I put on my resume "Fluent in Chinese", am i FKED for the interview?
Yes, so I was dumb enough to make the mistake and put "fluent in chinese" instead of "fluent in cantonese" on my resume. On the online application I only put "fluent in cantonese"
I do not know any mandarin and I just got interview invitation from a BB (think Citi,Barclays, UBS)
Do you think I can play it off when the interview comes and I immediately tel them "I am fluent in chinese but only in cantonese speaking", or would that come off as dishonest?
I thought that I wouldnt get an interview if I just said "cantonese" anyways, so thats why I did it.
Also, is there any chance I can get summer internship without knowing how to write chinese?
there's like an intensive discussion about this just a few hours ago.... check the threads
I don't mind if I can't work in HK long term, but people say once you get past the interview, then you're good right? I just want a summer stint..
Do you think not knowing mandarin will completely kill me?
More specifically, would "fluent in chinese" on my resume be considered deceiving to the bankers if I can only SPEAK only CANTONESE...?
just let them know that you can only speak cantonese and not mandarin when they bring up your language skills... if you put it down, you will be tested...
dude, canto is a form of chinese anyways, it's not technically lying
HK BB's expect their "Chinese speaking" analysts to be all singing all dancing in mandarin. They also hire a number (some more some less) of non-speakers.
It's indeed a mistake, but it could have been worse...
Just say that you made a mistake writting "chinese" while thinking "cantonese", because that's the language you speak on a daily basis.
Yup just inform them before they start speaking to you in mandarin or something..
I don't think it matter way
just roll with it and don't make the same mistake next time
i'm guessing it will have no impact and you can cover if asked
good luck
^^ Wrong.
If you wrote fluent, your expected to be fluent. Can you read / write? That's more important. No one cares as much if you can't speak
You will be fine. Plus I am sure that you can learn Mandarin...Cant is a lot tougher and only a few can speak it.
Don't stress about it.
I second the motion. I knew a kid when I spent a summer in China who was fluent in Cantonese and picked up Mandarin rather easy. Obviously it will be some work but he said he was very surprised how quickly he picked it up. Good luck.
Regards
Answer to pokersliar:
I don't know how to write, but I can read moderately..Like I can read a typical magazine, but not business magazine...
If you write fluent in a language on your resume there is a good possibility you will be asked a question or two to test that fluency. If you wrote fluent in a language on your resume and sent it to a firm that wants the fluency, you will DEFINITELY be tests on the language and will DEFINITELY be expected to be fluent in the language. Yes, you goofed, but the goof could have been much worse. If I were you, I would ignore it since one app you filled out you only wrote cantonese. Once you are asked about mandarin, try to play it off a bit as if you meant cantonese but accidentally included both and meant chinese/cantonese, not cantonese and mandarin. Mention that you can ready mandarin, but don't have the level of proficiency that you have in cantonese. It should be ok, but, let's be honest, if you don't get the offer for that, then you wouldn't have gotten it anyway, since whether you wrote it on your resume or not, you're not fluent in mandarin.
Make the most of the interview, be confident, and, when asked, go right through it - don't dwell, don't become awkward. Have the reason ready, play it off a bit and try to nail the rest of your interview. Good luck.
don't sweat it I wrote down fluency in a foreign language on my resume too. I never got a single interview when an interviewer just switched off to my foreign language, and I was only asked twice (out of maybe 10-20 or more finance interviews I've had), both by HR. You've probably heard of those notorious interviews in foreign languages. I have friends that had them, but they happen a lot less often than you think.
this guy is obviously interviewing for a Hong Kong position....so expect people will test you mandarin 100%. Cantonese is useless in banking in Hong Kong.
dude, don't worry...CANTONESE IS CHINESE!!! it's just a different dialect from mandarin. if you want, you could be more specific on your resume: fluent in Chinese (Cantonese). but you're not lying. if anyone accuses you, they're just ignorant.
How many of you people giving him advice actually
1) have a job 2) work in HK?
Dairyman ... really are they ignorant for testing him on Mandarin? ....
Put it this way, it depends on the bank but you have a 50% chance of getting interviewed in Chinese and since you wrote fluent, the onus will be on you to deliver.
PM me if you want but I can tell you from exprience that if you wrote Chinese fluency on your resume, people will interview you
I second what pokersliar said. Any person who came from the US, or went to US/UK schools, and is applying for investment banking or consulting in Hong Kong and China will be tested in mandarin. Cantonese is useless, mandarin is the one that's tested because all the deals are essentially in China. I've literally has people who said "ok now I will continue the interview in mandarin" and do that 180 switch.
the only time when you might not be tested in mandarin is when you're an obviously 100% local China or Taiwan person, studied and worked in China/Taiwan, went abroad only for an MBA, and speaks English with a heavy Chinese fob accent. Also, if you're targeting sales and trading jobs you might not be tested on mandarin as much if you cover non-mandarin markets.
Now I don't think you would be dinged for lying, becuase cantonese is a type of chinese, however you will be dinged for not knowing mandarin.
Most BB banks in HK these do a mandatory section of the interview in Mandarin, and will actively use it as a criteria to reject people. Most BB banks also have a written mandarin test which is one of the overall final assessment criteria. Citi and UBS will likely grill the shit out of your mandarin skills - or until they realize you speak none.
Cantonese is irrelevant period.
pokersliar, you miss my point. i wasn't trying to say mandarin is not important for the job. all i'm saying is, the OP is not technically lying on his resume, since Cantonese is a dialect of Chinese (Mandarin is the other...there are like hundreds of different dialects, but these two are the most common). he might still get in trouble for not knowing Mandarin, but he won't get in trouble for lying on his resume, which was partly what he was worried about.
as long as you can read and write you will be fine. it's more important anyway.
proofreading and translation makes up for the bulk of the workload as an IBD analyst in hk. talking to clients in chinese...not so much....
common. I don know why u are freaking abt. chinese includes mandarine and cantonese. if hk people interview you, they actually prefer cantonese.
writing-wise, would most of the work be done in traditional or simplified characters?
probably simplified if it's for mainland customers...but if you know one, then you should know the other. they're not that different. especially if you use computer programs that rely on pronunciation anyways.
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