Job Prospects in Hong Kong for Finance Professional

billmj · 11-04-2006, 03:58 PM

Hi.
I am moving to Hong Kong from Dubai and hold an American Degree in Finance and marketing, also doing my CFA (am on Level 2). I have a total of 5 years experience including work during university days and am working for a petroleum company but have worked in other industries as well. Now comes the question: How hard is it to get a job in HK? I have married a girl who has perm. res. in HK (born there) and hence will get the same or something to that order. If someone would be able to help me, I would really appreciate your help and guidance.

tsuiwah · 11-04-2006, 04:41 PM

Actually, you do not automatically get permanent residency by virtue of marriage to a PR. You still need to spend seven years in HK or invest your way in.

As for finding a finance job in HK, I think it all depends on your experience, connections, and how fluent your Mandarin/Hindi/Korean is. These are the hot languages these days. In your targeting, I would emphasize your work in the energy industry. Oil is hot. Leverage it as much as you can.

billmj · 11-04-2006, 06:04 PM

Thanks for your prompt reply. While I know that I dont get PR immediately, I was under the impression that under her sponsorship I do get to work there legally. I will probably come tehre with no connections, as this will be my first move to HK. And honestly, being in the petroleum industry, I have not come across many HK based org.s that are big on oil and petrol.
I was told that recruitment for qualified professionals in HK is farily easy due to a growing market. Is this not true?

HKFella · 12-04-2006, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by tsuiwah:

As for finding a finance job in HK, I think it all depends on your experience, connections, and how fluent your Mandarin/Hindi/Korean is. These are the hot languages these days.

Finance job in HK and Hindi? Do explain!

riyaaz · 12-04-2006, 03:41 PM

Hindi is NOT the hot language in the working environment in Hong Kong. The hot languages are Mandarin and Cantonese. Where did get Hindi from? Are you living in India? Please explain.

freeier · 12-04-2006, 04:06 PM

finance is a fluid area.
unless u are doing face to face sales, else most other things are done regionally.
ppl fly about.. asia ex japan are usually covered from hk.
so if u know hindi and mandarin, u have a good chance of getting oppt in selling products in india/china...

simple as that..

or alternative go learn japanese and cover the crazy japan market

JonnyC · 12-04-2006, 05:15 PM

Considering it's India that is trying to sell it's products and services to other nations then I don't see your point, there aren't many finance professionals trying to sell products to India it's vice-versa. And as India has a high level of spoken English then the need for Hindi if you are working in finance in HK (or anywhere else for that matter with the exception of India) is more or less non-existent

freeier · 12-04-2006, 05:28 PM

we are talking abotu financial services right..
i.e. hedging of loans and interest rates and this and that.

i don't think india has a strong enough investment bank to be selling to the world their services yet.

JonnyC · 12-04-2006, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by freeier:

we are talking abotu financial services right..
i.e. hedging of loans and interest rates and this and that.

i don't think india has a strong enough investment bank to be selling to the world their services yet.

India is trying to branch out into the financial arena with some non-Indian companies outsourcing their basic operations (credit checking etc...) to India, however this tends to be more commercial banks than investment banks (such as barclays, hsbc etc...). For India to gain this business and persuade a multinational to move its operations there it has to speak the language of the country moving it's operations there, not insist that they learn Hindi.

Regarding Indian companies themselves, well they aren't really strong in financial services so there aren't going to be lots of Indian banks in HK to work in which are populated solely by Indian people trading on the Indian market and which require you to speak Hindi. I'm sure there's one or two, but it's not the norm. Any banks that do trade in emerging markers (India being one of them) will likely be American/British/Chinese/Japanese etc... so English or a far-eastern language will be the ones spoken in the office.
The only reason you would need to speak Hindi would be if you moved to work in India and even then it's likely you wouldn't unless you were working for a local Indian employer or working in a frontline role (like in a branch meeting normal customers, which I'm guessing the OP isn't looking to do). India itself is not getting a lot of investment in it's own financial industry, it is supporting other countries' finance industries via outsourcing hence it has to adopt the language of the country it is outsourcing to to get the business.
As the OP asked about finance jobs in HK (and I'm guessing he/she means stuff like accounting or product control, not selling a mortgage to a person in a local branch) and not India then he has no need whatsoever to be learning Hindi, Cantonese or Mandarin would make much more sense.

tsuiwah · 12-04-2006, 07:43 PM

freeier gets what I was saying

Every job applicant needs an angle relative to the local market. While a lot of folks on geoexpat may not speak Mandarin, there are many returnees and locals who do, so while Mandarin is required for many jobs it isn't necessarily a barrier. Korean and Hindi offer an angle. And, yes, enough investment banks cover their Indian deals out of HKG that having a Hindi speaker on the team is an advantage.

even if Hindi wasn't huge, why not ignore it and offer the OP some other helpful advice?