S&T in HK - Do I need Mandarin?
Title says it all, will it hinder recruitment? Also do they hire english speakers (ex. white guys) from US/UK semi-targets? Or is it only top targets in US/UK & local unis? Any info on hours?
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A bowl is most useful only when it is empty.
Thanks Lao Tzu. I feel enlightened already
Emptiness appears barren
yet is infinite fullness.
Yo this some deep shit
Anyone have any insight? (besides the Chinese philosopher ^)
I don’t think so. Have seen lots of non-mandarin speaking kids in S&T.
Thanks for the insight. Any information on recruitment?
Sorry I don't work in S&T, but you can try to network though LinkedIn search.
Anyone else have any info
bump
mandarin not needed although a plus - as is with any other Asian lingo
school-wise - HR here fetishizes anything foreign so as long as you're coming from a recognizable name it should be fine
hours - varies between desks/groups (eg equities starts earlier) but usually some variant of 7-7
happy to chat more via PM
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yo - love the handle
good chances, law degree defo isn't a hindrance as long as you get the motivation (ie why S&T) - anecdotally I've seen those with law backgrounds usually end up in either sales/structuring
are you local?
Shouldn't be an issue. It's not common as it is definitely a bit of a weird career move, more people go from law to IB. Just think up some good stories and brush up on statistics and CS. I generally don't find the educational backgrounds of traders in my bank too impressive. Many way weirder/weaker ones than law at LSE.
Thanks man, I’ll be sure to think of a good justification for the transition. :) Are you working in an HK bank atm?
Yes, HK in a BB in equities, but not in a trader. Quant/strat.
intern class this year 2021 (one of cs/baml/citi/barclays) s&t hk all asian ethnicities. 40-50% from US target schools
no white guys/girls at all.
our intern class 2021 (one of bank mentioned above) consists of 1/3 local, 1/2 mainland and rest France/UK/US
are they all Mandarin/Cantonese speakers?
out of all the hong kong interns 30-40% speak cantonese first, the rest 60%-70% speak mandarin first
any american born chinese? or did all the ones from US targets grow up in china/hk
Across all divisions (not only IBD/S&T), I know a few interns in the HK/Taipei/Tokyo office that are Asian Americans or Eurasians that went to international schools in Asia.
Also some Chinese/HKers who went to US/UK high schools.
I think that being an ABC will not disadvantaged you in the process as long as you can give a legitimate interest in starting a full-time career in Asia. Feel free to DM me for more insights!
It's definitely possible as long as you have a good story for and can explain why you're interested in Asia - I broke into HK S&T as a ABC/BBC/CBC with my schooling done entirely overseas (from elementary all the way to uni). Like others have said, having mandarin fluency is an advantage, but it's not a must (versus native fluency requirements in IBD) - my mandarin is conversational at best while my cantonese is business proficient although not fully native. During my internship, the desks that I was placed on had mostly locals so I spoke cantonese 80% of the time. This mix can differ greatly between desks though.
Furthermore it seems to me that s&t hiring focuses less on jerking off to school prestige - my school would barely be considered a semi-target, and I've seen several others that went to overseas schools in a similar tier (think UCLA/USC/UofT/McGill type schools)
No as most of Hong Kong business scene already speaks pretty good English. Mandarin will just be a plus. It's like knowing French or Italian or German in Switzerland
I would imagine a lot of the small talk in CH is done in french/italian/german ? So not being say fluent in mandarin you would miss out on lots of the small tid bits to build rapport
Yep like banter and stuff and really racist jokes are done in their language to avoid butthurting people. In Hong Kong in my opinion from my time there. People will only care about your drinking limits and as long as you vibe well with them that is how rapport is built. Hong Kong people are really friendly once they open up to you. They don't mind English at all. Having Mandarin is just a plus most of the people there speaks English well enough to make a joke anyway
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