Working in HK

>>1224127
A lot depends on what kind of job you want and what kind you're prepared to do while you're looking for one.

I can think of two options, a safe but slow/tiring one and and a risky all-in one.

Email hostels and ask if they'd take you on as a cleaner/translator/whatever. A lot will be happy to sponsor a backpacker a working visa in exchange for a cleaner/tourguide/etc to do shit work and then run a few activities for tourists. Stuff like taking people out partying at clubs, shit like that. Some clubs like to get a crowd of backpackers in early to kind of create an atmosphere, free drinks/snacks are involved, you just have to know a promoter though you could probably just ask the clubs directly I guess.

I've know several people that did this in HK.

When you're working at hostels, you generally have the morning off and then from about midday, you have to run around cleaning floors&toilets and stripping beds, maybe drop off laundry and pick up new laundry, stuff like that. In the evening, you've got more stuff to do like taking groups out to eat local foods, see night markets, go to night clubs.

You're probably working six days a week and it doesn't leave much time for job hunting for a real job but there's at least a little bit of time and you've got free accommodation and a (really small) wage while you're doing it.

The other way is to hit up craigs list and find an apartment to share with other foreigners, there are usually people looking for a room mate. That gives you accommodation which is basically as cheap as you can get in HK and then you look for jobs full time, the normal way.

are you white? if so, you will get a job teaching english. guaranteed. minimum pay for a gwailo is 180hkd an hour, if you have a degree of any sort you can swing 350/hr.

>>1224257
I was mainly considering the latter option. Though I was a concierge in a hotel for a while when I was younger, I could probably swing it if needs be.

What about staying in Shenzhen while looking for work/accomodation in HK, think it's doable?

>>1224257
>mail hostels and ask if they'd take you on as a cleaner/translator/whatever.
yea no you're not going to beat the shit wages they pay indonesians and philipinos
>translator
assuming he can speak 9 tonal cantonese

>>1224257
>craigslist hk
you know how i know you're full of shit ?

try geoexpat anon jobsdb for work squarefoot for apartments

>>1224481
>teaching english
son this is hong kong not mainland chink land no one needs to learn english they learn it in fucking grade school

anon you know job hours in hk are 10+ hours 6 days a week right ? you know average rent even in nt is 2500 euro right ?

>>1224689
>son this is hong kong not mainland chink land no one needs to learn english they learn it in fucking grade school

Son, I was an ESL teacher in HK for 2 years. Place is rife with English language centers and tutors.

That said, don't be an English teacher. You work 5 days a week, with Sunday off and a moving extra day which makes it worse. You also work no less than 10 hours a day, I was doing 12. It's a white monkey job, meaning you're basically wanted for your skin color and ability to speak English, despite your ability to teach or even explain how it works. You're basically an indentured servant to your contract which is subject to change whenever they feel like it and it's almost always fixed in a way that is "punishing" if you decide to quit. The only way out is to finish.

If you can land a job with an actual school, then you'll be fine. Otherwise, HK is no different from all the ESL horror stories you read about here or on Dave's ESL Cafe.

>>1224513
Shenzhen is very doable. It's a tier 1 city that is booming in the economy. The rent and prices are much cheaper than HK, but that also means you won't get paid HK prices.

When I lived in HK my rent was 13000HKD (1577 Euro), for an apartment that was little more than a hallway with a bathroom and 1 bedroom. I also had a roommate too.
However in Shenzhen my rent was 4000RMB (544Euro) for a massive 2 bedroom apartment with a balcony, kitchen and it was in a gated community. The only downside is that you're in China. Despite being so close to HK, that boarder crossing does make a difference and you essentially go from an international city, where you can get around with English no problem, to an up-and-coming city, where the people essentially still live like it's a 3rd world country.

HK is probably the worst city to be poor in. Your 10K won't last long there.

>>1224695

>HK is no different from all the ESL horror stories you read about here or on Dave's ESL Cafe

The trick is to review the companies hiring teachers beforehand. I've seen some places with promising names and "benefits" turn out to be some of the worst in term of treatment and livability.

Research, research, research.

>>1224697
How did you manage to live in SZ if you were working in HK, visa-wise?

Even a few years back I remember getting knocks on the door from the chinese police making sure we all had the proper visas.

Or were you working in SZ?

I actually wouldn't mind working in SZ or SH, I kind of figured HK would be easier to find work in for someone with only okay Mandarin (no Canto, tbf)

>>1224821
Plan to hang out in Shenzhen or Shanghai for a little while first while looking for work, to save money.

The idea would be to only move to HK once I had a job lined up. Or Singapore, if HK fell through.

>>1224945
I actually worked into HK for 2 years and made enough to just stay in SZ without having to work for a year.
Before I came to HK I had taken a vacation to Guangzhou and paid for a 10 year Chinese tourist visa. So Moving up to SZ was not difficult, I just needed to set foot in HK every 60 days and then come back to China.

It's a double-edge sword though, in the US you can get a 10 year tourist visa, but cannot work on it (it's illegal). A working visa only lasts 1 year and costs the same amount as the 10 year tourist visa though. There are ways to do business (most likely with a local or online business) and make some money.

>>1224513
>What about staying in Shenzhen while looking for work/accomodation in HK, think it's doable?

You'd need a multiple entry visa for China which is harder to get and the commute would be long. You'd end up spending quite a lot of time and money traveling over the border every day, it wouldn't be worth it I don't think. Including metro or ferry costs, I'm not sure you'd even save money staying in Shenzhen, even though accommodation is really cheap there.

>>1224689
>yea no you're not going to beat the shit wages they pay indonesians and philipinos
Nah, they want you because the backpackers like a guide who's one of them. You can say what you like but I've known three people who did exactly this job in HK.

And craigslist always has ads for shared apartments. Your sites are good too.

>>1224945
>Even a few years back I remember getting knocks on the door from the chinese police making sure we all had the proper visas.
So have the proper visas. You can live in an apartment with a tourist visa, you just need to register with the police. Technically you have to register after crossing the border I think but they really, really wouldn't care about that. The real problem is that every border crossing is a new stamp in the passport and they only allow 8 stamps per page (or 6?). So you'd use up passport pages really quick. Hong Kong doesn't stamp and both sides have an electronic crossing system but you wouldn't be eligible on a tourist visa, you need a long term visa with temporary residency to get it.

>>1224945
>I actually wouldn't mind working in SZ or SH, I kind of figured HK would be easier to find work in for someone with only okay Mandarin (no Canto, tbf)
If you don't mind SZ or SH then you're fine. I hope you have a degree because both of those cities like cracking down on illegal tourists once or twice a year and schools are famous for hiring illegal teachers, not paying them and then snitching them as illegal immigrants and collecting a reward.