7Likes
If I want to work in the financial field, but in a form that doesn't involve too much math, which degree would help me more?
I originally planned on working in law, but I have recently realized that I might want to move into the financial field.
In addition, how easy or difficult would it be to find a job with a UCLA Econ degree? It's respected as a school in US, but in HK, I get the impression that it's regraded as a party school (although it certainly isn't. I partied more in international school than I do here...)
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12-12-2012, 06:05 AM #1
UCLA Econ vs UNSW Law/Commerce?
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12-12-2012, 08:40 AM #2
UCLA is a very highly respected school throughout the world, and probaly more so in Asia than anywhere else, given it's high number of Asian alumni.
I know several people in Hong Kong with MBAs from UCLA. Your bigger problem might be the fact you only have an undergraduate degree. Everyone has an undergraduate degree in Hong Kong...do you have a masters?
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12-12-2012, 11:25 AM #3
No I do not have a masters.
I originally planned on studying law, so I was going to do UNSW Law/Commerce.
But then I thought that doing UCLA Econ and then a JD in HKU/CUHK will be just as good for my legal career (if I so choose, since right now I am wavering on law vs finance) and better for a finance career, since companies seem to like US grads more than Australian grads.
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07-03-2013, 03:14 PM #4
Bump? I suspect that UNSW will have more recruiting by HK companies since it seems to have stronger ties to Hong Kong...but UCLA has a better reputation overall.
Thoughts?
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07-03-2013, 04:21 PM #5
I should add that I don't necessarily mean finance jobs - just any job that doesn't require huge amounts of math (eg engineering)
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07-03-2013, 04:21 PM #6
I should add that I don't necessarily mean finance jobs - just any job that doesn't require huge amounts of math (eg engineering).
So basically I need to know which school would give me a better shot at a good corporate job in HK.
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07-03-2013, 04:48 PM #7
If you're not interested in math, or if math is a weakness for you, then you may have issues pursing an econ major, which is quite mathematically oriented, although less so than engineering. What, exactly, do you consider to be a " good corporate job in HK"? Without a graduate degree the pay and responsibility levels will likely be very low with slower advancement relative to the US (in general). Which school doesn't really matter there are so many other factors, how well you actually do in school (hugely important to be at the top of your class to avoid your resume being culled by larger companies), what kind of jobs/ internships you have while in school, the specific job(s) you are looking at after graduating ("good corporate job" is a very, very vague description that could mean pretty much anyone who sits at a desk), what else you bring to the table, whether you speak local or regional languages in addition to English, etc., etc.
ps. when us employers look at a resume, whether a particular school was a "party school" doesn't cross our minds. Whether it is ranked well, whether we know anyone who went to said school (and what we think of that person, which often affects our view of the school at least a little), how well YOU did in that particular school (including what courses you took and your grades), what you studied, etc. are what employers thinking about.
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07-03-2013, 04:52 PM #8
Why do you think that? Big legal employers (including law firms, banks, and corporate legal departments) hire very few HKU/ CUHK students (the JD programmes are new and it would be a weird route for an undergraduate from a US school to do a conversion law course and PCLL for a local qualification). If you want to practice law in a big cushy law office in HK with a high starting salary, go to a top 10 law school in the US and graduate in the top 10% of your class - and make sure you are near fluent in Mandarin. If you are happy working at a local firm, for a lot less money, and not ever moving out of HK to practice law, HKU/ CUHK are for you.
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07-03-2013, 06:39 PM #9
I understand. Law school admissions are too expensive and competitive in the US, though, so it's too big of a risk to do the US route. Plus, since US and HK law differs significantly, I'd be pigeonholed into American firms (and IIRC most US firms in HK are now creating HK-jurisdiction practices). Obviously, the best path would be a British LLB but I missed that boat.
I understand your concerns about my wording of "corporate job". The reality is that I know very little outside of say, I-banking, law firms (of course), management consulting, and the Big 4. Of course, these are all the most competitive jobs - but you have to understand that as a student, I simply don't have enough exposure to know what other types of jobs there are. I would expect this to change quickly as I go to more career talks etc at uni.
For others: let us assume that I perform equally well in both UNSW and UCLA in terms of grades and extracurriculars, and that I'm NOT going to do law as a career (in Australia, most law graduates don't end up doing law as a career and instead use the other "half" of their double degree).
UNSW will have better links to HK companies presumably, and will let me find a job in Australia more easily. I also suspect that UNSW will have a bigger alumni network Hong Kong.
UCLA will have a better reputation.
Which would you guys suggest?Last edited by heyguyssup; 07-03-2013 at 06:43 PM.
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07-03-2013, 06:46 PM #10
Another alternative I've considered is to work in Australia first after UNSW, since I have Australian citizenship.
The only concerns are
A) portability if I ever want to go back to HK - ie I have to get into an MNC in Australia
B) the presence of a racial glass ceiling - I have heard statistics and anecdotes etc about how Asians fare in the Western corporate world, although I of course have not witnessed this first handLast edited by heyguyssup; 07-03-2013 at 06:50 PM.
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Originally Posted by heyguyssup:
