Job market for engineers in HK v.s. Singapore (Hong Kong)
Hi everybody,
I have posted a similar thread on a Singaporean forum, but would like to hear your opinions as residents in Hong Kong.
I'm a 26 year old Sales engineer from Sweden that currently works for a major Japanese automotive parts supplier. I plan to move to Asia in Protected content obtain a masters degree and search for jobs in parallel. There are three places I choose between: HK, Singapore or Shanghai.
Let me explain more about my background and what my goal is before I turn to the background of my problem:
My background:
I graduated with a BSc in Mechanical in Protected content have around 2,5 years work experience from my Japanese company.
I lived in Shanghai from Protected content studied Mandarin Chinese and had internships/part time jobs at the same time. I worked mainly as an account manager and with human resources. I speak Chinese on an advanced level and want to enhance my Chinese skills even more (hopefully fluent level).
I visited HK during 4 days in Protected content , but have not visited Singapore yet.
My goal:
I plan to pursue studies (1 year MSc) at a university in either Shanghai, HK or Singapore. My plan is to look for jobs in parallel so the university must be located in the city I will work in later. During my studies, I want to build up a good network and get settled.
I preferably want to work with Technical sales, Project management, Manufacturing/production engineering or similar at a big/medium sized technical company.
All of these cities are for sure more fun than the city I live in now and I just want to get away from here, in around March - August the next year. But of course I want to do some pre-studies first.
My questions:
- Where should I study?
I know that the quality of universities in Singapore and HK are better than Shanghai. But there are a couple of reputable ones in Shanghai too and the study fees much lower.
To me, it seems like HK is the best when it comes to upper education. Singapore has two reputable universities (University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University). HK has at least five (HKUST, University of HK, Polytechnic university, Chinese university of HK and the City University of HK). In addition, the fees seems much lower in HK and they have managed to apply the UK's education system which means 4 years for a BSc and 1 year for a MSc. In Singapore, it's harder to find 1 year MSc programs.
- Where is it most easy to find engineering jobs?
This question is very relevant and probably more important than my first question. I assume that Shanghai has most of the jobs for manufacturing, Singapore for IT/telecom (?) and HK is more of a financial hub. I have no clue about the job market for engineers in HK to be honest. I have tried to search for information but not found much. I believe it's not impossible to find engineering jobs in HK, but how big are the shares? In case it's Protected content more engineering jobs in Singapore, I will of course have that in my mind when making my decision.
- Which place is best/most fun to be at?
This is a very hard question of course. Please take into consideration that I'm 26, have no kids and don't see a big problem with the pollution in HK or Shanghai. To me, it's not that bad (not if I stay there for a couple of years at least). Hong Kong seems to be more vibrant when I read people's comments and Singapore a boring city for expatriates with families. Is this really true? Singapore is one of the biggest and most famous business hubs in Asia. I doubt that the city is really that boring? I have friends who visited Singapore and some of them say it's boring too. I guess you need to be there for a longer time to really enjoy it.
- Should I obtain a masters degree in Engineering Management or a purely technical masters program?
How is the job market for foreigners with a focus on project management in comparison with foreigners that have studied Protected content electronics or mechanical engineering or similar? Is it a big value to have a more focus on management if I apply for jobs as a foreigner in Hong Kong?
Sorry if I'm not clear, but let's start from here and I will try to add more information if needed.
I suppose that this thread will be valuable for other young engineers like me who plans to move to Asia for work!
Thanks in advance.
