Totally agree! You never know what you're capable of if you don't go out there and just try things out. Who knows, you might end up liking teaching so much that you'll pursue a career in that field, or meet a parent who's looking for expats to start off a new business... anything can happen in HK (and life in general, of course!).
Sure, that might be the case, but if you have a couple of years of working experience from the UK, it is highly regarded abroad and can be a huge advantage career-wise. I don't think of coming to Hong Kong as a place to get "real world - out there" kind of experience, like you might try to get becoming and English teacher and going to Vietnam, for example. Hong Kong is very westernized, it's not necessary to acquire any foreign language skills whatsoever, and honestly you can live here without even known you're in Asia sometimes.
If you're serious about a career, then it is important and valuable to obtain genuine experience early on and not just get "life" experience teaching English wherever you want to live. My partner would not be where he is today if he had done that. Whereas I DID do that (English bit) and feel more lost than ever in my life!!!
Difficult but not impossible to get a job in PR/Marketing with no Cantonese. Client side, forget it, especially with no experience. Agency side, account management is a no. There may be a role for non-Canto in regional team based in HK, but as you have no experience, it ain't gonna happen
Teaching english in a foreign country is a great thing to have in your cv as a young person. It shows you're versatile, independent, customer focused, dedicated, not afraid of challenges, willing to adapt, able to learn quickly..blah blah you can spin it in so many ways.
Would it make sense for you to check out the very high end sports/training/gyms? With your degree (and related work-experience while doing the course?), it would be easier to make the case for visa purposes. In the mass market, the general standards for personal trainers is low compared to US/UK/Oz, and Cantonese probably an employer requirement. However, high end, more serious outfits have been starting here in the past couple of years, many with UK or Oz trainers who seem to have proper qualifications or sports degrees. Why not check those out?
From the excellent comments on this thread, it looks like this is trade-off time. What's most important to you right now? Move out to HK ASAP, or getting started in PR/marketing?
If the former, then explore every opportunity that gets you out here, as long as that doesn't destroy your chances of pursuing your long term career goals. If the latter, then heed the advice on this forum to start your career in the UK where you have 'home player' advantage, and won't be operating across 'foreign' cultures and languages. Build up expertise and experience in the industry, so that you have something unique and valuable to offer to the Asian market, then bring that edge to HK in a few years time. In the meantime, make the most of your parents' stay here to learn all about what the HK and Asian market place needs. After all, PR and marketing is about shaping demand and influencing trends, so the more you know about what drives Asia and its cultural mores, the more effective you'll be when you come out here.
If you decide to teach, you could explain to future employers how and why that experience helped you figure out Asian culture and how to create demand and shape behaviour in Asian societies. (Assuming you are able to bring your marketing thinking to bear on your life as a teacher.)
Last edited by z754103; 04-09-2013 at 11:34 AM.