Getting a job in HK from the UK?
#16
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 2
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
Do you need to have an expat package to move to HK, or would you be willing to have a modified expat package or local package? I know some companies (maybe yours) would give you a job in HK, but you would be responsible for your own living expenses, etc. Maybe that is something you could look into. That way, you would be able to stay with the same company, and also be in HK.
Last edited by BEVS; Mar 13th 2016 at 10:10 pm. Reason: NO personal emails on the open forums please
#17
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 344
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
I did notice that a lot of the expats, and especially the white Western ones, didn't seem at all integrated with the local population though.
Obviously I'm not making any assumptions about you there and please don't think that I am but the locals seemed very distanced from the expats and I didn't hear any of the expats speaking in Cantonese.
The biggest hurdle to integration is language. There are expats that have picked up Cantonese but they are few and between. Unfortunately despite undertaking to do so on several occasions I have failed to master the language.
There is also a lot of history to consider with Hong Kong being a recent ex colony. As a result Hong Kong is extremely diverse. It does not comprise of just locals and white expats, far from it. There are people of all races and religions and skin colour. I remember a school teacher telling me that in his class of 28 children there were 21 different nationalities !
I am friends with locals and and with expats living here from other parts of the world, as are the rest of my family and as are (I would say) most of the longer term expat community living in Hong Kong.
Last edited by hong_konger; Mar 14th 2016 at 5:33 am.
#18
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,755
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
A mate of mine had been in HK for 15 plus years was married to a local and had two kids.
He'd never eaten any chinese food at all or anything else but good ol' english grub.
He was from Yorkshire though.
He'd never eaten any chinese food at all or anything else but good ol' english grub.
He was from Yorkshire though.
#19
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
You raise is an interesting subject often discussed by the expat community here.
The biggest hurdle to integration is language. There are expats that have picked up Cantonese but they are few and between. Unfortunately despite undertaking to do so on several occasions I have failed to master the language.
There is also a lot of history to consider with Hong Kong being a recent ex colony. As a result Hong Kong is extremely diverse. It does not comprise of just locals and white expats, far from it. There are people of all races and religions and skin colour. I remember a school teacher telling me that in his class of 28 children there were 21 different nationalities !
I am friends with locals and and with expats living here from other parts of the world, as are the rest of my family and as are (I would say) most of the longer term expat community living in Hong Kong.
The biggest hurdle to integration is language. There are expats that have picked up Cantonese but they are few and between. Unfortunately despite undertaking to do so on several occasions I have failed to master the language.
There is also a lot of history to consider with Hong Kong being a recent ex colony. As a result Hong Kong is extremely diverse. It does not comprise of just locals and white expats, far from it. There are people of all races and religions and skin colour. I remember a school teacher telling me that in his class of 28 children there were 21 different nationalities !
I am friends with locals and and with expats living here from other parts of the world, as are the rest of my family and as are (I would say) most of the longer term expat community living in Hong Kong.
What I noticed in HK was very different to that but as you say HK is a much more diverse place and has a very different history. The TV news that I watched there seemed to suggest that modern Hong Kongers are far more concerned with keeping the mainland Chinese at bay than they are about non-integrating foreigners from India, the Philippines and the West.
#20
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
Kind of almost defeats the point of living in a different country IMHO.
#21
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 4
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
I heard that may actually be worthwhile though if I can't source anything while I'm still in the UK. Though, yes it is too risky with the cost.
#22
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Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 4
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
Been to Singapore and loved it, and I think HK would be even more my kind of place. Not been there yet though...
#23
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 344
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
If you are going to stay in a top hotel and eat in the most expensive restaurants then yes it will of course be pricey. But you can live very cheaply in Hong Kong, if you really have to. There are boarding houses which cost next to nothing and reasonably priced food outlets everywhere.
#24
Re: Getting a job in HK from the UK?
There definitely is cheap food there but the hotels there are extremely overpriced IMHO. When I looked they were more expensive than Tokyo but the quality and cleanliness was nowhere near as good.