How to get Work Experience as a teen in Hong Kong
By Alexandra Choa Tan, Founder and Managing Director, FRAMEWORKS Group
By the time our children hit age 16, they are asked to make some fairly enormous decisions. Which subjects. Which universities. Which life, roughly. And most of them are making those calls without ever having set foot inside a real workplace (the Year 9 camp on Lamma doesn't count).
Work experience is how a teenager tries a career on before buying it. In Hong Kong, it's also surprisingly hard to find, wildly uneven in quality, and very easily reduced to a week of photocopying and polite nodding. So here is what I tell parents: what's actually possible at 16, where to look, and how to make sure it counts.
First things first: can a teen work in Hong Kong?
Yes. Under the Employment Ordinance, anyone aged 15 to 17 is a "young person" and can be employed (GovHK).
There are sensible protections, mostly for industrial settings like factories and construction. There, young people can work up to eight hours a day and 48 hours a week, no more than six days a week, no overtime, and normally only between 7am and 7pm (GovHK). No dangerous trades, no unreasonably heavy lifting. Clerical and office roles inside those businesses sit outside the industrial rules (Labour Department).
But honestly, legality is rarely the problem. The real question is how to find a placement worth your child's holiday (and your favours).
A job and work experience are not the same thing
Worth being clear on which one you're after, because they do very different tasks.
A part-time or holiday job (retail, F&B, tutoring) builds reliability and a little pocket money. Wonderful. It just won't tell your child much about life as a business development manager, lawyer, engineer or curator.
Work experience or an internship is about exposure. Watching professionals up close, taking on real work place tasks, applying what they have learnt in school, working out how an industry actually ticks. It's usually short, usually unpaid, and built around learning.
Where there's no employment relationship between the student and the host, the Minimum Wage Ordinance doesn't apply (Labour Department). If a role is paid, it's employment, and the normal rules apply.
5 ways to find work experience as a teen:
1. Start with school
Many international and local schools run work-experience weeks, careers fairs. Ask the careers or university guidance team what's on offer, and when (dates have a habit of sneaking up).
2. Use the family network
Let's be honest, this is how most Hong Kong placements happen. Friends, relatives and colleagues can open doors. The catch: the experience is only as good as the person on the other side, and whether they have time to teach rather than just host.
3. Ask directly
NGOs and small businesses will sometimes take students who ask well. A short, specific email beats a generic CV every time: who you are, what you're curious about, when you're free, and what you could help with. (Parents, make sure to let your teenager write it, the adults on the other side can tell if it’s not written by the teen themselves)
4. Look for structured programmes
Some universities run programmes designed for secondary students, such as open labs, youth challenges and summer schools. Competitive, but well organised.
5. Join a curated industry programme
A curated programme handles the matching, the preparation and the supervision for you. This is exactly why FRAMEWORKS exists. (You knew this bit was coming! We handle the experiences so you don’t need to call any favours, no awkward ‘thank you’ dinners…)
What to look for in a work-experience programme
Here's the uncomfortable truth: a university admissions tutor is not impressed by a company name on its own. They want to know what your child did, what they learned, and how it changed their thinking. So when you're comparing options, look for these five things:
Real professionals, not just a nice lobby: Time with people who do the job and will explain how they THINK.
A real task or brief: A problem to solve, research to present, a project to contribute to.
Preparation beforehand: How to behave at work, ask good questions and present yourself well.
Reflection afterwards: A log, a debrief or a short write-up that turns the week into words they can use in a personal statement or interview.
Evidence: A presentation, a case study or a reference that proves it happened.
Without these, even a placement at a glittering firm can leave a student with very little to say.
How FRAMEWORKS helps 14 to 18-year-olds
FRAMEWORKS lets young people in Hong Kong stand inside real industries before they choose one. Since 2021 we've worked with parents and international secondary schools across the region, and we now support hundreds of young people every year.
Everything we do is built around those 5 things:
Explore: Guided sector experiences with professional-led workshops and a client-style brief.
Apply: Students take on a real industry challenge and present their thinking to the professionals themselves (nerves included, growth guaranteed!).
Showcase: Students leave with portfolio-ready work and a reflection framework for personal statements, interviews and CAS records.
There are 4 streams to choose from:
Business, Entrepreneurship and Consumer Innovation
Engineering, Technology and the Built Environment
Health, Wellbeing and Community Care
Arts, Culture and Creative Industries
This year alone, our students have pitched to a global consumer brand, argued live trade policy as a diplomat would, and held their own in front of a room of engineers. Nobody was sent to fetch the coffee.
"Alex at FRAMEWORKS was incredibly helpful. She guided my children in finding summer internships that bridged their knowledge and curiosity with real workplace experience. She also arranged opportunities in the right industries, helping them discover more about their potential career paths. Highly recommended!”
— Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA) Parent - Janet Lee
100+ students served | 90% reported increased confidence | 97% reported better understanding of themselves and their industry
The questions parents ask me most
Can a teen get an internship in Hong Kong?
Yes. Most are short, unpaid and focused on learning, and they tend to come through schools, family networks or curated programmes rather than job boards.
How long should it be?
Minimum 2 weeks (10 days) for in office placements and minimum 5 days for careers and industry exploration. Depth beats length of time in office every time. If your teen is applying for an internship via a jobs board, expect employers to want a minimum 3 month commitment.
When should they do it?
Summer, Easter, and the October and winter breaks. The good placements fill early, so plan a term ahead (I know, another thing on the list).
Does it actually help with university applications?
Yes, when your child can explain what they did, what they learned, how the experience sharpened their career interests. UK, US and Hong Kong universities all value super-curricular exploration beyond the classroom.
Can it count towards IB CAS?
It can support CAS reflections and evidence, depending on your school's guidelines. Check with the CAS coordinator before the placement starts, not after.
My child has no idea what they want to do. Is it still worth it?
That's the best time to do it. Ruling a career out is just as useful as finding one, and trying 2 or 3 sectors gives them something real to compare.
Ready when they are
If your child is 14 to 18 and ready to test a career from the inside, apply for the next FRAMEWORKS cohort. Schools looking for a structured work-experience partner can explore our school programmes.
Looking for Volunteer opportunities across different sectors? Join our whatsapp bulletin board here - https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQ2FdHYvVhy3coHPGrn4xV
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Families and hosts arranging paid roles should check the latest requirements with the Labour Department.