Social Visit Pass

[janz006]

Hi guys, Im here in Singapore on a social visit pass. what are my chances of getting hired as IT Helpdesk / Desktop Technical Support ? I've 6+ years experience in this field. anybody have an idea how much is the salary range? thanks for your help.[/b]

[Shadou]

Hi. I was in your shoes two years ago when I first arrived here. I took the chance, because of love, to come here without lining up a job first with high hopes that my IT skills would land me a job immediately. Well, was I ever in for a shock! I spent my first seven months searching high and low, contacting numerous companies and getting the impression that just maybe my skills weren't good enough. I have 12 years of experience in IT helpdesk, network administration and project management work and my first job I managed to start off at $5K/month. Not bad but not great either for IT helpdesk. I know that Barclays Capital is always in dire need of helpdesk support as they have a huge IT department. You might want to give them a try. I'm not sure if the IT industry is as bad as it once was here, since I have changed career fields. But be prepared to spend a few months on the ground looking. In order for a company to hire you, they will look at your CV and determine what sets you apart from the locals. 6 years of experience in helpdesk is really not alot and they will justify hiring a local over an expat because of the pay. They normally will pay expats more than the locals. In my first job, I was the only expat in my team and I was the only one that was making more than everyone else, even though we all did the same job.

While it's not impossible to find a job here in IT, it can be a bit difficult. Try contacting the various recruitment firms and the large expat companies as you have a better chance. Good luck to you.

[antonypranata]

I might have a similar situation with you in the next few months because I am planning to move to Singapore (also because of love).

@Shadou, could you share us a little bit how can you survive in 7 months without a job? Which visa did you use to stay for 7 months? How can you rent an apartment (my understanding, only EP and PR can rent apartment)? Which employment agencies do you recommend?

Another thing, most of job ad I've seen at JobsDB and JobStreet requires Singaporean/PR only. How to deal with this?

Antony

[janz006]

thanks for that enlightenment Shadou! I'm on a 30day social visit pass right now , i just hope as you've said IT industry wont be as bad as it was. Otherwise i have no choice but to go back to Saudi Arabia where there is no Freeeedoooommm.

ciao


god bless

jan

[Shadou]

I might have a similar situation with you in the next few months because I am planning to move to Singapore (also because of love).

@Shadou, could you share us a little bit how can you survive in 7 months without a job? Which visa did you use to stay for 7 months? How can you rent an apartment (my understanding, only EP and PR can rent apartment)? Which employment agencies do you recommend?

Another thing, most of job ad I've seen at JobsDB and JobStreet requires Singaporean/PR only. How to deal with this?

Antony

Well, I tell you. It was very hard to survive without a job for 7 months but I was lucky enough to be able to stay with my girlfriend in her flat. Wasn't so bad as I also shared it with two other women but after a few months went by, tempers started to flare. Lucky that I found a job when I did. The visa that I was on was a 90 day visa which all Americans get when they enter the country. So, when it came time to leave, I just flew out of here and went on a weeks long holiday, came back and got another 90 days. It wasn't until my first job that I got my own place and by then I was on an EP so wasn't an issue at that point. As far as recruitment firms, not that many good ones around here. You could try Robert Walters, Michael Paige, Mancano and Associates, Hudson Global Resources as these are the big firms. Good luck to you!