Ground Positioning

[Teejay22]

Hello all,

I have finished my course for Tourism and have obtained my certificates what qualifies me for practically any tourism career i choose - providing the jobs are there

The economy has changed quite abit all over the world and would like to get a heads up on what opportunities there are for me at the Singapore Airport?

My question is that i want to work at the airport - checkin, arrivals/departures, customer service (the usual run of the mill). What availability is there in terms of getting into the workforce in this career? In Australia tourism is a hot career, but due to economic times there isn't much open space for the amount of people wanting to get into the job.

For being an Australian, would it be difficult to obtain a job in Singapore? Would i require more experience before applying, or do i have to be "promoted" in a sense and be sent there?

If no one knows, could you maybe pass me a few good websites that i could check out? Something like www.jobsearch.gov.au, maybe a special tourism site? I don't know.

Much appreciated!

Kind Regards,
Torsten

[Plavt]

Sorry to pour cold water on your aspirations/intentions but I think in all probability you are wasting your time trying to get work at Changi airport (I assume you are Australian?). Singaporean employers have to justify hiring a foreigner over a local and there will be no shortage of locals who can do the work you seek. On the other hand if you have a skill that they require that cannot be found in the local populace then you may have some chance but be mindful that more often than not they require experience. Most of the skilled positions I have seen advertised by SIA (and I certainly haven't seen them all) which allow foreigners to apply fall into that category.

[Teejay22]

Yeah thought so. I knew experience will always be a factor in terms for international work.

Thats no problem, i was hoping to work here in Australia (you were right :p) for a couple more years then and achieve more goals and experience.

In the meantime i actually was looking over the web and found that, individual airlines will employ rather than Changi Airport itself.

Only 21, and i got a long time to go in life. Will eventually make it there! lol.

[Plavt]

Glad to see you remain positive; here's a tip; learn a few foreign languages but don't stop at that, more importantly learn the cultures and compare them. I suspect you may well have covered some ground on this aspect of your chosen career already but take it from me even degree courses aside others are often oblivious to a good many things that turn out to be relevant to an occupation or intended occupation such as your own.

Best choice of languages for the present; Chinese and Japanese (Asian region). You might also consider the language and culture of The Philippines and or Korea. Korea is rarely visited by foreigners as is Japan yet some both the countries will serve turn views around (that applies to the The Philippines as well).

I wish you well Teejay since you have worked towards a goal and I am glad you are young enough. Take your time as making choices is no longer easy in a constantly changing world but all the same have fun.



Ps: As a start to visiting try the 'Lonely Planet' guidebooks they have a section on dangers and annoyances along with women travellers and medical emergencies.