[Botox]

I'm moving to Hong Kong next week, and hope to stay for a year, or maybe longer. Primarily moving to be with my girlfriend.

I've got the apartment side marginally sorted - I know what to budget for and my girlfriend has been looking around and taking photos and details of nice places near Wanchai, so that's not too big an issue.

Basically I'd like to find out what types of jobs are available for a non-Cantonese speaking Englishman. I'm halfway through a degree course (in Computer Animation), so I don't have a degree to my name yet - this trip to Hong Kong could be a gap year of sorts, unless I get an ok job and decide to stay permanently.

I have very good computing and design skills, and experience working with a PR & Marketing agency, but I suspect many of those jobs may require me to speak Cantonese. So I'll be looking for anything within the computing, design and marketing fields, or if possible, just teaching English would be fine (though I may need a full degree for that...?).

So any advice would be appreciated, so I don't end up annoying my parent's bank accounts for too long.

[shri]

Botox,

You may need to get your visa sorted out before you can get employment here.

There are jobs available for "only English speaking" folks, but they're limited right now and unless you've got some spectacular talents visa sponsorship may be a major issue.

The best option is to come down and have a look.. if you can afford to take a couple of months off and check the scene out for yourself.

Shri

[Botox]

Well, I'm going for certain next week anyway and intend to stay for some time, so I guess I'll have a couple of months to find a job. The Visa thing could be a problem I guess, but I may as well try.

[Ace]

Yeah I agree... If you dont look smart enough they will question you more and more...infact they will take you to a room for further questions....Immigration officers are hard to understand...Be well prepared when u land here...

[vivek]

Immigration officers are hard to understand...

Perhaps you could do a theoretical study before you take the plunge. Following is a rough guideline, you should refine it to suit your needs:
1. Design a questionaire to obtain EQ, IQ and other personal details. Get it filled out by people you know: family, friends, ex- girl friends, parole officers, etc. This is your sample data set.
2. Plot a graph of your knowledge of them v/s info from the sample data set. This indicates your people-reading skill. Be truthful, even if it hurts - avoid the pitfalls of data analysis
3. Conduct a pre-immigration interview with HK Immigration officers. Hand them the same questionaire. This is your testing data set. Excuse yourself, get back to your laptop, and plot the data, and find an intersection on the graph. Then simply approach the most suitable officer !
4. If the results are not favourable, partition the testing data according to some parameter leading to opposite-phase interference, say gender, and perform multidimensional analysis. Going by the double negative principle, I strongly suspect you maybe able to read female officers like an open picture book.

If all else fails, keep your return ticket ready and exit from the 5th floor.

[Ace]

lol...vivek........
Well for sure u can study the female immigration officer like a open book coz they just tell you, if you dont hv this docs better go and we cant help you...I hv had experience when i was going for my visa to the immigration office....She was blunt and rude coz my case officer was not available tht time and gwad it really shook me for a min the way she spoke...lol...tht was then...

Botox......as ur moving to HK u can get the visa only thing is dont be nervous when they ask u questions. Just answer them and they wont bother....but they shuld be satisified.....After tht u start ur job finding task and then apply for job visa......I guess Shri (if you dont mind shri :-) )can give u a jobs search domain for hong kong and you can search in tht on the net and when here you can search on the newspaper....

[Botox]

Well, I'm on an Irish passport, so I'll have 90 days at a time, but that's fine. If I need it renewed I assume I can cross to Macau or just have a few days in Japan and get it renewed when I arrive again. I'd like to get a job sometime in the first 2-4 months anyway, so I don't want to hang around too long on a tourist visa.

I realise I'll be asked the usual questions at customs. Not really worried about that, as long as I don't get too snobby with the customs officers There's a limit to how smart I'll dress on the plane journey though - I'm a student, not a business man, so it would be odd for me to go in a suit. Plus I've seen a few documentaries on the subject, and when people come to Britain, customs officers stop the people looking OVER dressed, assuming they're trying too hard to get in. Anyway, I have legitimate reasons for going and a healthy rack of credit cards, so I have nothing to fear in that aspect - the single problem left is actually obtaining a job. Hopefully the IT sector isn't struggly *too* much - I know Hong Kong has record unemployment at the moment, but the same statement can be said for most of the world now - the USA, western Europe (especially Germany) and Japan haven't been so bad since WWII.

[Botox]

Yeh, I'm can't speak Cantonese, don't have a visa and I'm probably a bit too young, which is all going against me ^_^ On the plus side, I'm young enough to give it a shot and have no harm come if it does all go wrong. But I would like to stay on my own finances rather than my parents.

As far as experience goes though, I do have some reasonably specialised skills and computing experience - working for a London based marketing company I've created official websites for some fairly high profile video games, can do all the IT and networking work under the sun (as well as scripting and design), and have learnt a fair bit of 3D animation from my degree course. But I'm only 20 so I guess a lot of people get dismissed on age, moreso in asian culture. I'll have to learn Cantonese fast, but I only know swear words at the moment...

[KnowItAll]

Botox (one of these days you have to tell us why you chose this nick name),

There are opportunities and its going to take a bit of an legwork to find them. Not all opportunities will require a work permit... I used to know someone who did free lance photography and travelled in and out of HK and sold her stuff to regional magazines across the region.

People are also working through websites like www.elance.com

Best bets are to put aside some money which will last you for a few months while you job hunt .. and give it your best shot. Never know there might just be an opening with one of the many businesses that need someone who speaks fluent english and has your skill set. A good immigration consultant can put together a fairly bulletproofed application for you.

[DimSum]

Hi Guys

I'm new to this thread. Not sure if I have much to add to this discussion yet, but I'm also in a similar boat hoping to land a job in HK in Oct. Fortunately I have already worked in HK for two years (ecommerce & IT security) and have just completed a Masters, so that may be beneficial. Also returning for girlfriend reasons :-)

They love the "bit of paper" over there, and hence why I completed my Masters. In IT, most have at least a Masters, but not necessarily the hands on skills or ability to write a succinct or clear system proposal, for example. Leverage your English writing / comprehension skills.

My angle is to focus on Mandarin skills, because believe it or not, most HK locals Mandarin is lacking, especially their pronounciation - and why go for a job that requires Cantonese when a local can satisfy that skill hands down - that's my reasoning anyway (?)

I've been fortunate to never have problems going through customs, so I'm interested in everyones comments re this issue. do they check your bags if you have a resume or CV stashed away?