Career in biotechnology

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    223

    I somewhat agree with you MyCsPiTTa. I've been looking for a science position for the last couple of months in HK (purely because I don't want to leave yet) but have had no luck.... I also find that people don't usually return emails or phone calls even if you are just enquiring about the department.

    From what I can gather, it's pretty hard to get money from the government for research in HK and if some university departments are lucky enough to get one, it's usually only substantial enough to hire a Ph.D student or research assistant as they are much cheaper than a post-doc or research fellow. In addition, the university will sometimes be required to pay half of that grant so sometimes the selection process is rigorous. Furthermore, I know at least at HKU, they are not big a keeping talent - not saying I'm best there is - but there are a few people in my department who are well known in American, UK and Australia for being the best at what they do (which is main reason why I came for the experience) but HKU makes it harder and harder every year for them to state why they need a raise and/or extended contract - so most of them leave the country and go elsewhere.

    But saying that, expats don't get higher salaries - at least from my experience. There is pay scale at HKU and unless you can adequately justify why you need a higher salary than what your experience level entitles you to than you're going to get what everyone else gets. Though, salary in HK compared to the same level in Australia is much lower.

    Last edited by Myrona; 15-05-2009 at 02:25 PM.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Hamilton, NZ --> Causeway Bay, HK
    Posts
    266

    To Cherylchee;

    What Myrona says rings totally true with my impressions.

    I wish I knew more to answer your question, but having been very seriously job hunting in HK for 8 weeks now (approx 80 direct job applications, 20 "cold-sent" CV's and a dozen recruitment agencies), I still remain unemployed. And I like to think I'm not an "undesirable" employee based on a good employment/grade history, lol

    My undergraduate degree also had some business component.

    The fact that you won't need a visa (I assume), and are essentially local, not to mention speak Cantonese, can only be a good thing in heightening your chances. I don't want to imply employers here are biased, but my being a "gweilo" probably doesn't help my case!

    The problem for both of us is that I get the impression that science is simply an extremely undervalued profession the world over - and the same in HK.
    At a guess (and PLEASE, someone correct me if they know otherwise); most non-scientist positions are lucky to pay HK$20K p/m. A lucky few may pay around HK$25K but they would be more some kind of Sales Account Manager or Supervisor role. Something requiring some proven previous experience in that role.

    I have one serious offer from a HK company who wants to send me back to NZ in a QA role at their plant in my home town. The salary is very much similar to the job I left there (~HK$20K p/m at current exchange rate) and affected by NZ's much higher tax rate. However, they are offering to train me in pharmaceutical QA/QC and GMP which could be a wise career move. And I suspect I'm only lucky enough to have been offered it due to my NZ connection.

    I have also just had an interview for a role here in HK which is in the 15-20K range, but of course I would benefit from HK's lower taxation, so it is on par with job above for salary purposes.

    Both roles asked for M.Sc or PhD degrees.

    To be honest, neither is much like what I hoped for when I moved over here looking for work. And, unfortunately, they are the only two interviews I have had.

    To make matters worse, the first job wants my decision tomorrow! I know it's a bit cheeky but I'm desperate so might post a new thread asking what salary range is expected for bio science in HK. I just wanna know if what I've seen is par for the course. Keep an eye out guys

    Myrona; I'd be interested to hear more about your experience in HK science; especially as your other posts say you've already been successful finding work here in the past. Can I pm you with Facebook details (if I can figure out how...! )


  3. #13

    Although this post is quite old, I would want to share some of my experience with finding science jobs in HK.

    Basically it is non-existent, not only in HK, but in most metropolitan areas. I have a BSc in Biomedical Engineering and MSc in Industrial Engineering + 1 yr electronics manufacturing experience when I first arrived to HK in late 2008. I had asked quite a few headhunters and they spoke to me frankly that it would be very difficult for me to find ANY type of employment in HK - a few of them advised me to study a BSc or BEng in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering and work part-time as a freelancer if I needed cash. In which their advice was true. I had applied to hundreds of jobs, ranging from business analyst to research assistant at universities to procurement officer and even to receptionist... I was either overqualified for some posts or did not have enough skillset for others (e.g.: the IT and research assistant posts.)

    If you're looking for a job doing research at universities, you will be competing with all the local undergrad / master's / PhD students who may already know the professors well. Don't forget there are students from Mainland China who are more than willing to do research for around $12k p/m. Employment is contract-based (usu 1-2 years, depending on the ease of the professor to get funding.) But to get a "promotion" to "research associate" you will probably need a PhD.

    If you're looking at commercial labs such as SGS, BV - if you have an undergraduate degree, you will be overqualified for the technicians roles. These labs hire graduates from vocational institutions (technical schools), and the technicians will work 12 hour shifts, with salaries ranging ~$8k p/m.

    I was unemployed for around half-a-year, finding an opportunity to work as an IT assistant at a marketing company, then as a sales support administrator now. I have had to omit my Masters degree from my CV to prevent myself from being labelled as "overqualified." My job has nothing to do with biology or industrial engineering. But it helps me pay my bills.