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Need career advice. Please read and provide comments.

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  1. #1

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    Aug 2012
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    Wink Need career advice. Please read and provide comments.

    Hi I am looking for a job in HK but I would need some advice. Please give me some help on how I should approach job hunting in Hong Kong and what type of jobs I should look for.

    A little information about myself, I was born in Hong Kong and moved to the States when I was 11. Got my Bachelor’s degree in Business Economic and worked for the US Government as a low level on site manager for 4 years, supervised 12-18 people on some of the projects. I went to graduate school afterward and obtained an MBA with focus on Finance. I got my MBA from an average Cal State school, the main reason I got the degree is because I received enough financial aid that it was pretty much free and I want to be a professor sometime down the road.

    During the time I was in graduate school I started a fitness company, pretty much self-employ only employed few part-time trainers. Besides all the typical fitness related activities, I did all marketing, payroll and contract negotiations (with US cities officials) myself. Some of the tasks include given corporate business classes on fitness and personal counseling. I sold the company along with the client base before I left the states.

    I have been investing in the US stock market for the past 9 years, however I have not much of an idea about the Hong Kong and the Chinese exchange. I still read up on a lot of US business related news and somewhat active in the stock market. Since I like the topic so much I am sure I can start looking into the Asia markets.

    Also I would say my strong point is public speaking especially in English. I can speak and read Cantonese but I have a difficult time to write it. I can understand Mandarin pretty well (dated a few girls from Taiwan before) but I can’t really speak it much.

    Here is my weak point. I worked for the government and started a profitable company however I have no pervious working experiences for a private firm. The last time I worked for a private company is when I was in high school working as a female shoes sales person. I know working experience is big when looking for a job, but given my background I am not sure how much does that count. From the information I provided where should I start looking for a job? And what kind of jobs I should look for?

    I am willing to accept $20,000 HKD a month and an entry job if it is necessary, and that is less from what I used to make. My desire salary would be around $30,000 +and as an entry-level manager, but I understand that my resume there is a lack of “working experience” so I might have to accept an entry-level job.

    My current plan is work in Hong Kong/Asia for 3-5 years but the plan is flexible. My main goal of working here is to get the experiences of living in a different country and get enough corporate experiences so I can teach about it later when I want to become a professor. Universities typically require 3 years plus of working experiences in a private firm, I am sure my background can get me into a junior college back in California already but additional experience wouldn’t hurt.

    One last thing I am willing to travel/relocate for work if given reasonable salary. Please feel free to comment and ask for any additional information. I think I provided a pretty good background about myself and open to share more.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    Do you have hkid?

    If not, what skills can you offer an employer that local people don't have?


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    14,414

    TBH

    You don't really know what you want to do apart from ideally be a manager, But what industry?
    Without corporate experience it'll be tough to find somewhere you'll fit.

    you don't appear to have any standout skills above and beyond what's out here already.


  4. #4

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    Not sure what you mean by entry level, but 20k is higher than most really entry level jobs


  5. #5

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    Thanks for all the quick replies and reading my post. Yes I got a HK passport and I don't have kids. 29 and single.

    This is what I can offer, Experiences in public speaking, contacts negotiation, good understanding of the US market and able to communicate in English and Chinese. Got a degree in Economic and MBA in Finance. Willing to relocate to different countries and or travel frequently. I know what I offer is not much and I know the lack of corporate experience will hurt my resume but I don't think I am shooting for something that is unreasonable here.

    I am thinking about working in a bank or do financial advising type of jobs but want to know more of what is out there.


  6. #6

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    Hmmmm, ask of what you have said really doesn't do justice of becoming a professor. I'm being a bit harsh but someone wanting to be a professor is in the pursuit of lifelong learning, love being around campuses, and you really get kicks out of sculpture of the mind in students. What you have said is none of this and you haven't even said what you want to teach!

    Good luck, hope you prove me wrong.

    Sent from somewhere....


  7. #7

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    Jul 2011
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    Have you thought about doing similar business to that you did in the US? If you have the passport then no need to worry about visas.


  8. #8

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    I love economic and wanted to teach it right after I finished my MBA. The requirement to teach in community colleges for Business/Economic only requires MBA degree unlike other topics that require a PHD. Would I make a great professor? I am not sure, but I just love the topic and like to talk infront of people.

    The reason I choose to work for few years is because most of the clients I had also professors talked me into working for few years first because I can always teach at any stage of my life. Since I am somewhat financial secure and wanted to experience living oversea, I decided to move away and try to find a oversea job.

    If absolutely nothing works out here, it is one of my option to move back to the states to teach part time and start a business again. Thats another story I can get into later. And by the way I did some substitute teaching in US middle school before, nothing major so I didn't listed it earlier. I enjoyed it but I want to focus on teaching economic or business related topics.


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by dengxi:
    Have you thought about doing similar business to that you did in the US? If you have the passport then no need to worry about visas.
    I thought about it but I would make a lot more money doing it in US and it would be much easier since I had network and client base.

    The next few years I just want to focus on my experiences and less on accumulate wealth. I been investing since 2004, so I still have small amount of passive income generate from the US. I am not hurting too much on fund but there is a line on how little I am willing to work that I won't cross if it doesn't make any financial sense.

    By the way I am not rich, I just got a small saving and somewhat smart with my spendings.

    Thanks for the consideration about starting a business here.
    Last edited by pkan51; 19-07-2013 at 12:25 AM.

  10. #10

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    You'd probably get a bunch more ideas if you could spend some time here doing networking events and meeting people. Other alternative is looking for people where you are now who have offices in Hong Kong that might be able to use your skills or at least give you some connections.

    pkan51 likes this.

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