I need some advice...

[shen]

Hi there,
i'm knew to this site but I have noticed that there has been plenty of helpful and kind advice given, hopefully I will be able to receive the same..

I am engaged to a Singapore national who is a pilot for singapore airlines, I will be moving to Singapore soon to be with him, the thing is I wanted to look for a job in child care or children with disabilities over there.

I do not have any qulifications in this field, although I have a degree in International Business. Should I do a course here in Australia, will it be recognised there, or should I do it there?

I know that you may say to go into soemthing that I did my degree in, but my heart is not in it, I want to do something that I WANT to do.

Any advice would be very appreciated.
Thankyou very much

[touchbyangel512]

HI there,

Don't be dishearten, if you want to do child-care well there many opening:>

most of the local childcare centre require you to be able to speak chinese & english. that the basic requirement.

Next you need to have basic Dip in Early childhood either in chinese or english you can try KLC - or try Ngee Ann poly.

if you don't mind you can tried as assist teacher in child care centre, thou i need to warn you it will be hard jobs.

cheers

[ksl]

HI there,

Don't be dishearten, if you want to do child-care well there many opening:>

most of the local childcare centre require you to be able to speak chinese & english. that the basic requirement.

Next you need to have basic Dip in Early childhood either in chinese or english you can try KLC - or try Ngee Ann poly.

if you don't mind you can tried as assist teacher in child care centre, thou i need to warn you it will be hard jobs.

cheers

The last i heard, child care centres would take on native English speakers if they are able to teach...my own daughter was having English tuition in Child care, although the teacher was an Indian speaker who was just as good, but she couldn't speak Chinese, so yes i would say you have possibilities, for child care, but why narrow the field.

Take the TEOFL exam, and you can teach where you want. pay in childcare is very poor by the way, but the work can be very rewarding, you could freelance however at many of the other private English schools too I guess.

[shen]

Thanks for the advice,

I don't speak Chinese so thats a problem! And I didn't realise that childcare was low paid in Singapore, but can I ask what you mean by low paid? How much is classed as low?

Also what kinds of job would you recommend for someone like me that doesn't want to be a housewive in a foreign country???

Could I also ask something totally irrelavent, on average how much is postage from Singapore to Australia and within Sg? Does anybody deal with ebay from SG ?

Thankyou

[sundaymorningstaple]

Thanks for the advice,

I don't speak Chinese so thats a problem! And I didn't realise that childcare was low paid in Singapore, but can I ask what you mean by low paid? How much is classed as low?

S$1500/month

Also what kinds of job would you recommend for someone like me that doesn't want to be a housewive in a foreign country???

The same old conundrum. As a trailing spouse it is often difficult. However, being on a dependents pass all you need is for a potential employer to apply for a "Letter of Consent" and there are no levies. However, most employers do not understand the LoC so you will have to familiarize yourself with it and may have to sell it the the employer.

Could I also ask something totally irrelavent, on average how much is postage from Singapore to Australia and within Sg? Does anybody deal with ebay from SG ?

Obviously this depends on what you are mailing/shipping. This is what I use with eBay Singapore as a seller here. I also use FedEx & DHL (google will give those to you as well). http://www.singpost.com.sg/singpost_01consumer.htm

Thankyou

[ksl]

Thanks for the advice,

I don't speak Chinese so thats a problem! And I didn't realise that childcare was low paid in Singapore, but can I ask what you mean by low paid? How much is classed as low?

Also what kinds of job would you recommend for someone like me that doesn't want to be a housewive in a foreign country???

Could I also ask something totally irrelavent, on average how much is postage from Singapore to Australia and within Sg? Does anybody deal with ebay from SG ?

Thankyou

Also what kinds of job would you recommend for someone like me that doesn't want to be a housewive in a foreign country???

I'm still thinking about this one

[Miss Swan]

I do not have any qulifications in this field, although I have a degree in International Business. Should I do a course here in Australia, will it be recognised there, or should I do it there?

Do take up a local Certification - it'll help you understand and manage the local children better (methinks)

Could I also ask something totally irrelavent, on average how much is postage from Singapore to Australia and within Sg? Does anybody deal with ebay from SG ?

What kind of mail are you dealing with? Letters? Packages? I sent a 200g package to my relative in OZ, cost me SGD8-ish, via SingPost. Another 100g package cost SGD5. SingPost is generally quite reliable. What items are you looking to buy/sell? Let us know and we can direct you to better sources, if available. eBay SG (from how I feel) hasn't gained as much popularity or traffic as OZ or US.

[k1w1]

Working with children with disabilities is difficult here. There is very little awareness within the local community (or rather, very little support or resources and most children are not taken care of by specially trained staff). Sadly, I have often had conversations here where the assumption is that as a special needs teacher, I must have some kind of learning problem myself. It's absurd, but true.

As for working in childcare, I can't see anyone hiring a foreigner for this. You would need a PR status at least, and then can look forward to terrible hours and worse money.

If you are able to study, I would look into doing something while you're here perhaps via Monash or any of the other universities that operate offshore or will ship to you here.