Hi dude
There is work for graduates in Asia, particularly Hong Kong and Singapore. However, if you don't speak Chinese fluently, then it is going to be difficult to find work outside of being an English teacher and impossible outside of HK and SG.
There's a few guys in here that work in finance in Singapore, maybe if they came out of the wood work they could give you some pointers. My feeling is that you would have to specialise. But i'm not 100% sure on that, I've worked in Asia representing my former employer and also starting my own business. I have however researched this in depth before, know the cities and the dynamics. If anybody has done a graduation job in the region, please feel free to correct me if my advice isn't 100% accurate.
Networking is great. If you meet the right person then they will be able to get you any kind of job you want. The problem is finding them. I was fortunate to meet a A gentleman a few years ago who, after a shitload of vodka boasted he could place me in several different legal firms in Hong Kong. This man was a fucking taipan. I respectfully declined his offer but I did ask if I could pick his brain for info and contacts (struck gold). This was a once in a lifetime meeting and I was incredibly fortunate. You will often meet middle managers and sometimes people a little higher, they can be your friends down the track so use your mack wisely. Make friends with everyone, but trust no one as well. Lot's of bitchiness (in lieu of healthy competition) in Asian work environments.
Graduate positions for non-Chinese speakers are generally going to be available in Singapore and to a lesser degree Hong Kong
You face stiff competition as well. You will be up against foreigners, often with shit loads of (parents) money to burn and the local Second Generation Asian Tiger Kids.They will usually have at least a Masters Degree (and then some) but be for the most part completely socially retarded from a western perspective. If you get taken on in a graduate position you will be working with these people and as I mentioned beforehand, they can (boy or girl) can be absolute cunts. 90% of the well paid foreigners in Asia are on expat packages or were headhunted from their posting in the West. Keep this in mind as well.
If you're competing for graduate positions with locals, your pay will more than likely start somewhere between $2-3,000. In Singapore, you will be able to find some share accomadation for about $1,000 (or less if you rent a room that's been sublet illegally in Govt. Housing) and meet your necessities (if you scrimp like a motherfucker) at about $7-800. Hawker food is cheap and if you know where to shop and how to use the public transport system then you won't spend much there either. Hong Kong is changing so rapidly that by the time I finish this paragraph my info might be irrelavent. If you want to live in Kowloon or Central, it is on par with central Manhattan/London/Paris/Rome in terms of cost. Prices seem to have risen by 20% in the local currency in the last 12 months and they are rising. Rooms are fucking tiny and expensive. Expect 1,200 a month to be comfortable. Other necessities will probably come to $800 a month, unless you're a hermit.
Your working conditions will suck. Many corporate environments are often overstaffed with underpaid graduates who bide their time in the day with little in the way of KPIs or structure. With that being said, they will spend 12 hours a day at the office. Many of your colleagues will be timid and afraid to bring this to your managers attention; for good reason as many managers are on a good wicket and they would prefer not too push the envelope. Read your situation though, if your superior is from the west andhas been in his post for a relatively short period of time, chances are there is a change in culture in the mix. Stand out and be obvious in a non-Arrogant way.
Anyway, hope this has given you some pointers. I love Asia and I am hoping to relocate there permanently within 5 years. It's a tough world for young people though, lot's of educational inflation and the cost of living is a bitch.
There is work for graduates in Asia, particularly Hong Kong and Singapore. However, if you don't speak Chinese fluently, then it is going to be difficult to find work outside of being an English teacher and impossible outside of HK and SG.
There's a few guys in here that work in finance in Singapore, maybe if they came out of the wood work they could give you some pointers. My feeling is that you would have to specialise. But i'm not 100% sure on that, I've worked in Asia representing my former employer and also starting my own business. I have however researched this in depth before, know the cities and the dynamics. If anybody has done a graduation job in the region, please feel free to correct me if my advice isn't 100% accurate.
Networking is great. If you meet the right person then they will be able to get you any kind of job you want. The problem is finding them. I was fortunate to meet a A gentleman a few years ago who, after a shitload of vodka boasted he could place me in several different legal firms in Hong Kong. This man was a fucking taipan. I respectfully declined his offer but I did ask if I could pick his brain for info and contacts (struck gold). This was a once in a lifetime meeting and I was incredibly fortunate. You will often meet middle managers and sometimes people a little higher, they can be your friends down the track so use your mack wisely. Make friends with everyone, but trust no one as well. Lot's of bitchiness (in lieu of healthy competition) in Asian work environments.
Graduate positions for non-Chinese speakers are generally going to be available in Singapore and to a lesser degree Hong Kong
You face stiff competition as well. You will be up against foreigners, often with shit loads of (parents) money to burn and the local Second Generation Asian Tiger Kids.They will usually have at least a Masters Degree (and then some) but be for the most part completely socially retarded from a western perspective. If you get taken on in a graduate position you will be working with these people and as I mentioned beforehand, they can (boy or girl) can be absolute cunts. 90% of the well paid foreigners in Asia are on expat packages or were headhunted from their posting in the West. Keep this in mind as well.
If you're competing for graduate positions with locals, your pay will more than likely start somewhere between $2-3,000. In Singapore, you will be able to find some share accomadation for about $1,000 (or less if you rent a room that's been sublet illegally in Govt. Housing) and meet your necessities (if you scrimp like a motherfucker) at about $7-800. Hawker food is cheap and if you know where to shop and how to use the public transport system then you won't spend much there either. Hong Kong is changing so rapidly that by the time I finish this paragraph my info might be irrelavent. If you want to live in Kowloon or Central, it is on par with central Manhattan/London/Paris/Rome in terms of cost. Prices seem to have risen by 20% in the local currency in the last 12 months and they are rising. Rooms are fucking tiny and expensive. Expect 1,200 a month to be comfortable. Other necessities will probably come to $800 a month, unless you're a hermit.
Your working conditions will suck. Many corporate environments are often overstaffed with underpaid graduates who bide their time in the day with little in the way of KPIs or structure. With that being said, they will spend 12 hours a day at the office. Many of your colleagues will be timid and afraid to bring this to your managers attention; for good reason as many managers are on a good wicket and they would prefer not too push the envelope. Read your situation though, if your superior is from the west andhas been in his post for a relatively short period of time, chances are there is a change in culture in the mix. Stand out and be obvious in a non-Arrogant way.
Anyway, hope this has given you some pointers. I love Asia and I am hoping to relocate there permanently within 5 years. It's a tough world for young people though, lot's of educational inflation and the cost of living is a bitch.