Practical Advice for Heading Towards Singapore

[Progressive]

Hello all,

I have spent quite a bit of time on general expat and employment forums but often find advice from like-minded people more useful.

I work in the natural resources sector (mainly oil and gas) in a professional role and have spent the last three years in Australia, after moving from UK in 2012. It's been great. Me and my other half are now looking for a new challenge and one of the locations we are very interested in is Singapore.

I have applied for a few suitable roles on JobStreet and have been in touch with a couple of recruiters also. Has anyone got any experience or advice about how difficult it is to secure a job from overseas? Any tips or hints with expediting my job hunt? My experience is pretty good and I have the right qualifications so I am hopeful that something will come up in the coming weeks. I know its such a broad question but how much is enough for a couple with no kids, relatively modest lifestyle? I was thinking 10,000SGD per month but could be wildly out!

Thanks a lot, and maybe before long I can join you Singapore-based PH-ers for a beer!


Cheers,

P.

PS. If anyone is looking to employ a Quantity Surveyor / Contracts bod with some good O&G experience... *thumbs up*

[XJSJohn]

Hi,

Will give you a better response later on but have a look back in this forum from posts i have done, i have put up alot of info on Singapore from my 10 Years there (although now in Bangkok)

RE the cash,

1 - you wont get an employment pass unless you are earning $144k a year or more.
2 - You will be living very basically for that sort of money, especially supporting 2 or more.

More to follow later.

[XJSJohn]

Ok these 2 threads and the subsequent links & info will get you started

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[DNC]

Hi

I have been in Singapore for 18 months now. I was previously working in Manchester UK and Singapore was my first expat experience. It’s been fantastic. I work as an Engineering Geologist for Mott Mac’ principally focusing on Civil projects.

I know a few people who work in O&G recruitment and my firm has a O&G sector. PM your CV.

Regarding what’s an acceptable salary I am roughly 60k SGD annual total. With a girlfriend who earns similarly and no dependants this more than enough to spend 1 weekend in 3 on beach in Thailand, up a mountain in Borneo or partying in Bali. IMO The best bits about Singapore as a long term prospect is definitely how easy it is to travel to “exotic” places very cheaply and very easily.

Living here is very easy, the systems all work very well, there is no crime and the sun is nearly always shinning.

Housing is expensive but you get what you pay for. Our flat costs us about 3.5k SGD per month but the facilities are fantastic.

The major downside, (especially for a piston head) is the governments heavy discouragement of car ownership. Once government tax’s are all taken in to account new cars are about 3x more than Europe and second hand about 5x more. I get my petrol fix by renting cars / motor bikes during my frequent trips to the more lawless countries of the region. The public transport and taxis are all very cheap but this is little consolation. Lack of car ownership will likely be the reason I leave Singapore eventually.

[XJSJohn]

I have been away from Singapore for a few years so they must have made a few changes to the EP structure, it was that if your company wanted to hire outside the quota they had to show a salary of 12k / month, and that with the 4 Singaporeans to 1 foreigner for many industries this was the only way to get an EP for a foreigner, either that or your company has a higher ratio than 4 - 1 so no problem.

Personally i would not want to try and live on $5k a month (st, i think that was what i used to spend on Food and Drink in a month, and i did not generally go to expensive places, but maybe that says more about how much i drink )

[V41LEY]

You don't say if your better half is also looking for work or is intending to travel with you as a dependent. I followed my wife out and found it very hard to find work whilst in Singapore without a work permit / job alreadylined up. Slightly different to yourself as we have two kids and they were due to start school. Spent 4 very happy years there nonetheless and would go back in flash just for the warmth and the opportunity to travel around Asia / Australia which is so easy.

[anonymous-user]

Any sort of oil and gas managerial position in Sing will pay at least 1000 UK pounds a day before tax, If you say 400,000 Sing $ a year as a minimum, otherwise you will just be messing up the market for others.
I wouldn't look at a job in Sing on less than 1500 Pounds a day, a modest expat life style is not possible, what happens when your wife's friends are picking up 2,000 a day, schooling is expensive, my daughters school bill in Malysia was 22,000 pounds a year, and as I said elsewhere on here local schools are not an option if you want children who can think. Cars are the most expensive in the world prorate to income.

[XJSJohn]

Berw said:

Any sort of oil and gas managerial position in Sing will pay at least 1000 UK pounds a day before tax, If you say 400,000 Sing $ a year as a minimum, otherwise you will just be messing up the market for others.
I wouldn't look at a job in Sing on less than 1500 Pounds a day, a modest expat life style is not possible, what happens when your wife's friends are picking up 2,000 a day, schooling is expensive, my daughters school bill in Malysia was 22,000 pounds a year, and as I said elsewhere on here local schools are not an option if you want children who can think. Cars are the most expensive in the world prorate to income.

This.

[Progressive]

DNC said:

Regarding what’s an acceptable salary I am roughly 60k SGD annual total. With a girlfriend who earns similarly and no dependants.

This is of particular interest. Did you travel out together or did you meet in Singapore? We are an unmarried couple so as I understand it I would receive an Employment Pass through my employer and she would either 'be added to my visa' if possible or follow on a long term social visa (or words to that effect).

The intention is definitely for her to work too if possible. She works in marketing with the appropriate qualifications and experience. Tough to say whether see would be able to land something from a distance.


Thanks.

[Progressive]

Thanks for the information so far all. I find it interesting that the salary expectations are so varied. I certainly wouldn't like to take a pay cut but at the same time don't expect 200k GBP per year. We live a relatively modest lifestyle so would hope we continue to do so. Appreciate the reality (as stated) could be very different!

I have my eye on a few things so I will report back, hopefully with some good news at some point!

Thanks again.


DNC - PM sent, thank you!

[V41LEY]

Progressive said:

This is of particular interest. Did you travel out together or did you meet in Singapore? We are an unmarried couple so as I understand it I would receive an Employment Pass through my employer and she would either 'be added to my visa' if possible or follow on a long term social visa (or words to that effect).

The intention is definitely for her to work too if possible. She works in marketing with the appropriate qualifications and experience. Tough to say whether see would be able to land something from a distance.


Thanks.

She won't be added to your Visa - she will receive a Dependents Pass similar to your Employment Pass - essentially an ID Card. I have to admit I don't know the situation for unmarried couples but remember Singapore is not the most progressive in that respect. I would check this out. Lots of info on Singapore Expat website from memory. To guarantee a good income - it might mean her following on with a work permit in her own right. Out of interest what is her field (as under the current regime many roles have to be offered to locals first so unless she does something fairly specialized or is in a senior management position (no offence intended) it may not be as straightforward as you hope). Good luck though - great place to live for a few years.

[anonymous-user]

DNC is on his first posting by the look of it, we all had a lower salary first time, infact that's the first thing I say to any one thinking of going overseas, get your first job, don't worry about it to much, and then move on.
Interesting I am meeting with Mott tommorrow to get a price for a job with a geological survey, may be DNC, be interesting what the charge out rate is.
If you don't have kids then it is a little different, I wouldn't comprimise on schooling, as I'vessaid on here before you go overseas for a better living std, I wouldn't think about a local school, in fact that was one of my drivers, all my kids went to great schools and good universities.
So if you can manage on 60k fine but do it now and then in a few years move up.
Never budget on your wife working, it is never easy to do, if it works out treat it as a bonus.

[Progressive]

Wise words there, thanks. Whilst I didn't get 'stung' on my first overseas assignment, I got pretty much the local average no-frills package. That said, I wouldn't change what I have done and the opportunity to break out of UK at a relatively young age with a decent job to go to was a privilege in my situation.

Missus works in marketing and has alot of drive to continue doing so. As when we came here, all sums were done without her working. She landed a job two weeks after arrival and has been there since. I must admit, not sure how long she could cope without a daily routine of getting out to work. That would be difficult. I support the idea of her finding her own work and therefore EP/visa, but the chance of both landing something within a similar timeframe will be tough. Her picking up the job hunt upon arrival would be more realistic.

So I have a few irons in the fire anyway. Found the 'compare other applicants' feature of jobsteet interesting. 9/10 applicants have considerably low salary expectations than me. I wasn't too surprised at that.

The golden ticket is 'being asked to move' with an already well paying company I guess. Some of the people I work with who were asked to move got considerably better packages, understandably.

[XJSJohn]

Progressive said:

Missus works in marketing and has alot of drive to continue doing so. As when we came here, all sums were done without her working. She landed a job two weeks after arrival and has been there since. I must admit, not sure how long she could cope without a daily routine of getting out to work. That would be difficult. I support the idea of her finding her own work and therefore EP/visa, but the chance of both landing something within a similar timeframe will be tough. Her picking up the job hunt upon arrival would be more realistic.

That will be a difficult industry to break into as it is something that many local Singaporeans already do, and they already have their networks.

look on the job boards for style of roles available.

www.jobsdb.com.sg
www.jobstreet.com.sg
www.monster.com.sg

Also, get her going to things like the Hash House Harriers, networking with other well established expats may land her a job (may not be great paying, but keeps her career alive and provides some beer money) but will also take time.

[IanOE]

Progressive said:

This is of particular interest. Did you travel out together or did you meet in Singapore? We are an unmarried couple so as I understand it I would receive an Employment Pass through my employer and she would either 'be added to my visa' if possible or follow on a long term social visa (or words to that effect).

The intention is definitely for her to work too if possible. She works in marketing with the appropriate qualifications and experience. Tough to say whether see would be able to land something from a distance.


Thanks.

From my experience moving to Singapore a year ago the rules have changed so it is no longer possible to get a Dependents Pass if you're not married and you're British. (It's pretty boring stuff, but the Ministry of Manpower require an affidavit from the British High Commission saying that you're a common law couple, but as the UK doesn't legally recognise common law marriage it isn't possible for the High Commission to supply such a document.)

if your other half is a UK passport holder they would be entitled to a three month tourist visa per visit entering Singapore.

I can also confirm that it's possible to get an Employment Pass earning less than S$144k a year. Here is a guide to the passes/visas: http://beta.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits

This is quite a useful cost comparison website: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_citie...

If you have any more questions then feel free to PM me.

[Progressive]

IanOE said:

From my experience moving to Singapore a year ago the rules have changed so it is no longer possible to get a Dependents Pass if you're not married and you're British. (It's pretty boring stuff, but the Ministry of Manpower require an affidavit from the British High Commission saying that you're a common law couple, but as the UK doesn't legally recognise common law marriage it isn't possible for the High Commission to supply such a document.)

if your other half is a UK passport holder they would be entitled to a three month tourist visa per visit entering Singapore.

Many thanks for this information Ian. In summary then, it looks like she would have to find her own way to a 'non-tourist visa' by way of finding employment. We will do some research and see if she gets much response. That said, a three month tourist visa wouldn't be so bad as at least she would be there to attend interviews and the like.

Thanks again all.

[V41LEY]

Progressive said:

Many thanks for this information Ian. In summary then, it looks like she would have to find her own way to a 'non-tourist visa' by way of finding employment. We will do some research and see if she gets much response. That said, a three month tourist visa wouldn't be so bad as at least she would be there to attend interviews and the like.

Thanks again all.

And don't forget she would only need to leave Singapore for a day before her 3 months is up to have it renewed again. Just pop over the Causeway for a day .