Working in Singapore

[chebyshev]

bump!

[Calypso]

I'm one of the lucky ones who went to Singapore on a Visitor's Pass (good for 30 days) and got employed by a company willing to sponsor my Employment Pass!

I only had about less than two years of call center experience in Manila when I decided to pursue working in Singapore. My target was to save a certain amount in US$ and live off that while looking for a job. My brother lives there, so at least paid for na ang lodging.

I went there with complete and utter confidence in myself. I guess that was a good thing; it worked for me. Upon my arrival, I dedicated my days to job searching and sending out my resumes. Within two days, I got lucky-- I got a call for an interview with the very first company I'd applied for!

I was upfront about my situation in Singapore, so I went to the interview with the company knowing that I was on a Visitor's Visa. Since I was brimming with confidence, they liked me-- even if I'd never done Advertising Sales before. They told me they'd give me a call back the next week to let me know.

Meanwhile, I couldn't pin all my hopes to one possibility. So I went through every jobsearch engine and filtered out the jobs that specifically required "Singapore Permanent Residents or Citizens only"-- applying to them are a waste of time, energy, and hope.

On my second week, the reality of what I set out to do started to hit me. On the news everyday were reports of Singapore having its all-time low unemployment rate. What perfect timing! Here I was, being confident about landing a job, when in fact, I was just a hopeful among other unemployed hopefuls who had more right to work there than I did.

But Lady Luck was on my side! The advertising sales company called me again and asked me to meet with the Managing Director! Wow!

I found out that they'd picked me from all the other applicants, but the MD just wanted to meet with me to let me know the process of getting my papers done.

What I didn't know was that the minimum salary for a company to sponsor a foreign employee's Employment Pass was S$2,500/mo. But the salary they were willing to offer me was only S$1,600/mo. But as the nature of the job was in Sales, the MD told me that he was sure I'd make much more than that in commissions. So he said, he would need to consult with their HR Manager, but will try to see how they could "get around the law". So hintay daw ako, they'll call me once more to confirm.

True to their word, they called me as soon as I got home, and offered me the job. I started the following week. Lucky, lucky, lucky!

---

It was a great experience, and an even greater feeling to realize that I had beaten the odds at getting a job in Singapore. I had four other friends who tried to secure employment too. They spent all their money, and eventually had to go back home to Manila after two months of no job offers. I probably would've had the same fate, who knows.

So I got my Employment Pass and my salary. But then another problem set in-- lovesickness!

I got engaged and quit my job after less than a year, moved to the US and got married. Six months later, we moved again (for my husband's job) to Australia. Tah!

---

NOTES:
1. If you're really intent on working in Singapore, stop for a minute and assess your skills. Do you know exactly what industry you want to work in? Do you have the necessary skills for the job? Are you ready to work in a culture that's very different from what you're used to? Are you confident in yourself and the skills you have? Do some research while in the Philippines by checking what requirements are usually asked of job applicants in Singapore, and understand what they are. Better to hone more skills now and have it pay off later than spending x amount of dollars in Singapore now and having to come home empty-handed.

2. What is your financial situation like? Did you plan and save a certain amount of money to take with you to Singapore? Have you considered the exchange rate? Have you thought real hard about not having any income coming in at all while seeking a job? Remember that all your spending will be just that-- spending. Nothing's gonna be coming in until you get a job, so be ready for that.

3. When you're in Singapore, be your own cheerleader. Be positive, and learn as much as you can about the place while keeping to your budget (aka, stay away from expensive tours and taxis! Public transport is the way to go). There will be days when you'll feel like throwing in the towel and saying, "This is hopeless, might as well spend my money like it's my last day here"-- stop yourself. Too many people have fallen into that trap, and end up truly spending all their money within a few days because of self-destructive thoughts.

4. The standard of living in Singapore is just right. I'd say it's really good. It's still a lot less cheaper than in the US. The only reason that some people say it's high is because of the dismal performance of the Peso. The temptation to convert every Singapore dollar spent into peso is very strong-- if all you have is your hard-earned money from the Philippines. But once you earn in Singapore dollars, it'll be much easier to see that the standard of living is really good.

3. You'll find that you have more expendable income left than you did in the Philippines. But as with anything, that all depends on your spending habits. Live within your means. Understand that services and luxury items and cigarettes are much more expensive in more developed countries. And there are reasons behind that (eg, cars in Singapore are taxed much higher than anywhere else to make people think twice about just buying cars as opposed to taking public transport; cigarettes are also twice or three times more expensive than what you're used to-- that's the government's way of discouraging smoking). So, quit smoking na.

3. Dining in style is also much more expensive. Don't fall into that trap! The great thing about Singapore is, if you want to look for cheaper alternatives, meron at meron talaga! I mainly cooked my meals, and that proved to be cheaper than dining out-- but failing that, you can have lunch at local hawker centers and/or food courts! Makakamura ka talaga. Have a budget, and stick to it.

Good luck!

[ZEN000]

ey guys! thanks! i tried globesoft and they offered my sgd3.6k monthly. 1 year contract, option to extend to another year. no bonuses. work is as SAP/ABAP end user support.

what u say? makatarungan na ba yun considering the standard of living.

hindi naman ako magastos. though i'd probably shell out a couple of extra in my first couple of months just to 'try out' every thing
.. just something to reward myself with, right?

to be pemanently based abroad isn't really among my plans.. i just want to make sure i won't have any regrets thinking what if i tried it out abroad. after 1 - 2 years to beef up my credentials and save some, hopefully i'm in a good position to land a supervisory / managerial job with a top MNC in pinas
.. would it be correct to say that the 'singapore' experience would significantly enhance my resume?

.. ok ba yung short term plan ko? comments. ow, i'm only 24 and i've only been working for 3 years with my 1 and only employer since out of one of d country's top 3 universities

[makulit_ako]

mahirap ngayon mag-hanap ng work, but its possible! Economy's looking up again.

As for the pay, for ITs try to get at least 3,500! 4,000 if possible. Heck, I know a pinoy who worked here for the first time get SGD 5,000 a month! Depende sa experience mo pero kung around 3-5 years experience me you have a good chance of getting a good salary.

Both me and my wife have been working here for more that 3 years now. To maximize savings we rarely eat out, we buy from the local market and cook. We also didn't rent a condo but went to a SGD 800 HDB. Hindi kami pumunta dito para magpaka-sosyal.

[draeger]

hi guys. I'm supposed to leave for singapore this october to work as a doctor at NUH. Minimum lang ang offer sa akin kasi training grade ako jan. I am earning more than what they are offering that's why I'm still having second thoughts.

[makulit_ako]

^ Doc, go for it. Iba na ang may International exposure, it will help your career in the long run.

Just my 2 cents.

[xtremz0]

CHeCk this out GUYs!!!!

Expertise Technologies Pte Ltd
(Recruitment Firm)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advertised: 17-9-03 | Closing Date: 16-10-04.

Expertise's clientele consists of reputable multi-national organizations and industry leaders. We provide high value-added and integrated services to our customers leveraging on our professionals, advanced technologies and our technical know-how. Our work ethnic has always been to ensure that we provide quality customer service. This focus on quality along with timely delivery leads to customer satisfaction and value. We believe that growing together with our clients would ensure that both parties are in a win-win situation. A collective success, this is the principle in which this company was conceived upon.

We currently employ about 100 IT professionals providing a wide spectrum of services, namely Application Development, Project Management, Service Delivery Management, Systems Administration and Technical Support.



PC Programmers - Microsoft Access
(Singapore)

Responsibilities:


Be experienced in designing and programming MS Access application systems containing tables, linked tables, forms, reports, queries, macros, modules and class modules
Be experienced in using Visual Basic for Application to code modules and class modules
Be able to code SQL statements
Be able to debug Visual Basic for Application codes and SQL statements
Requirements:


Must be able to speak and write English proficiently
Have at least three (3) years' post graduate experience working with IBM PC, Servers or compatibles
Have at least three (3) years' post graduate experience using DOS and Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/XP
Have at least three (3) years' post graduate experience in designing and developing PC applications running on the LAN environment
Able to conduct unit, module, functional and volume testing, to analyse test results and to take corrective action
Must also have at least two (2) years' full time post graduate hands-on experience on Microsoft Access 2000 & Visual Basic 6.0
Must also be able to handle and code Active-X control in Microsoft Access 2000 and Visual Basic 6.0
Must also be able to code Dynamic-link Library utilities
Must also be familiar with Windows 2000 environment
Should preferably have some experience in MVS/CICS & DB2/SQL

Candidates from Philippines are welcomed

Email detailed resume in MS WORD FORMAT,
to: yeechin@expertise.com.sg
or visit www.expertise.com.sg

GooDLuCK!

[draeger]

hello again. can you guys update us re: SARS situation in singapore?

[hanskyut]

Originally posted by draeger
hello again. can you guys update us re: SARS situation in singapore?

nothing yet to worry as of this time

[makulit_ako]

It's an isolated incident. Nainfect daw yung person sa place where they store those virii. People aren't really worried about that, the only people who are worried are those that store those virii. Medyo maiinit ngayon sila sa International group for the supposed leakage.

There goes their 'medical hub' ambition.... again. (They aren't even mentioning their 'sports hub' ambition coz they lost terribly on bowling [but we won!])

[Steeples]

I'm a fresh grad, IT course and I want work in Singapore. Any advice?

[hanskyut]

mag-gain ka muna ng work experience at least 2-3 years, bihira kasi sa panahon ngayn na kumuha ang isang sg company ng isang fresh grad. from other countries

[bosstl]

you're so keen on getting a job abroad when you actually haven't had any experience working here in our country. they say that it is harder working abroad.

besides, you'll be lucky enough if anyone will entertain your resume on the first place.

[phaelun]

jobsdb ng singapore. or if you want to continue ur studies, nagooffer din ang sg ng scholarship tapos kasi un iba may bond meaning after mo mag aral sa kanila ul have to work for them. siyempre may stipend and sweldo naman. ako din gusto ko magwork doon eh kaya lang psychology ang tinapos ko.

[sweet_7326]

work here muina. i suggest a software house where you can get a good training.

a few years ago, grabe ang hiring nila for mainframe programmers - you can get experience from a banking industry. a lot of my friends are now working for citibank (as consultants). we all worked in a bank before, they (my friends) were assigned to mainframe projects (specifically Systematics - a banking system used by several banks here, and used also by citibank singapore)

[Steeples]

Thanks!

[Steeples]

Thanks!

[the_champ]

I can't find a thread about working in singapore so I'm starting a new one. Can you guys share what it's like to work there. The living conditions. How much is the salary for you to be able to survive? ANyhting and everything. Share nyo naman guys.

[the_champ]

up lang.. baka meron dyan gusto magshare ng living and working conditions sa singapore.

[woulfe27]

for useful info about working and living in singapore, go to this site:

http://www.expatsingapore.com/startup/index.shtml