Filipino Web Developer chances of landing a job?

[codewar007]

I have a bachelor's degree in IT but don't have any professional experience at the moment because I've been freelancing since I graduated. I've been considering moving to Singapore because the pay in my country is low.

I have knowledge in 2 PHP frameworks (Kohana 3.3.6 and Codeigniter 3.1.5), I can design databases up to the 3rd normal form, my UI designs are not that great but I'm working on it with twitter bootstrap and planning on going full custom css using less.js in the coming year.

I'm planning to move there by mid 2018 or early 2019, I'll try to get at least 6 months professional experience here first. What are my chances of getting hired in an entry level position/junior web developer? If my estimation is correct, my monthly expenses would be around SGD 2k so I'm looking for a SGD 3k+/month salary.

Thank you very much.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sadly, slim to no chance. Plenty of newbies locally, MOM would not approve a newbie foreigner as they are not bringing in needed expertise than cannot be found locally. But don't let that stop you from trying. But you need a realistic outlook and a Plan B. If you have a job, don't give it up just yet.

[codewar007]

Malaysia is my plan B in case Singapore won't work out. My plan C would be working here for 1-2 years before going out. Plan D would be to continue being a freelancer and get certificates and a master's degree along the way but I doubt that any employer would count freelancing as professional experience.

[ecureilx]

Malaysia is my plan B in case Singapore won't work out. My plan C would be working here for 1-2 years before going out. Plan D would be to continue being a freelancer and get certificates and a master's degree along the way but I doubt that any employer would count freelancing as professional experience.

You can't land in the dozens of BPOs back home?

Where in Philippines are you from?

3k is a good number to target but if you network with your fellow kababayans you may find out you can live for much less than that

[codewar007]

You can't land in the dozens of BPOs back home?

Where in Philippines are you from?

3k is a good number to target but if you network with your fellow kababayans you may find out you can live for much less than that

I live in Benguet, near Baguio City to be exact. The pay here is really low for programmers and your monthly expenses will take most of it if you want to live with some privacy and comfort.

BPO does not really interest me. I'm more interested in playing around with computers, developing software with hardware integration like biometrics and such and pc building.

Based on my research, I can live with 1.5k-1.8k alone and I'm fine with that. SGD 3k+/month seems to be a livable salary. The biggest problem would be meeting the "acceptable qualifications" by MoM, I don't know what the specifics are for these "qualifications".

[bro75]

It is very difficult but not impossible to land a job and to get an employment pass approved with no employment history. You can try to network and get the first foot in through referrals.

[ecureilx]

I live in Benguet, near Baguio City to be exact. The pay here is really low for programmers and your monthly expenses will take most of it if you want to live with some privacy and comfort.

BPO does not really interest me. I'm more interested in playing around with computers, developing software with hardware integration like biometrics and such and pc building.

Based on my research, I can live with 1.5k-1.8k alone and I'm fine with that. SGD 3k+/month seems to be a livable salary. The biggest problem would be meeting the "acceptable qualifications" by MoM, I don't know what the specifics are for these "qualifications".

You can go to MOM site and use the assessment tool there.

Too bad, playing doesn't get you far unless you are in the west.

Go, get a proper job, clock up proper work experience, and look for jobs abroad. Life is like that

Or forget it

You may be lucky to find an angel like a former boss, who recruited inexperienced people a lot, but he's a rare species.

Baguio? Haha

[x9200]

You can't land in the dozens of BPOs back home?

Where in Philippines are you from?

3k is a good number to target but if you network with your fellow kababayans you may find out you can live for much less than that

I live in Benguet, near Baguio City to be exact. The pay here is really low for programmers and your monthly expenses will take most of it if you want to live with some privacy and comfort.

BPO does not really interest me. I'm more interested in playing around with computers, developing software with hardware integration like biometrics and such and pc building.

Based on my research, I can live with 1.5k-1.8k alone and I'm fine with that. SGD 3k+/month seems to be a livable salary. The biggest problem would be meeting the "acceptable qualifications" by MoM, I don't know what the specifics are for these "qualifications".

For your case, mostly experience and it has to be rather significant to be considered desired in the local labor market. What SMS wrote above in this thread - you should stand visible from the crowd of locals. There is plenty of them capable of doing similar jobs. With the same experience (other qualification) they will always have priority.

[ecureilx]

For your case, mostly experience and it has to be rather significant to be considered desired in the local labor market. What SMS wrote above in this thread - you should stand visible from the crowd of locals. There is plenty of them capable of doing similar jobs. With the same experience (other qualification) they will always have priority.

Friend here is freelancing, something that will be hard to prove as experience, unless ... He finds an employer willing to pay a higher pay to try to skirt the rules.

[x9200]

For your case, mostly experience and it has to be rather significant to be considered desired in the local labor market. What SMS wrote above in this thread - you should stand visible from the crowd of locals. There is plenty of them capable of doing similar jobs. With the same experience (other qualification) they will always have priority.

Friend here is freelancing, something that will be hard to prove as experience, unless ... He finds an employer willing to pay a higher pay to try to skirt the rules.

...or find a more regular job that creates an employment record or get engaged in that sort of freelancing where he can create some documented portfolio.

[ecureilx]

...or find a more regular job that creates an employment record or get engaged in that sort of freelancing where he can create some documented portfolio.

Which is what I initially recommended, but he likes to 'play around' - in other words

codewar007 : life sucks. Unless you are born rich or have lucky stars shining on you, you wont go far unless you have a proper documented employment record.

You can, to test your luck, Google for Startups. Startups generally are more open to trying out fresh talents.

[codewar007]

Which is what I initially recommended, but he likes to 'play around' - in other words

codewar007 : life sucks. Unless you are born rich or have lucky stars shining on you, you wont go far unless you have a proper documented employment record.

You can, to test your luck, Google for Startups. Startups generally are more open to trying out fresh talents.

There seems to be a misunderstanding. Playing around is just my alternative for "engineering". If you're a programming enthusiast then you'll get my point, if not, let's just leave it at that.

Startups would be a good idea. I'll look around or try to find a company which I can work with remotely. Either way, it's better to have some experience before going out and I'll do just that.

Life doesn't really suck, we can make it interesting in our own way.

[ecureilx]

There seems to be a misunderstanding. Playing around is just my alternative for "engineering". If you're a programming enthusiast then you'll get my point, if not, let's just leave it at that.

Hold your horses

What exactly you think I did for a living?

Go back to basics, work for a company, before venturing out.

Good luck.

PS, check your in box

[codewar007]

Hold your horses

What exactly you think I did for a living?

Go back to basics, work for a company, before venturing out.

Good luck.

PS, check your in box

I don't know what you do for a living hence the "if". I don't want to argue, I simply need information.

-name removed- looks nice but I'll have to re-evaluate my plans before sending my application to everyone.

I already got what I needed, let's just see what happens next. Thanks.

[brian_singapore]

The 'hot-ticket' right now in this space is user-centered design and service design ... if you can get some background or experience in this area, then it would give you a significant bump in chance of landing something. Slightly less hot is CX/UX, which is now being eclipsed by the above 2 items.