Country and applications
I am a British citizen, have just finished my studies in England, I was born and grew up here, and live there now.
I am going to be applying for grad IBD programmes in Hong Kong. I am also a HK citizen so can live / work there, and previously lived there for a few years. I speak Cantonese with probably 80% fluency.
On the application form I can put down addresses in both England and HK. I am currently in HK.
So my question is, how should I be approaching the applications for the best chance of an offer? - Foreigner looking for HK job - Local looking for a local job - Foreign educated local looking for a local job
It might seem irrelevant, however, I see (at least) two issues: - Practicalities: maybe they are less keen on flying a foreigner over to assess (even though I am in HK now, if I put UK down that's what they will think) - Recruitment: they may be more impressed / interested with a foreigner (people may not agree, but it is likely the case, and I will play to it) - Compensation: there may be differences in terms of who you are on the application (flights, relocation benefits etc.)
Any thoughts? Thanks very much in advance,
Whats the difference between "local looking for a local job" and "foreign educated local looking for a local job?"
I say go for foreign educated local, and please, this is not the 1950s, they wont be more impressed/ interested with you just becuz you're a foreigner. In fact, i think you might be slightly disadvantaged, given that you are only alright with cantonese (Mandarin is important too).
I'm not naive in my views, nor am I making any judgement - I am just stating what I have noticed.
For example, if you look at a lot of the recruiting websites that the banks put up, there is a real emphasis on attracting Western educated grads. It's not as if HK is lacking in talented and smart graduates, so why would a major bank have a dedicated site to attract foreigners? The grad recruitment websites for London hardly have separate appeals for Asian grads. I assume that there is some extra leverage for a foreign grad applying to HK.
Regardless, I agree with your local/language point. I am guessing that a local applying would be expected to have native Canto + bonus Mandarin, whereas a foreigner is expected to have native English + bonus Cantonese. But then I don't know what the preferences are with HK recruitment. This is what I am asking! Thanks.
But I'm wondering, you said you've just finished your studies? Why didn't you apply last year?
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