Singapore Expats

DP holder looking for a job in HR

Discuss about getting a well paid job or career advancement. Ask about salaries, expat packages, CPF & taxes for expatriate.
Post Reply
ruchiratripathi
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Singapore

DP holder looking for a job in HR

Post by ruchiratripathi » Mon, 05 Dec 2005 6:27 pm

Hi All,

I am a dependant pass holder and have been in Singapore for about 4 months now. I graduated this year from a good US University in the area of Human Resources. I have been applying and applying for jobs here but have not heard from anyone. I have mainly been using the internet to look for jobs. Do you guys have any ideas on what else I can do?

I thought getting a job here would not be that difficult given that Singapore has laws that encourage foreign workers but apparently it is not so.

Your suggestions will be very helpful.
Thanks.

dcken
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 3:21 pm
Contact:

re: DP holder looking for a job in HR

Post by dcken » Tue, 06 Dec 2005 3:52 pm

Hiya,
in a similar situation although HR not my field. When I came to Singapore in August I went off to American Association meeting for newbies. One lady there said she had been trying to work in HR as was getting nowhere. Response was well in Singapore local HR is not what we think HR is in the states or europe. As such they do not see the point in expertise from foreign universities / experience, lady was explicitly told only try MNCs directly.

I have started to follow directly and feel getting more traction, hobsons has a good link to all the foreign MNC's in singapore with names of HR Managers on some.

I called up one recruiter as heard nothing and I was mega qualified for job, she hadnt read my application two weeks later, and skimmed through it and said not good fit... and wont have budget for you... I tried to explain how i was a perfect fit and flexible on salary but got nowhere.

Hope things improve for you, Ken.

ruchiratripathi
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Singapore

Re: re: DP holder looking for a job in HR

Post by ruchiratripathi » Fri, 09 Dec 2005 10:17 am

Hey Ken,
Are you in contact with this HR lady? If yes and if its okay with her, I would like to connect with her and share notes. Mebbe she is trying something new that I am not.

In your note you mentioned hobsons. Is this Hudson by an chance?

Thanks for your tips.
Ruchira

dcken
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 3:21 pm
Contact:

Re: re: DP holder looking for a job in HR

Post by dcken » Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:30 am

Ruchira,
I would contact the American Association, they are very friendly, if you are not a member, its not alot to join 50sing, was back in august when i first joined. Prob best way to find out how this lady got on. Not sure if you are a member? If not it can be very helpful as they put together profiles and are approached by MNCs, check their website. The lady was more senior (10 years experience), so wont be competing in theory. Also hold networking nights, which i find useful more as an opp to vent and realise i am not the only one going nuts!

Not a typo... thought i was going mad too ... asia.hobsons dot com - had to check myself this is the site! They have HR managers numbers on many firms, call and see if hr dept is hiring... if not maybe intern? I say this only as i got a bit of grilling on "could i work with locals" in one interview which i didnt get, was very bizarre to be asked as usa has a lot of chinese people in my field.

One other suggestion i have as I am a management consultant by trade is try them, i have been looking and found several that specialize in hr strategies /outsourcing. As I am not experienced in hr i didnt apply. I found that several have offices in here, go for them worth a shot, i got list of all big global firms from vault dot com then slowly looked for singapore office and figured out if i could get in.

Appologies didnt reply sooner, usually visit the other expat site, maybe post a - "Is a Hr career viable in singapore for a dp fresh grad?" Explain your resume in 5lines and say silence thus far. I did this and have received two emails asking me if i am interested in a job, both credible. Dont be surprised if people say "ohhhh we have all been in this position" - to me that is bs and not helpful.

If you need any further help feel free to email me - dcken78 at yahoo. Good luck in your search, if i find anything in my daily trawling of google i will let you know!

Cheers, Ken.

gold coast
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:44 pm
Location: Bukit timah

DP holder looking for work in HR

Post by gold coast » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:51 pm

Hi Ruchira!
I am also a DP holder from AUSTRALIA and I have been looking for work in the same department as u and so far I have had 2 interviews but the pay for a month was 1/3 of what I used to make back home!I applied for nearly 60 positions but the minute they find out u are on a DP, they don't even bother looking at your resume!
I have been looking in the newspaper and on the net but somehow they would rather hire a local!
It is a very frustrating position because my husband will be working here for the next 5 years and if I don't find work I will go mad!
All I can say to u is keep trying and someone will eventually give u a chance but u have to be patient and keep looking!!!

User avatar
Vaucluse
Director
Director
Posts: 3292
Joined: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 2:47 pm

Re: DP holder looking for work in HR

Post by Vaucluse » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 2:38 pm

gold coast wrote:Hi Ruchira!
I am also a DP holder from AUSTRALIA and I have been looking for work in the same department as u and so far I have had 2 interviews but the pay for a month was 1/3 of what I used to make back home!I applied for nearly 60 positions but the minute they find out u are on a DP, they don't even bother looking at your resume!
I have been looking in the newspaper and on the net but somehow they would rather hire a local!
It is a very frustrating position because my husband will be working here for the next 5 years and if I don't find work I will go mad!
All I can say to u is keep trying and someone will eventually give u a chance but u have to be patient and keep looking!!!


Ok, Gold Coast - you are now in SINGAPORE, not AUSTRALIA - don't even try to think about equalling your income from before. seriously, in another thread you talk about poverty in Singapore and now you're shocked that you can't get the same job here as in Oz. You got to two inteviews and knocked back their offers because you thought the money wasn't good enough?
Ever heard of starting off as the CEO? Doesn't happen.

'Somehow they would rather hire a local' . . . :o now there's a surprise.

Fact is, recruiters get about 800 to 1000 applicants for each and every job they advertise. Righty or wrongly they cannot answer everyone and if you seem to suit a position prefectly, so will 500 others.

What are your language capabilities - - - might not be advertised, but if you only speak English and someone else speaks English and Mandarin ans another English, Mandarin and Tamil/Malay/French/German/Italian/whateverselse- - - who is better/more qualified?

In the end, don't give up - it could take a long time - but keep your chin up.
......................................................

'nuff said Image

User avatar
riversandlakes
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 890
Joined: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:31 am
Location: Simei
Contact:

Post by riversandlakes » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 11:12 pm

But SGD is comparable to AUD at 1:0.80? How is it that it's reasonable for her to accept a 67% pay cut? :o
Goatboy will always cherish his former goatgirl.
But the world is full of fluffier ones.

User avatar
Vaucluse
Director
Director
Posts: 3292
Joined: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 2:47 pm

Post by Vaucluse » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 2:13 pm

riversandlakes wrote:But SGD is comparable to AUD at 1:0.80? How is it that it's reasonable for her to accept a 67% pay cut? :o


It's a different country
......................................................

'nuff said Image

User avatar
Global Citizen
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 663
Joined: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:30 pm
Location: Still looking for Paradise

Re: DP holder looking for work in HR

Post by Global Citizen » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 7:31 pm

gold coast wrote: I have been looking in the newspaper and on the net but somehow they would rather hire a local!
And what have you been smoking? Welcome to the real world!
I'm sure Australia only hires foreigners when they could be hiring locals for the same job..... (yes that's sarcasm)
One man's meat is another's poison.

User avatar
riversandlakes
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 890
Joined: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:31 am
Location: Simei
Contact:

Post by riversandlakes » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:49 pm

GC, :D

I think this is an art when one moves from being a "local expat" to another place to become its "local"...just how much to ask for? Without having the luxury of a knowledgable local on the other side of that.

On magnitude, I would have taken a 39% paycut but in terms of conversion alone it was a 62% jump. It doesn't make sense to take either of these values on its own, so it's somewhere in the middle - that's where I'm smacked in now...
I googled tonnes to find some right answers for the True Conversion for paychecks between countries - but all I got was living costs, accomo, taxes, etc.

Perhaps a formula is too much to ask? :D
Goatboy will always cherish his former goatgirl.
But the world is full of fluffier ones.

User avatar
Vaucluse
Director
Director
Posts: 3292
Joined: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 2:47 pm

Re: DP holder looking for work in HR

Post by Vaucluse » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 11:15 pm

Global Citizen wrote:
gold coast wrote: I have been looking in the newspaper and on the net but somehow they would rather hire a local!
And what have you been smoking? Welcome to the real world!
I'm sure Australia only hires foreigners when they could be hiring locals for the same job..... (yes that's sarcasm)


Quite a good example as well. :)
......................................................

'nuff said Image

User avatar
Global Citizen
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 663
Joined: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:30 pm
Location: Still looking for Paradise

Post by Global Citizen » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 12:28 am

riversandlakes wrote:GC, :D

I think this is an art when one moves from being a "local expat" to another place to become its "local"...just how much to ask for? Without having the luxury of a knowledgable local on the other side of that.

On magnitude, I would have taken a 39% paycut but in terms of conversion alone it was a 62% jump. It doesn't make sense to take either of these values on its own, so it's somewhere in the middle - that's where I'm smacked in now...
I googled tonnes to find some right answers for the True Conversion for paychecks between countries - but all I got was living costs, accomo, taxes, etc.

Perhaps a formula is too much to ask? :D
I wish I had a right formula; I'd certainly give it to you but wages are quite low in Singapore because taxes are that way although Singapore is not really cheap to live in but it's all a matter of perspective. So doing a conversion may not necessairly work as most expats have other perks as well which can add up to a nice bit of change.
One man's meat is another's poison.

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40356
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Re: DP holder looking for work in HR

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 12:51 am

Gold Coast,

In Addition to what Vaucluse has already mentioned, Not only do asians work for less comparitively speaking. You also have to factor in things like the superannuation that you have to pay into in Aus, your Aus tax rates (EP/WP holders don't pay into CPF, and the tax rates are very cheap. That and the fact that most Singaporean don't live in single family dwellings, e.g., the kids often live at home with the parent until they marry (the average marriage age I think is now around 33-35 years old. You should have done your homework and checked out Sing Gov't websites like the Ministry of Manpower (www.mom.gov.sg) or other sites long before you moved to Singapore. Especially if you were already in HR, if you didn't have a clue what you should be earning here, I sure wouldn't have hired you for half the price. What could you possibly bring to the table?

Maybe you should think about doing volunteer work instead. There's lots of Expat Wives doing just that (following spouses as it were).

sms
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

User avatar
riversandlakes
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 890
Joined: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:31 am
Location: Simei
Contact:

Post by riversandlakes » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 2:44 am

Aah, but not for the "local expats" - as in expats with local pay hehe
Global Citizen wrote:as most expats have other perks as well which can add up to a nice bit of change.
Goatboy will always cherish his former goatgirl.
But the world is full of fluffier ones.

User avatar
Global Citizen
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 663
Joined: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:30 pm
Location: Still looking for Paradise

Post by Global Citizen » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 10:27 pm

riversandlakes wrote:Aah, but not for the "local expats" - as in expats with local pay hehe
Global Citizen wrote:as most expats have other perks as well which can add up to a nice bit of change.
I could be wrong but isn't this the trend in Singapore these days, to hire on local terms as much as possible. This can actually work to your advantage in that you would be more cost effective for the company to take on. Like everywhere else in the world and especially in N. America, the bottom line means everything and loyalty doesn't count for much.
One man's meat is another's poison.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Careers & Jobs in Singapore”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests