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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Hi there ~ I am in Corporate, first year. Did my two years of training contract here in the same firm I am now at. Ended up here because there are just much more opportunities here. Also I got a secondment to the New York office for 6 months whilst I trained here.
There were some push factors in SG too - (1) the local firms I interned back in SG seemed wary of international firms and did not speak well of them - my internship experiences here in UK and US firms here in HK proved the absolute opposite of what they warned against; (2) my same sex partner is recognized by my firm with attending spousal benefits and my firm supports diversity efforts, something I know my dear Singapore is still not ready for.
Of course there are sacrifices to be here in HK - much smaller living spaces for instance. But for the greater intellectual space, greater financial empowerment, and an internationalized associate labor market paying up to US rates with COLA for local associates, I think it's worth it.
Agree that doing a training contract here may make more sense if you are going to be here long-term. HK qualifications pretty much command the same salary rates as NY qualifications here in HK. That said, the biggest local firms here may still find it hard to pay UK rates. So all in all, it is all about positioning. Expand your horizons, gain an appreciation of local cultures in a globalized world. Then you would know how to geographically and professionally position yourself in view of the current economic climate.
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Wild guess here, but did you go to CityU PCLL in 2012-2013 and if so, did you have a female classmate with the surname Tai? My associate buddy told me about a Singaporean in her PCLL cohort who recently got married to a same-sex partner and is probably about NQ/ PQE1 now.
You're so lucky to get COLA - I'm not entitled to it at my firm because they count me as a Hong Kong staff ): Are all international staff members automatically entitled to COLA at US law firms, even if you trained in HK?
Your reasons definitely make sense (also, very jealous that you got a secondment to New York). COL is indeed higher, but the pay makes up for it I think. Quality of training is also pretty good here.
To be very honest, I'm not really sure a local firm (eg Woo Kwan Lee & Lo, maybe even Deacons or Mayer Brown JSM) would be all that keen on Singaporean trainees or associates. My suspicion is that you probably need Cantonese fluency to deal with local clients. All the other Singaporeans I know of are at US or UK law firms.
More generally, any advice for a first seat trainee, especially given that I'm currently in Corporate?