Korean for Hong Kong BB
I've heard hong kong bank divisions want fluent mandarin speakers for just about everyone.
But since Hong Kong is Asia's main office other than Japan, and I know Korean deals are originated out of Hong Kong, wouldn't they also want Korean speakers?
Have you heard anyone who speaks just Korean and English and is working in Hong Kong?
Would someone be limited in terms of exit opportunities for Asia if they only spoke Korean and English?
oh mr. ronery! Any reason as to why you would want to work in China vs. Korea? or even the U.S.?
I want to be in Asia long term, and I feel like starting out there would be more helpful than starting out in the States.
I don't want to start out in Korea because I don't want to pidgeonhole myself there for my career.
not unheard of, just not common
GongFu - I noticed you're working in Hong Kong. Could I pm you some more questions?
No it is not. From my experience networking and searching up Korean professionals in HK most of them speak Korean and English. I know that theres at least 4 MDs in Blackstone in HK who are Korean and I don't think they speak Chinese at all. Also, the current head of Asia-Pacific I believe for UBS is Korean and it doesn't say that he speaks Chinese.
Hope it helps.
Thanks so much syoon!
Many BB has a country team covering Korea based in HK so you will likely get your best shot there. Good luck.
All educated Koreans can write Chinese so Koreans are fine in hong kong
What level within the bank are you talking about? I know a few korean bankers within JPM HK that don't speak any chinese.VP level.
Don't know about exit opps, but the lack of chinese skills will surely limit progress within mainland China and PEs based in China (common sense).
You could try Samsung Securities, the bank is Korean but nobody speaks Korean inside, too bad they only fired about 100 people. IB is sort of OK i heard.
for junior level analysts, there is a higher chance for you to get staffed on deals from the country that you speak the language of. e.g. mandarin speakers for chinese deals, korean speakers for korean deals
Korean in HOng kong BB (Originally Posted: 08/14/2011)
I'm a sophomore at a target who can speak english and korean fluently, but can manage only conversational chinese. I'll try to learn mandarin over the whole year to build it up to scratch (I used to learn it before a lot, have a solid foundation, just haven't built upon it) to the point where I can get Level 6 at the new HSK.
However, just saying am i completely screwed for s&T and IBD in hong kong when time comes for SA interviews by only knowing korean and english and not chinese?
There are very rare instances when a HK office will take a non-Mandarin speaker, but usually this happens when they do an internal transfer (ex. trader from Barclays NY to HK). Is it a priority that you be in HK?
What are you talking about? I interned on the BarCap HK trading floor last summer and I would say over 50% of the sales/traders don't speak Mandarin, and this is true at all levels (less so at the junior level)
hahaha oh crap..i guess I need to study chinese like mad for the next year and half Despite being born in Korea, I lived most of my life in HK and all my fam/friends are here so I'd prefer to stay here if possible. Its almost impossible to get a position in NY as a foreigner as well...so HK is really my only shot
It might be a different story since you grew up in HK. Not sure.
most of the hk people don't speak mandarian, a small part of em can speak but with a strong cantonese accent, weired enough that even chinese ppl couldn't understand. Since you fluent in english, i think there must be certain places where the people have the same background like u, i.e. GS, MS.. I always thought there are a lot of native english speakers there, correct me if i was wrong. Im a local hk person
lots of non-mandarin speakers in S&T in HK; very few in IBD
lots of non-mandarin speakers in S&T in HK; very few in IBD
thank you for all the responses! so I would only face little if any discrimination in the S&T application process? Why is it that S&T tend to have numerous non-mandarin speakers- is it because they tend to cater to western institutional clients?
yes. and traders deal more with numbers. in ibd you have to do in depth due diligence on chinese companies and translation skills are important
How Important is Language Proficiency if Korean for IBD in HK? (Originally Posted: 11/02/2016)
Does anyone know how proficient one should be in Korean if shooting for IBD in HK? I'm a Korean-American with second rounds/superdays coming up with a few BBs in HK for SA. So far, no one has really checked my Korean language proficiency, and I was wondering how well I really needed to speak Korean to do Korea deals in HK? I don't want to get to HK for SA and then not get a return offer because my language skills did not meet expectations.
To give some background: I'd say in terms of skills my speaking is far superior to my reading/writing, which are at an elementary/middle school level, but I could study in the months I have until June 2017. At this point, I need to have a dictionary on hand when reading news articles or looking through Korean regulatory filings.
You will need to read and write Korean to do Korean deals
Right, are you aware of what the level of required proficiency is? 100% native or is less okay?
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