salibcn

Hi,

I'm thinking about moving to Hong Kong (currently living in Sydney, Australia on a sponsorship visa) and have seen a number of job advertisements for Web designer/Developers in HK but they are all asking to submit your salary expectations in your application. I have a number of friends in HK but they are all in Teaching or other industries and so are unable to help me figure out what a reasonable salary would be to ask for, for a web designer with 5+ years of experience. If anyone can give me some advice it would be appreciated - as I don't want to ask for something low if realistically I could earn more.

Thanks.

Desert Dweller

Web Developers are common in Hong kong as the Chinese are very adept at anything computer/web based. A lot of companies also sub-contract to the Philippines which brings costs down even further.
A lot of the jobs (depending on the source you are getting them from) will be targeting local employees. The only way somewhere will employ for sucha position from overseas would be for a large multinational with particular skills/experiences.
I would say that a web developer for a standard local or international company would be in the region of 10-12,000 HKD per month all in.
There may also be issues with sponsorship which may be your overriding problem.
You would be better off asking your friends if they can help you get a job in teaching and find something while you are there.

Good luck.

dunmovin

asking for an expected salary is normal pratice in HK. Personally, I always gave "negocionable" as an answer to that. If your c.v.is interesting enough they will negociate
For you to leave Oz and go to HK, you should be aiming at an income of HK$ 35,000+ and housing allowance(min of HK$20,000), medical insurance, paid home leave flights, 50/50 pay in to mpf THIS IS IMPORTANT(mandatory provident fund).
With respect to desert dweller, HK$10-12,000 per month is not a salary to attract an expat. When I worked in HK,that figure was the salary paid to junior clerks,my secertary was paid HK$20,000 pm. Also, if they are advertising the post in Australia, they ARE looking for an expat,so don't sell yourself short. If they interested they will pay for flights and accomodation,to interview you and give you a chance to see what the work enviroment is.

If you go down the teaching route, contact the English Schools Foundation

Desert Dweller

The Op didn't specify that they had seen the posting in Australia. Even still, there is a large population of ABC's in Australia and they could be the target.
I hope the salary id is 60k all in but I would put money against it being so for a web developer.

JackTheLad

So basically you're saying forget going to HK as a web designer/developer. There is no way any web developer, can earn that much in Hong Kong. There are lots of local web developers and designers. If there is ever a job advertised for that sort of money, you would have literally thousands of qualified local applicants who speak fluent English and Cantonese competing for it.

I don't think you really need $60k a month to live comfortably in HK, if you are young, with no kids, and willing to live and eat like most locals do.

Agree totally with you on this and the expected local salary in your earlier post. Who's taking bets?

Mrs JTL

dunmovin

60 k might be a bit too much, but accomodation is costly (we were paying hk$20,000 for a 700 sq ft appartment in Yau Ya Tseun and similar when we moved to Clearwaterbay, but that got us a three floored house) I still think that 10 to 12 thousand is way to low to live on

JackTheLad

The OP didn't indicate where he/she read the job advertisements or what type of companies. If we assume an average web development job, anything over $20k per month is pretty good, and $10-12k is common for people with a few years of experience. There're simply too many people in HK with the skills. Young people on these wages can't normally afford an apartment on their own, most of them flat-share with someone or live with their parents.

I worked in the IT industry in HK till 2001 and have a brother who's also in IT there. From what I've been hearing, it's not the best time at the moment for anyone look for a new job there, never mind going in competing with the locals for the few jobs available.

Mrs JTL