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Not speaking Cantonese - how much of an obstacle is it?

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by JCinHK:
    Live, for sure. Work, well. Sure, there are the odd cases.
    The odd case? You're kidding me, right? Seems we live in 2 different worlds - and yes I've lived in NT for several years.

    And you haven't seen foreigners in NT or Kowloon? That I cannot believe for the life of me!

    Quote Originally Posted by JCinHK:
    I wasn't making an ideological point; 514x wants employment. He should focus on where he has the best chances. If you think his chances are the same to find employment in the N.T. or Kowloon, with no Cantonese and outside of a multi-national, well, feel free to let him know where to send his resume.
    Well as I have no idea of what he does then how do I make a recommendation? If he's outside of finance then he has a chance anywhere, particularly in the fields I mentioned as well as logistics mentioned by Gatts and other areas I wouldn't even know.

  2. #22

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    The "main" employment opportunities for foreigners are as follows:

    Finance sector be it law, accountancy, consultancy or IT based.
    Banking as above.
    CEO and CFO level staff of international companies, that have a branch in HK.
    Education: Dip Ed or PHD qualified or less qualified tutorial centres.
    Aviation ie Airframe/Avionics engineers, Air Transport pilots
    Logistics auditing, engineering and quality assurance.
    Food, beverage and Hotel management. Primarily Chefs/Hotel Managers
    Project management in many area's of construction, architecture, civil engineering, like who the MTR corp contracts.
    Manufacturing, quality assurance auditing, product planners, industrial designers etc

    The above are about the most common area's of employment, for newly arrived expats, more options available for foreigners who don't need work visa sponsorship.

    The above statement is based on folks I bump into, that work here, and the occupations/sectors that they mention they're involved in.
    Last edited by Skyhook; 18-06-2010 at 02:41 PM.
    jaykay and 514x like this.

  3. #23

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    Very helpful there Skyhook.

    It is reassuring to hear that if we do not require Visa's we have more options.

    I would not know much, but general conversations with friends and reading the forum here, most seem to be in agreement that if you do not have any language skills, your main area is HK Island. But then again those are expats with few or no HK local social ties, from the expats I know living and working outside of HK Island, most if not all have great local ties.

    BenderBends dont punch holes through my theory! xD

    Last edited by 514x; 19-06-2010 at 09:10 AM.

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by JCinHK:
    My bet would be that you live/lived in Discovery Bay/Saikung/Ma On Shan (to a lesser degree); enclaves with more foreigners.
    Sai Kung for just 8 months now but several years in Tai Wai, Sheung Shui and villages between Tai Po and Fanling. Actually up in the NT there are several small Civil Engineering companies who employ westerners as well as heavy plant companies.

    But actually I've worked all over HK and had some serious time in places like San Po Kong - as far from an expat area you can get but several westerners working there (usually in manufacturing related disciplines), places like Kowloon Bay where you'll find suited and booted westerners all over the place (logistics and manufacturing) and even in areas such as Kwun Tong (banking and manufacturing), Cheung Sha Wan (logistics) and Lai Chi Kok (manufacturing). For NT there are pockets of workers in Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and even found in companies in places like Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long. A lot of construction people in TKO as well.

    So overall it's far from the "odd" one here and there. I think the nail was hit on the head with the comment "there are two worlds in HK, finance and the rest" (Hullexile™).

    If you're in finance or related job then yes HK Island is the way to go, but if you're not then an open mind helps enormously!

  5. #25

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    Jun 2010
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    UK
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    I finally got NET again! woo woo!

    Good valid points there.

    Guess it is as true as you guys make it out to be. I have visited HK regularly since early 2000s, but rarely would I see foregners outside of typical tourist areas. This year I run into one regularly in rural areas.

    And yes! It is always nice when a conversation leads to drinks! woo woo! Im am game in the near future, would love to meet and greet some hardworking expats!


  6. #26

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    27
    Quote Originally Posted by BenderBends:
    I'm a gwailo and have never worked on the island, nor do I speak canto (other then a few basic sentence fragments). Although my mandarin is slowly improving it was not a req for work
    Posted via Mobile Device
    I know it's common, but everytime when i see Caucasion call himself gwailo I feel very funny....in a good way