Consultancies recruiting graduates in Hong Kong?

Does any one know which strategy consultants, or management consultants preferably with strategy divisions, recruit graduates in Hong Kong?

I am British by nationality and graduated with a 1st in Modern & Medieval languages: French & Italian from Cambridge in 2002. My experiences since then have been focused on travel and broadening my horizons, and I currently live and work in Hong Kong. I am now ready to make my first serious career move into consulting.

On contacting the HR departments of a number of consultancies here I have come up against the barrier of not having spoken and written Mandarin Chinese. I am more than willing to learn the language, but it would take time, and so is not a skill I could currently offer as an applicant.

I would very much appreciate your views and advice.

Sophie, I work for one of the large consultancies in Hong Kong and we are currently looking to hire. Unfortunately we are like no other firm in requiring Manadrin proficiency. I have gone through 200 CVs and chucked out 50%, even though they maybe good, entirely because of a lack of manadrin. It seems like it has already become a mandatory requirement for new consultants joining all firms. If you are able to learn it, you would be extremely marketable. Without it you will need to have additional skills/experience or a good contact to join at consultant level. At Manager level and above the rules the mandarin requirement is more relaxed and there are more opportunities for those without it. Hope that helps and good luck.

Dear Steve,

Thank you so much for your reply. It seems that without Mandarin it would be pointless to apply in HK, which is a pity, and so I’m starting to consider applying to other offices worldwide. From your experience, do you think it would be possible to be interviewed in HK for an application to a different office overseas?

I was also wondering whether your firm or other consultancies here might consider me for a short period of work experience? My current employment has a highly seasonal workload, following the academic year, and so come the autumn I should be able to offer to work for the experience most mornings for a given period of time.

I appreciate that you must be very busy, but if by any chance you might consider assessing my CV for suitability for entry to the consulting profession generally, and for any ‘gaps’ that I ought to fill before making applications, I would be extremely grateful for your opinions and advice.

Thank you once again for your response.

Best wishes,

Sophie