What are my chances?

[WOLVES]

Went to HK recently on holiday and loved it, so much that my wife and I would like to move there in 2004. Question is, what are our chances?

I'm degree educated, accounancy qualified and currently completing my MBA (hence no move until 2004). 10 years work experience covering IT project management, data warehousing, OLAP, finance reporting etc.

My wife is a qualified financial advisor, degree, pensions specialist etc.

I know the current HK market is weak and jobs are hard to come by. What are peoples feelings about the economy next year? In London (where we live/work) the signs are positive - unfortunately London has nothing on HK hence our desire to move there.

Thanks for any help.

[shri]

If you have investment banking experience, I've heard that the market is still pretty decent.

[Botox]

London's just as bad as Hong Kong for employment. Which is to say - Hong Kong's just as good as London. Which is to say, Hong Kong's in a low, but it was higher to start, so they're breaking even.

If anything, you're over qualified, so don't worry. Hong Kong doesn't have the USA's totalitarian immigration laws, provided you have money to support yourself.

[WOLVES]

Thanks for the positive comments. Just need to complete my MBA and then start to look for employers who will transfer me across to your beautiful city.

My only real issue I guess is the language. Whilst English is used in business I know that I will need some of the local lingo too. As such I was going to do a 6 month intro course after the Masters. But what's best, Mandarin or Cantonese? I assume Cantonese but am open to any advise.

Again, thanks. Hopefully see you in 12 months.

[DimSum]

Hi

I'm planning to head back to HK in October this year. Will finish my Masters next week, and will look for a IT job, probably in e-commerce and/or security.

You can learn both Cantonese and Mandarin. I lived in HK for 2 years and picked up a moderate amount of Cantonese. My girlfriend is Cantonese, so that helps!!!

Mandarin will make you attractive to international companies who do business in the mainland. Learning Cantonese won't give you any advantage over a local HK person, but Mandarin might ('cause not all HK'ers know Mandarin, but that is changing)

Best instructional series for learning is the Pimsleur Method, do a search on Amazon. Believe me, I own tonnes of texbooks/CD's for learning, have had private lessons, and Pimsleur is the best method - barre none!!!

Good luck and happy job hunting. I'm starting the daunting task of looking for a HK job next week!!!

Cheers