Any expat actuaries out there?

[Paul09]

Hi,

I have a question regarding the job market for actuaries here. I am an american citizen who has moved here with my girlfriend (she is posted here for her work), and am trying to find a position in the actuarial field here. I know the market at the junior level here is rather tough with so many candidates coming out of HKU and CUHK, but was wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

I am a graduate of a well-known American university with a bachelors (honors) in economics and math, have 1 year of mergers and acquisitions experience in New York at an investment bank, have two SOA papers under my belt, and I speak decent Mandarin.. Specifically, I am wondering if I should keep trying for jobs or if I should look into pursuing a masters at one of the universities here (HKU in Statistics?) in order to break into the market. I've been sending my resume out quite a bit, but so far no positive replies...

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Beanieskis]

Hi Paul

My OH specialises in the insurance sector and he said there's a huge demand for actuaries in HK. However I suspect that is for fully qualified actuaries which I assume you're not if you only have a year's experience. As you said yourself, it might be hard for you to compete with the graduates coming out of HK universities, unless you have some experience that would enable an employer to justify hiring you, rather than a permanent esident.

Do you have any contacts at all in HK? Do any of your former employers or colleagues know anyone working in HK they can introduce you to? Rather than just applying for advertised jobs where your CV is probably only ever seen by recruiters and HR, try directly contacting people in target companies. Say you are new to HK, you appreciate they may not currently be recruiting currently, but do they have time to meet you for a chat about the market in HK? It may be that they tell you you have no chance and to go and do a Masters...or you may find that someone in the next few months is looking for someone specifically with US experience, and remembers you. This is the approach I am taking (although I work in real estate and have a few more years' experience) and fingers crossed, I'm nearly there.

[PDLM]

One of your problems may well be the need for sponsorship for a visa. Have you considered marrying your girlfriend so that you would then have a Dependant Visa which would enable you to work freely?