[FireAndRain]

Ok, so I've got some questions.

*grimace*

Here's the story.

I'm 21, English Speaking (I also speak a tiny bit of French), and degreed -- I've got a Masters and Bachelors Degrees in Electrical Engineering.

I burned myself out in my last year of University kindof badly, and decided to take some time off from it and get into something I had always wanted to do -- bartending. So I'm a certified bartender and have been working as a Bartender at a restaurant/bar for the past 5 months.

Someday I plan to go back to Engineering. It's my first love and my profession, but right now I've got the traveling bug and am looking into short-term employment possibilities overseas to alleviate it and burn off some of the stress I generated in the process of graduating.

I've recently become quasi-fascinated with Hong Kong. I don't know any cantonese, but I wouldn't mind learning and I've got an ear for accents and dialects so I don't think it would kill me to start studying it.

Simply put: I'd like to hook up with either a hotel bar that needs an english speaking bartender to serve primarily to english-speaking businessmen who are traveling, or a smaller bar focusing primarily on serving to the expat crowd. I figure I could work at such a place while I get used to the culture and train my ear to the language.

I realize however that it's a crazy idea, and don't know whether it is worth considering. So I said to myself, "Self, who better to tell me I'm insane than a bunch of Expats who have lived or live currently in HK?"

So, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "You'll have no trouble finding a job" and 5 being "Snowballs will knock down pigs flying through hell before you secure employment here" what are my chances? Is this even worth trying to pursue?

As an aside: I have worked as teaching assistant, lecturer and tutor for various topics, including Advanced English here in the states, should I just give up the bartending angle and try for a teaching job? I don't mind teaching, in fact I kindof enjoy it, but I enjoy Bartending more .

[kostas]

I give you a 4.5

the major thing is that if you were to apply for an employment visa as a bartender you would need to have skills that the company could not find in the local workforce, also compendate you for these skills. It would be difficult to obtain an employment visa based on 5 months as a bartender.

[KnowItAll]

21 years old with a masters degree in EE from the US??

Definately not from any of the 4+2 year institutions I'd know.

[FireAndRain]

"21 years old with a masters degree in EE from the US??

Definately not from any of the 4+2 year institutions I'd know."

I graduated high school a year early and blitzed through a 5 year dual-degree program from Mercer University's School of Engineering in four years.

Maybe you just don't know the right institutions?

"Simply put: I'd like to hook up with either a hotel bar that needs an english speaking bartender to serve primarily to english-speaking businessmen who are traveling, or a smaller bar focusing primarily on serving to the expat crowd. I figure I could work at such a place while I get used to the culture and train my ear to the language"

All you would hear in such an establishment would be English and maybe even get to practice your French. You would learn more about different non-Chinese speaking cultures for sure!

But as a serious bit of advice, if you want a change of scene and you do like teaching, you'll have a much better chance of getting a working visa from overseas, if you follow that path. Or even consider an engineering position.

Then you'll have the cash to can sign up for a five month beginners' Cantonese course (try not to blitz your way through it in three and burn out).

And to tune into Cantonese, avoid the "expat bars", chat to Chinese bartenders in bars where Cantonese is the main language in use. Relax, enjoy yourself, and see what happens...

[auss]

fire and rain

Send me a pm and i will give you someone to contact in Hong Kong who i know likes to hire expat bartenders not sure if they will due to your experience and lack of qualifications in the field