatient, so I thought this might be yet another way to get my details out there.

Anyway, I am not expecting much. At least I already got PM'ed by another guy in a similar situation to mine, and just having someone to swap experiences/frustrations with is worth something in itself

[jimbo]

as a rule the agencies won't contact you if you're not physically in HK so its going to be up to you to contact them rather than the other way round.

Keep on harassing them and they will keep you in mind for anything suitable as if you stay out of the loop then they will forget about you pretty easily.

I'm in the same boat so understand totally.

[KnowItAll]

gert : do you have any background in statistics?

[gert]

KnowItAll: Can't say that I have, beyond a single course module in uni (not IT).

But I am fairly confident that I can wrap my brain around almost any concept if given a bit of time.

[gert]

jimbo: What are you suggesting? That I just write them every once in a while to ask if they have come across any new opportunities lately?

I'm a bit worried that I might piss them off if I pester them too much... but then again, I'm not used to dealing with agencies much. They are hardly used in Denmark.

[hong615]

i am in the same situation. i have 5 yrs of work experience as a technical consultant/JAVA developer. i wanted to find a job in hk as well. i have experience in web development, jsp, java, php, sql, html, gis, etc. Have a BS in CS and Math and a MS in Software engineering...

would it be possible to perform job search overseas??

thanks.

[jimbo]

Gert

No you won't piss them off as long as its no more than say a few times a week, Now if its everyday then of course they will be extremely annoyed, you just need to convey to them that you are desperately looking for work and have they anything at all in the pipeline.


Hong yes its possible to perform a job search from overseas but they won't start taking you seriously and put you forward to there clients untill you are physically in HK unless you have some sort of exceptional skills/experience in very high demand then they will of course be a lot more proactive.

[gert]

Thanks, jimbo

But contacting them several times a week seems a bit excessive to me. Anyway, it's been more than a month since I talked with them. I think I can put one or two updates on my CV and use that as an excuse to contact them again

I didn't realize I would end up at the bottom of the pile that quickly.