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Experienced Risk Manager with CFA, FRM loking for a Job

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  1. #1

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    Experienced Risk Manager with CFA, FRM loking for a Job

    I have 3+ years experience as a risk manager in a financial institution covering credit risk, market risk, risk modeling, as well as operational risk between 2013 and 2016, but these experiences were outside Hong Kong (my HK experience is some teaching experience in a tertiary institution), though I have lived in Hong Kong for a while. I have been looking for jobs in Hong Kong since December 2016 with no success; I have sent out so many applications (banking and finance, corporate training, teaching, consulting, etc) with only 2 interviews and also met a lot of recruiters but the key challenge is language barrier.

    I have transferable risk management and investment management skills to industries outside finance. I am also open to jobs outside finance e.g. consulting, teaching/corporate training jobs in finance, investment, risk management, high school/tertiary teaching in finance, investments, math, business studies, economics, etc. I can pretty much do office-related tasks in the interim.

    My challenge is I can't speak Chinese which narrows my chances to an extent, so any lead and advice will be greatly appreciated.

    My qualifications: M.Sc in Financial Engineering (Quant Finance), B.Sc in Accounting, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Professional Risk Manager (PRM) designations.

    I am an ethnic minority (not a western expat) but I speak fluent English, and hold a Hong Kong permanent resident ID.


  2. #2

    To be honest, I don't think three years would particularly classify you as an 'experienced risk manager', particularly as you seem to have worked in a number of very different risk areas and therefore lack a particular specialism. You have to ask how you will differentiate yourself from dozens of other similarly qualified candidates, particularly if you do not speak Cantonese and Mandarin. Do you have another language skill, for example, which would make you stand out?

    Not needing a work visa is a plus and you should make sure that's very clear in your applications. I would suggest given your rather varied experience, that you ensure your cv is as customised and focused as possible for the specific role that you are applying for. This is a pain, I know, but worth the investment, as potential employers want to see that your cv makes you a good fit for a role.

    I can only echo the advice given to many others who have posted on here in a similar situation. Your best bet is to try and find something through networking. Do any of your colleagues from your previous employer have any contacts they would recommend you to? Do any of your professional bodies have gatherings in HK which you could attend? Rather than seeing lots of recruiters, try and develop a good relationship with two or three of them, so that when something suitable comes up, they think of you.

    shri likes this.

  3. #3

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    Thanks so very much, Scousebanana for your kind and useful piece of advice. I really appreciate. A quick response to some of the issues you raised.

    1. "Do you have another language skill, for example, which would make you stand out? ".....No (I speak only English).

    2. As regards specialism and inadequate experience: my resume and cover letter clearly state my experience and very specific (majorly credit risk, though I did a bit of others I mentioned earlier). In addition, I have another 6+ years experience covering banking operations, credit and marketing. So, I've got some reasonable experience in Credit Risk. My professional training has also equipped me significantly for much of those other roles.

    3. As regards networking, you are perfectly on point: I've reached out to former classmates, previous work colleagues as well as my professional associations lately. I realized that recruiters have not added much value.

    Last edited by Viar; 30-03-2017 at 10:16 AM.

  4. #4

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    I feel for you man, we had a similar thread a year ago or so here. It can be really hard here in HK for non native English speakers who do not speak Chinese. I'm in the same boat and the biggest problem is that you do not even get called to an interview, it's so frustrating to not even get the chance to prove yourself to the people that actually know how to value your skill-set.

    One of the reasons is that Associate and VP level at almost all banks in HK in risk management, is all Chinese, is much less of a mixed crowd compared to Front office. At Director level it is much more mixed, but with your experience, it would be hard even going for the VP roles.

    3-4 years ago I was looking for VP roles. First interview that I actually managed to get past head-hunters and meet the guy who was recruiting to his team, I got the job. In the end decided to turn it down. All in all finding a job in HK was such a sickening process, struggling for a year for a single interview, but when I finally got it, it was a breeze getting the job. And this was a risk manager in one of the top IBs in HK.

    Viar and shri like this.

  5. #5

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    Hi RobRoy,

    It's so nice of you to have shared your experience to encourage others. Like you rightly pointed out, HK job market can be very tough and sickening; somebody in a popular finance forum once said that HK finance professionals are prone to a depressive career in HK because it can be really tough to get a foot in. It is not only tough for foreigners like us, but even for the locals sometimes; I know friends (HK locals) that had to run back to North America who tried unsuccessfully in the job market, even though the Chinese language or Chinese nationality is a huge plus here. A recruiter corroborated this by saying that almost all foreign finance professionals he knows were transferred from another location to HK; non got a job while here in HK and that sounds a bit scary.

    Looking back and relying on the benefits of hindsight, I've realized that I didn't do my research and investigation properly before deciding to relocate to HK. My thinking was that any of the top four global financial centers (London, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong) will be great for a career in finance, but I was proved wrong; I should have migrated to an English speaking global finance center (even the ones ranked within the top 20). If I had done my homework very well, more likely than not, I wouldn't have jumped at the thought of moving to a city with a very tough job market especially for non-Chinese speakers, not to mention the challenges with racial integration that cannot be ruled out here.

    Lately, I am relying more on networking, and sending applications to hiring managers who are mostly foreigners (somebody observes that it is more likely for a foreigner to want to hire a qualified foreigner than for a local hiring manager to take onboard a qualified foreigner). All in all, I'm hoping something comes up soon, however, I'm also working on a Plan B, C and even D in the event expectations turn up otherwise, in order not to set one's career back by reason of the passage of time that one struggles with securing a proper job.

    Once again, I appreciate your thoughts, RobRoy; I just sent you a PM. I will appreciate the opportunity to network with fellow professionals like you.


  6. #6

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    Well there are many other sectors that are looking for people. But a lot people are attracted to the high salaries afforded by the Finance sector. Three months of looking - not time to panic yet as after the bonus payouts (ie around this time) is when staff leave and the hiring season begins. You can start immediately so just look out for that post that needs someone right away. I would start with a common headhunter used by many banks. Sorry, I have been out of the market for a long time and do not know who are the main headhunters - Michael Page, Robert Walters, Heidrick & Struggles are the ones that I knew of.


  7. #7

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    It's damn tough to get a foot in finance now especially if you do not know Mandarin, if you walk around Central at lunch time, most of the suits are now speaking in Mandarin.

    The reality is Mandarin professionals dealing with Mandarin customers in HK.


  8. #8

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    Just throwing this out there. Have you thought about looking at Risk software vendors? Financial software vendors are always looking for people with business knowledge to bridge the gap between developers and users,


  9. #9

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    How did it go?

    dengxi likes this.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by WMDS:
    It's damn tough to get a foot in finance now especially if you do not know Mandarin, if you walk around Central at lunch time, most of the suits are now speaking in Mandarin.

    The reality is Mandarin professionals dealing with Mandarin customers in HK.
    I don't think this is true. At the non local banks, fintech and other Asset Managers, there are tons of expats that don't speak chinese of any kind. I do think if your qualifications are what you say they are, there is some other reason why you are struggling to find a job or even get an interview. I'm guessing it's your resume and/ or not applying for the right jobs but that's just a guess obv

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