Work in HK / Fresh graduate with very low Chinese

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    626

    Work in HK / Fresh graduate with very low Chinese

    I'm going to just be honest here and say I'm a little bit confused at the moment. I've discovered that I am eligible for residency in Hong Kong. My background is mid 20's some travel and work experience in lower level roles of a fairly mixed nature.

    I'm currently at university and have chosen elective subjects rather than a minor and a major of International Management. The way I have chosen to structure my degree is by placing the subjects required for a major all in the final year to enable me to make changes if required up until the last minute.

    I would be happy on a fairly low salary to begin with, providing there was room for progression in the future. That means if I was on 15,000 HKD living in a shoe box for a year or two, but was learning skills that would mean that career progression was possible in the future, then I would take that opportunity. I am not interested in, nor feel qualified to teach English or anything of that nature.

    I have the opportunity to adjust my major and still graduate at the end of next year, but I'm unsure of the need to do so and if so, to what? I've got the usual Business/Commerce majors open to me. Employment Relations, HR, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Management, Marketing,Sustainable Enterprise, Economics, Finance, Financial Planning or my current major of International Management.

    I am currently studying Mandarin and Cantonese, but I'm not exactly a master of languages. In addition to my limited Chinese skills, I am able to understand some conversational Japanese both written and spoken, but my ability to reply is to a much lower standard. My Japanese level could be brought up to an intermediate level after 3-6 months of study I would estimate.

    I'd like advice on my major, where to focus my language studies and general advice on the opportunities available in Hong Kong. Information regarding opportunities that may be available in China and other areas of Asia would also be appreciated.

    Thanks


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    30

    english is enough! learn more and listen more! keep your schedule


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    1,115

    Frankly, you will be very lucky to land a HKD15K/mth job as fresh grad.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1,561

    Disagree with aquababy. You are MUCH more marketable to companies (both multinational and local) if you speak fluent Chinese and English (would forget about Japanese if you aren't fluent if you don't plan on living there). How many more years do you have left in school? Will you have the opportunity to take up summer intern roles in a field you are interested in? These internships often lead to permanent positions and even if they don't they are looked on favorably by other employers.

    To get an idea about what is out there for new grads in HK here are some thoughts:

    (1) Use your school's career services center to identify companies that are hiring in Asia. Identify graduates of your university that are working in HK and contact them directly (career services can generally help with this sort of thing).

    (2) Multinational companies tend to have very structured hiring schemes for new grads. Identify companies you are interested in working for, go to their web sites and familiarize yourself with the application procedures and criteria. Some of the deadlines can be a year or more before the job will begin so start looking soon.

    (3) Regardless of your major, keep your grades up. Companies need quantifiable criteria to "weed out" applicants and one of the first ways they do it is by GPA.

    (4) If you don't speak fluent Cantonese, working for a 'local' employer will be difficult (and generally, in smaller companies pay will be, and remain, lower for longer with fewer advancement opportunities in most cases).

    (5) Find some focus - from your post it doesn't really seem that you know what you want to do - you are just looking for any business-related job - a very broad category. There are opportunities available in most of the categories you listed, for the right person. Figure out what you want to do with your education and career and pursue that. You are more likely to excel in a field that you are actually interested in and marketing is vastly different, and for a different sort of person, than say logistics/ supply chain management or HR.

    (6) Consider opportunities outside of Hong Kong for a couple years and then transferring here. Except for big multinational companies, starting salaries are generally lower in HK and more importantly, there are not as many training and mentoring opportunities. Companies jump on the chance to hire the right experienced candidates (who have been trained abroad at respected companies), especially if they don't need work visas and speak Chinese.