Social Work Jobs for English speaker only
Jun 5th 2013, 3:16 pm
#1
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1
Social Work Jobs for English speaker only
Hi I have been offered a job in hk , but I was wondering if anyone could advise me if there is any opportunities for English speaking only to work in the social work field. My partner has a degree in social work and over 8 years exp working in London but She is not sure if the langue barrier will be a problem . Can anyone advise if she could secure a job as a social worker or something related ??? Thanks
Jun 6th 2013, 1:03 am
#2
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 344
Re: Social Work Jobs for English speaker only
Hi,
Please do not take this the wrong way !
In my experience the English speaking expatriate community in HK are not anything like as f***** up as people are in the UK. They tend to be hard working, professional and responsible people with a strong sense of family values, rather than being part of dysfunctional family and / or benefit dependent lay-abouts.
Now I may have generalised a tad but you will get my point !
I am sure there will be others with a different view.
As such I would think that the demand for English speaking social workers is quite low in HK and would be limited to English speaking third country nationals.
Please do not take this the wrong way !
In my experience the English speaking expatriate community in HK are not anything like as f***** up as people are in the UK. They tend to be hard working, professional and responsible people with a strong sense of family values, rather than being part of dysfunctional family and / or benefit dependent lay-abouts.
Now I may have generalised a tad but you will get my point !
I am sure there will be others with a different view.
As such I would think that the demand for English speaking social workers is quite low in HK and would be limited to English speaking third country nationals.
Jun 6th 2013, 1:45 pm
#3
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Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Far North Queensland
Posts: 17,625
Re: Social Work Jobs for English speaker only
Hi Briggy and welcome to the forum 
. Hope you get some replies from social workers out there, and hope you enjoy HK.
. Hope you get some replies from social workers out there, and hope you enjoy HK.
Jun 7th 2013, 12:18 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 93
Re: Social Work Jobs for English speaker only
I agree with Hongkonger's comments about the expat community in HK - not the same profile as the UK by any means. Most 'clients' of social workers in HK would obviously be the elderly and disadvantaged in the local Chinese-speaking community, and there are many of them despite the city's wealth and affluence.
There are support groups for Filipinos but again the ability to speak Tagalog or other dialects is important. There are not that many international NGOs in HK - the government tends not to engage that much in the international arena and the place is too expensive for many NGOs to operate in.
Perhaps your partner's best option would be to explore jobs in local universities in the fields of social administration and policy. I appreciate that this is not the same as social work in the conventional sense but there are a variety of academic departments in this area in HK and most are active in research. Check out the ads in the local papers like SCMP or write to the departments direct and send a CV.
There are support groups for Filipinos but again the ability to speak Tagalog or other dialects is important. There are not that many international NGOs in HK - the government tends not to engage that much in the international arena and the place is too expensive for many NGOs to operate in.
Perhaps your partner's best option would be to explore jobs in local universities in the fields of social administration and policy. I appreciate that this is not the same as social work in the conventional sense but there are a variety of academic departments in this area in HK and most are active in research. Check out the ads in the local papers like SCMP or write to the departments direct and send a CV.
