[Vivianish]

How difficult would it be for an english-speaking foreigner (no work permit), fresh out of MBA from U.S., little experience, no mandarin or cantonese skills, to find a decent paying ($HK 350K+) professional position in hong kong? Just trying to discover a reasonable expectation.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for all your help!

[jimbo]

Being brutally honest its tough without experience and or language skills.

I know a lot of highly experienced candidates that aren't pricing themselves out of the market and they are struggling myself included.

Options are to get some cantonese/mandarin lessons to increase your chances and also to get some experience under your belt, Thats one of the main things.

Fresh graduates here in HK will work for next to nothing and would be happy to take on a monthly salary of $12k just so they can get industry experience for a few years etc.

[nation]

What's your pre MBA background and what are you looking to get into? Without that it's virtually impossible to tell what your job prospects will be. But as Jimbo said expect it to be tough. MBAs are a dime a dozen here and won't set you apart unless you're from one of the top 10 (thereabouts) school.

[KnowItAll]

If you're from a good school, try to use the alumni association to find good contacts.

[thesybarite]

Hi,

First time user here, so a warm greeting to all.

I'm in a similar situation to vivianish's. I'm from Canada, about to graduate from my MBA. I've previously worked a couple years in IT and summered at an i-bank. What's the hk i-bank jobmarket like right now? I'm looking for a trading role, though I would settle with anything that gets me into striking distance (ECM, M&A, etc.).

I hold an HKID, if that matters.

(I'm not posing any comparison to vivianish, just trying to piggyback the thread and ask similar questions).

Thanks in advance.

thesybarite

[Vivianish]

nation --

The MBA is second-tier. Pre-MBA background is UCLA Economics BA. Went directly to B-school after undergrad. Aside from random summer jobs, one summer internship in South Africa with U.S. Govt. (so very little professional experience but international exposure). No chinese language skills.

Looking to get into anything entry-level finance related, $USD 40K+ would be sufficient (given tax advantage). Significant other will be covering most HK expenditures.

Any additional insight into job prospects would be appreciated. Do most employers require applicants to already have a work permit? Would chance improve if person physically in HK vs. trying to find job from US?

[nation]

Work visa would be a non issue for MBA level hires. Having said that MBA level hires would be expected to bring with them at a minimum 2 or 3 years prior experience. Without that it'll be difficult to convince Immigration that you are performing a role that no local can perform. If you manage your expectations regarding salary and type of role you may very well get something (unlike the West a lot of HK employers would not hesitate to pay you peanuts no matter how well qualified you are) but the lower you go the harder it'll be to convince Immigration. To be honest, due to the large number of MBAs nowadays, without solid work experience you will find it difficult.

thesybarite - Sounds like your best bet is to get on the IB websites for the bulge brackets and major Euros and check out their MBA associate programs in HK. Click on the licenced and restricted licensed for lists of whose here:

http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/bank/index.htm

That and use your school's alumni and newtorking events to get contacts and get your name out there. IB hiring is pretty solid at the moment (HK and elsewhere as is expected now we're in the rising economies cycle) so long as you have good product exposure or are a career changer with a strong MBA and strong pre MBA experience.

[Vivianish]

nation, thanks for the input. seems like it might be more lucrative to teach english instead at $150-300 $HK/hour and sell stuff on ebay.

based on your posts regarding banking and etc, sounds like you're close to the sector. any sight into the development of PE/HF/Venture market in HK & China? trying to decide if i should make the transition from banking next year in asia (the posts were for my bf).

[nation]

Close as in worked in the industry for 10 years in a number of locations including HK. But no dice in working in HK now.

As for the VC/PE market there's a stack of cowboys looking to capitalise on China and India using HK as a base. Recently also Singapore with their governement's friendly policies to setup and administration of PE funds but HK is still dominant in the region. Same applies to Hedge Funds. You'd estimate about 10% of the cowboys to have solid viable businesses and will have strict top tier requirements re qualifications and work experience from. You'll find this area infinitely tougher to get into than IB but someone with more experience in PE can chime in on what's required. Having said that you can still look to the financial accounting roles they offer which won't really get you close to the business. You can check out a list of VCs from this link.

http://www.irasia.com/venture/hk/