1. Do you speak Cantonese? -- Yes, mandarin as well
2. How long have you been in HK? -- 3 months
3. Your nationality? -- Canadian
4. Industry or previous position? -- Finance/Banking
5. Are you willing to get a lower salary than before? -- No.
Well sorry I'm not jobless. I was jobless for around 2 weeks or so when I first arrived in Hong Kong. I literally applied for anything administrative and banking related. I had an excel file which kept my spam applications organized. Well it's not really spamming, I did send each resume and cover letter one by one. Just that I applied to everything. I think within the first 2 weeks, I've sent out 400+ resumes. Then I got my first job offer and started working very soon.
I honestly think the job market is really picking up now. I continued to look for a better job, and I just received an amazing offer. I just resigned from my current job, and I'll be starting my new job in 2 weeks. At the same time, I have received 2 other job offers, which I have already turned down. And people are still calling me for interviews. I guess they don't shortlist their resumes that quickly. But anyways.
If you've been out of work for quite some time now, I think you should be less picky. If the pay is lower than before, just take it. If it shows that you've been out of work for so long, they will question. Look for temp jobs, look for agencies to help you.
In the meantime, the ones that don't speak Chinese and are planning on staying in Hong Kong, why not take a couple of chinese courses while you wait for a job opportunity? Don't think that you speak fluent English will put you in an advantage. Tons of Kongers have overseas education and speak fluent English, Cantonese and Mandarin (such as myself), degree holders, with several years of work experiences. If you're not getting the opportunities, and polish your resume. Perhaps you need to find a way to upgrade your qualifications a. Get some extra trainings and certifications, learn a new language. Good luck to you all.
(but honestly.. the job market is looking pretty good now to me. I've never received so many offers at the same time.)