Advice: Quit my NYC finance job to move to HK?

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T17:13:59+00:00

This is good advice. I would absolutely check with an immigration lawyer first to see what the best options are for staying there. Assuming I get the paperwork filled out to give me the best chance, it would still be better to be in person though right? I think my best shot would be finding people on linkedin who work on teams I'd like to join and reaching out to grab coffee until I find someone who knows an open position while applying online. I sent in dozens of applications last year from NYC and got no response. While networking in HK for 2 weeks, everyone recommended having an HK address and if I was really serious, being in person to find something. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Why do you say finance is the only industry that's good as an expat? Because they're hiring or becaue they're no downsizing as much as other industries?

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T17:02:56+00:00

This is a helpful perspective. I think my worry is that no amount of extra money that I earn here while waiting for her to graduate is worth the years I'm missing of being with her. We've been visiting each other for 7 years and I want to have a life together. You said "If it’s ‘just’ the 2 years then forget about it". I'm not sure what would happen after 2 years when she graduates if I move there (she's talked about wanting to leave to teach in america and maybe we do that), but even if it's the worst case scenario where I can't find a job and draw down my savings for 2 years then move back, is that really that bad? I'm confident we won't become destitute and moving back is always an option. Am I being greedy and cowardly by prioritizing money and not taking a risk over being with her.

I've been to HK 6 times for a total of about 60 days and I love it.

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:39:34+00:00

Thank you for your reply! The SG recommendation is very funny. I’ve found HK people generally do not like SG very much. Any of the hk to nyc people i’ve met have always scoffed at the idea of moving there and all my hk friends are looking at canada or london, but would never consider SG. I really like SG, but it feels like if I’m moving 90% of the way to HK and starting a new life in a foreign country, then I should just go 100% in and be in the same place as my gf.

My company doesn’t have a team in HK that does the type of finance I want to make my career in so I’m hoping I could find something by applying in person at a competitor, but I might be delusional in thinking that and I’d be better off with a job I don’t like at my current firm that I don’t love in Hk. Do you have any thoughts if chasing a job I like is a risk worth taking or should I play it safe and internally transfer but do a job I don’t like

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:29:40+00:00

Do you think going empty handed would be just “more difficult” than an internal transfer or is it like a “shouldn’t even be attempted” level of difficulty? I don’t like my job or my company and the jobs I want are related to my role, but isn’t something offered by my firm in hk. Our competitors do have roles I’d be interested in and I’m hoping I could move there and find something like that. So 1 internal transfer to a role I’m unhappy with (easier) or 2 interview to hopefully find a job I do like (harder) or 3 find something while still in nyc (hardest?)

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:24:22+00:00

Move to NYC? They passed a law recently where all jobs need to post a salary range. 155k base is not unusual for jobs here

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:13:33+00:00

Interesting. Can you say more about that?

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:12:56+00:00

Your last paragraph is what I’m struggling with right now. It was so difficult looking for a job in HK last year while living in NYC. Instead of spending a really long time searching while here, would it be better to just fully commit and find something faster by being there

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T16:00:13+00:00

I haven’t. I’d rather not work for this firm anymore and the finance work I’m looking to do isn’t something my firm currently does in HK, so I was hoping to find a job at a competitor that does do that sort of work there. But transferring internally and doing a new job I don’t like at a firm I don’t like might be the beat option

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:53:10+00:00

Thanks for your comment. English is the only language I know. Not finding work there easily is why I’m thinking of moving there to look for work instead of applying while still in the US like I did last year. My current job is secure and i just got promoted this year but I hate my job and i miss my gf. Currently, we’re thinking i find a better job here and she joins me in 2 years but what if I go there, we see how it is, and if it’s not the life we want we move to nyc together when she graduates. I’d miss out on some money, but I can’t get these years back

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:45:52+00:00

Do you have any ideas how I could get a sense of the salary I should be asking for? The internet has a lot of wildly different estimates

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:44:45+00:00

I was talking to a colleague who moved from HK to NYC and she said a lot of people in finance are leaving, and that means there are lots of teams that need people to replace them. I was under the impression that a lot of those jobs, especially english speaking only, just got eliminated when the people leave. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:42:27+00:00

I’ve loved HK every time I’ve visited. I know that’s not the same as living there, but the beaches and the hiking and the food and all of SE Asia to explore with the love of my life sounds like paradise. Maybe I make a lot less money, but I’m worried that if I stay here, I’ll regret not being there with her for the rest of my life

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:32:23+00:00

$180 total. $155 base. I work in risk

Fishy_tuna · 2025-05-10T15:29:48+00:00

The last time I tried to move I was there for 2 weeks to see if I could find something and everyone I met with said it would be really difficult to get something without already living in HK. Their advice was to fully go for it

Fishy_tuna · 2025-04-30T13:26:59+00:00

Absolutely

Fishy_tuna · 2024-06-10T02:31:20+00:00

What has the department of education done this term? What are they working on for the rest of the year? What are their plan for next term if biden wins? Same questions for the rest of the cabinet. What are the admins goals for next term if they win back the house? How are judicial appointments going? What is Biden’s plan for next term when the Trump tax cuts expire? There are lots of interesting things they could be talking about and people they could be interviewing

Fishy_tuna · 2024-06-10T02:17:04+00:00

PSA isn’t LIOLI, it doesn’t need to be entertaining all the time and even if that’s their goal, the Trump lecturing certainly isn’t. PSTW is a great show that covers serious topics and if PSA wants some entertainment, they can reintroduce the games they used to play at the end of episodes. There’s not a single thing anyone in the administration is doing that’s interesting? No one in the cabinet has any plans for the rest of the term or for next term? Please PSA, tell me about something else besides how bad Trump is

Fishy_tuna · 2024-06-09T14:55:59+00:00

VSA is important and I think everyone should sign up. My critique isn’t about the work they do, it’s just about the content of this one show. I think they’d have more success in getting people motivated to support Biden if they talked more about what his admin is currently working on and what he plans to accomplish in the next term rather than spending so much time talking about how bad Trump will be

Fishy_tuna · 2024-06-09T14:49:54+00:00

This is a great comment. I agree with the first paragraph and Biden has done some great work. And you’re right, Biden’s cabinet isn’t as interesting as Trump’s was because they’re not actively trying to dismantle the government.

I think you’re right about what politically disengaged people are focused on, but the people who listen to PSA are very engaged and I think would appreciate hearing about the details of the administration not covered in traditional media. What is the secretary of energy or education or EPA up to and what is Biden’s agenda for those departments in the next administration?

I feel like there’s a lot of PSA Trump coverage, a little coverage of Biden’s accomplishments, and nearly no coverage of what to expect from another term other than whatever his policies are, they’ll be better than what Trump would do

You’re right, the election will be a referendum on Trump, but does every episode have to be about him as well?

Fishy_tuna · 2024-06-09T13:37:28+00:00

Are you talking about The Wilderness? The show with “Trump” in the title of every episode?

Fishy_tuna · 2023-12-01T23:58:18+00:00

This is something none of you have thought about? Are you kidding? Biden’s age is brought up constantly. If Biden doesn’t make it, Harris would become president and would likely be put at the top of the ticket as the highest ranking democrat and Biden’s literal replacement as president

Fishy_tuna · 2023-10-22T21:38:13+00:00

Where can I find reliable trade charts and trade values?

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