The Language Barrier
Wed, 2005-05-18 07:29 — Anonymous
Friends at Batgung-
Excellent site/community you've put together. Thanks.
I live in San Francisco but am seriously considering a move to HK. Just visited there in April and fell in love with the place. Also my girlfriend has family in Guangzhou and she would enjoy being closer to them.
I've perused the moving / jobsearch sections and found them helpful, but a couple of additional questions I hope you can help with.
It seems clear that the language issue will be the key limitation on job prospects. I am in marketing and publishing at a senior level (with experience also in nonprofits and hotels) and have seen just a handful of postings on the many job boards where Cantonese was not a requiremment.
Given that I need a rather specific fit, the thought of a recruiter comes to mind and I have spoken with a few, but somewhat unlike the US, it doesn't seem that the recruiters will take on a jobseeker as a client and go looking for the right match on his behalf, rather they only search for candidates for exisiting openings. Is this the case and if not, can anyone reccomend agencies or recruiters that will go to bat for me?
Much obliged!
Hong Kong Jobs
Could you talk to any recruitment contacts you have in the US and ask if they know of any US-based recruitment companies that specialise in postings to Asia?
The problem with looking at ads in HK is that they are written for a local audience. I guess the chances of finding a US company that wants to hire & send someone overseas are slim, but if you do then you can expect to get a good package. You may also uncover opportunities that are US-based but have Asia responsibilities - and so get to travel here and build up contacts at the expense of your new employer.
Good luck, MrB