[ITCBC]

hello all,
I am a CBC (canadian-born chinese) guy, born and raised in Toronto, and worked in the IT consulting industry here for 3 yrs now.

I am trying to find a job in HK now, and I am finding the search tough (as to be expected, and as I can read from other posts here).

I was vacationing in HK last dec 07, and met with Deloitte Consulting HK for 3 interviews, but they didnt offer me a job as they said they were looking for a more senior consultant who could read/write chinese.

I can speak conversational cantonese, but could only read/write basic characters (like the numbers :P)

I was really hoping to luck-out with the deloitte job because I would have been able to work almost totally in english which I am more comfortable in. I wouldnt say I could do a business presentation in cantonese with confidence.

I am hoping now that CNY is passed, there might be more replies to my online job postings... but so far my online applications to IT consulting/business analyst positions to jobs i see posted on monster.com/hk and scmp.com have resulted in 0 responses. I only got the deloitte interview because of internal referral.

I also emailed my resume to a bunch of recruiters, and only robert walters was willing to bring me in for an interview/profile meeting.

I have a few friends in HK who all say it should be easy for me to get a job since most business is conducted in english. However, my older relatives all say that it will be impossible as everyone is looking for mandarin and cantonese fluency.

Id appreciate any opinions on the probability of me getting a job in HK, and other tips for my job search.

Thanks!!

[ITCBC]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I do have an HKID card, so that means I can be cheap labor (most likely wont be hired in as an expat)

[jimbo]

I'm sensing Deja Vu here as I have been through the exact same situation as you.

The market is still quiet at the moment and looking at the SCMP etc over the past few weeks its been pretty dead on the I.T side.

Monster and Jobsdb is worth uploading your C.V onto but be prepared to be inundated with C.V requests from Financial sales companies etc though.

The main thing really is to network in this town, Go to some of the networking events such as oriented and get your name known. And get some business cards done as well with your contact details and a brief outline of what you can do.

The other thing is check your c.v as that may be a problem, I have noticed that my UK C.V with my HK contact details wasn't working for me in this town so had to have it redone.

If you're around the next few days then feel free to drop me a p.m and we can meet for a coffee and maybe talk more, I might be able to refer you to some people.

I was more of the Helpdesk/Desktop side but am getting out of that role and hopefully moving onto I.T recruitment, Just waiting to hear back from some companies so at the moment am just kicking my heels.

[ITCBC]

hey jimbo... guess its good to hear that my situation is common, yet there are some ppl who managed through it.
you could just cut "IT Consulting" and replace it with any other type of job for tons of other ppl on this forum

Yes, I agree that networking is the only way to do it. I've joined facebook in hopes of connecting with old classmates who are now in HK. Ive found 2, but since they dont know me well, they havent been quick in responding to my questions.

Problem is I was only in HK for the month of december 07. i probably should have found this forum before hand so that I could meet up with ppl, but too bad. Google only brought me to you guys today

I am back in Toronto and continuing my job search from here. I am going to try this out for a while longer as I dont really want to quit my job here, which is half decent, to come back and not know if I can even get anything in HK... even entry level helpdesk or something.

So hopefully some agencies, or onlinejob postings, or online-networking can lead to some opportunities

What kind of resume problems do you think I may have? Is 2 page resume not good for HK? I could send you my resume if you would be so kind as to critique it

[jimbo]

Hmmmm I think the problem you may have now is that you're not currently in HK thus are unable to attend interviews etc, Theres no chance of a transfer at all from your current place?

Also December-February is usually a quiet time for job hunting though as people don't leave before Chinese new year due to 13th month bonus etc.

I'll drop you a p.m with some details of contacts etc which I won't discuss here.

[jimbo]

Oh and something else I need to add to some of those guys that are also looking for work in HK.

Try not to be too picky in roles unless you're in a position to do so.

I have applied for a lot of roles and I may not necessarily get my first choice role due to having no actual real world experience of working in HK thus I may have to take a job thats not my first choice just to get my foot in the door and exposure to the HK working practice etc, Then review my strategy and network in a few years time.

[prix777]

Originally Posted by ITCBC

hey jimbo... guess its good to hear that my situation is common, yet there are some ppl who managed through it.
you could just cut "IT Consulting" and replace it with any other type of job for tons of other ppl on this forum

Yes, I agree that networking is the only way to do it. I've joined facebook in hopes of connecting with old classmates who are now in HK. Ive found 2, but since they dont know me well, they havent been quick in responding to my questions.

Problem is I was only in HK for the month of december 07. i probably should have found this forum before hand so that I could meet up with ppl, but too bad. Google only brought me to you guys today

I am back in Toronto and continuing my job search from here. I am going to try this out for a while longer as I dont really want to quit my job here, which is half decent, to come back and not know if I can even get anything in HK... even entry level helpdesk or something.

So hopefully some agencies, or onlinejob postings, or online-networking can lead to some opportunities

What kind of resume problems do you think I may have? Is 2 page resume not good for HK? I could send you my resume if you would be so kind as to critique it

I was in your situation when i was here in HK on vacation but applying from Toronto with a Canadian address is the reason you are not getting replies (possibly amongst others). If you are serious about coming here to look for a job, you gotta pack your bags and come - nobody wants to deal with someone overseas, if they want to meet you they want to with little notice. If you apply with an HK address, that may increase your chances of a callback.

[ITCBC]

hey jimbo, Im working on updating my resume, and if you dont mind, I'll send it to you to try to spot whats wrong with my resume structure for HK (other than having the canadian address)...

but in general, can anyone describe the technology industry landscape in HK for me?

to me, HK appears to be all about finance, business, trading,
investments, realestate.
and IT is mostly a support industry. IT ppl in HK are mostly there to support the infrastructure for the real economies of HK.

so is it correct to assume I probably wont find any R&D jobs related to developing new tech products/services in HK... and instead I would be limited to jobs that are only services/support?

[KnowItAll]

>> I probably wont find any R&D jobs related to developing new
>> tech products/services in HK.

If you're good, lots of jobs available. There is a tech industry in HK, just not that obvious and not that glamorous.

Even the banks (actually especially banks) do a fair bit of development in HK. But like I said, you'd have to be pretty good to get snapped up - not the "I want to be a project manager but I'll cut some code to keep you happy for 3 months" type.

[ITCBC]

Actually, I am that type... I want to be a PM/analyst... I don't want to write code.

based on the job postings I see on the popular boards (scmp, jobsdb, etc)... I do see some coding jobs, or SAP consultant jobs, or PM jobs with min 6 yrs, or Director level jobs with 10 yrs exp...

haven't seen mant tech/business analyst job postings for ppl in my 3 yrs experience range.

Is there any demand for these jobs?
Where do all the new grads from comp sci and comp eng end up going? cant be all programming...