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Young engineer looking for advises in order to find a job

Posted: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:15 pm
by globalguillaume
Hi !

This is my first post on this forum, hope it will be successfull.

I am a graduated (2007) embedded systems engineer actually working as a Technical Key Account Manager for an Automotive supplier in Germany for the last 18 months.

I am starting to be fed up with Germany (as my german girlfriend is too) and am looking forward relocating to Asia, and I believe Singapore would be a perfect place for me.
I spent the last year of my studies in China and travelled quite a lot through Asia, and I love it !

My problem is so :
I want out of the automotive market. Its doing very bad and I am not feeling concerned in building gadgets for heavy and polluting cars.
My dream is to work for green energies, public transportation, ship industries, in a start-up or in a major company.

I am now compiling a list of companies which could interest me but I am not really successful.

Other problem is that I dont really know how to define the jobs that I could apply to. My actual job seems to be quite specific to Germany (technical specialist skills, involving SW and electronic development, with key customer management in french, english and german).
Here is my linkedin profile :
http://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaumeperret

If you have any good advice for me, I would be very happy !

Posted: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:11 pm
by sundaymorningstaple
Honestly, if you have done any reading of this site you should already know that you will have an uphill battle. Most companies here want to hire those with relevant experience even in the best of times. During a recession, you are asking more or less for a miracle.

Posted: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:24 pm
by globalguillaume
I have read that forum and yes I saw a lot of negative opinions.

Dont worry for me, I found a job in the automotive industry when it was already doing bad.
Germany is forecasting a GDP growth of -6% in 2009, while SG is predicting a -2%.
Business might seem hard to you in SG in comparaison to 2007 (GDP +7,5%), but there are places way worse than that !
Believe me or not, I'm in the heart of the crisis right now.

BTW, 2 friends from my university found jobs in Singapore as fresh graduates in the last 3 months. It seems that a lot of miracles are happening in SG, that's great for me !

Thank you for the warning, but if I am fully aware of the risks of failure, I am convinced that it will work out.

Posted: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:57 pm
by durain
never heard singapore had any automotive industry! probably better off looking for a job in switzerland if you are into green machine. someone i know had one of this! www.mindset.ch

Posted: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:11 am
by globalguillaume
Thank you for the advice durain.
But I want out of the automotive :-)

That company looks quite cool, shame for me its in switzerland :-|

Posted: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 9:07 am
by sundaymorningstaple
That's why I made the comments that I made. Switching technologies and trying to find a job in Singapore without relevant background in specific industries will be difficult at best. -2% or -7% is immaterial when you don't have experience and unfortunately, this is Singapore, not Germany or Europe in general. Local employers have a different mindset then the rest of the world. But, keep your dreams alive. Always do like I tend to do. Play like Don Quixote and keep tilting at windmills. :wink:

Posted: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:45 pm
by globalguillaume
the -7% are very material to me right now... :???:

Found that on another topic, really good piece of advice :
Bottom line: You need more than just a technical background in this day and age. You need complementary business skills. You need to be mid level at least, and creative. You are not only competing against Singaporeans you are competing against well educated Asians from all over the place who really will work for next to nothing in order to get their foot in the door.

Identify the MNC's with major operations in Singapore and approach them locally in the US to get contact information... or go to work for them with the express intention and understanding that you want a transfer.

Virtually all the non-Asian expats I know ended up in Singapore by first working for a company elsewhere then getting transferred here.

SMS is right about the CV. Put a picture on it. Put in your age. Interests. What matters more though, is the cover letter. The CV says what you have done. The cover letter says what you will do. Recruiting firms here are truly a waste of time for standard positions. The job boards are about as useful as a bucket of warm spit for someone like you.

You really do have to customize you own search and MNC's are the place to start. Look at computer companies and telcoms. Check out bio and pharma. Extraction industries are down right now but are still doing better in Asia then elsewhere.