A emigrating Brit, in need of advice.

[ceej1979]

Hi,

I joined the forum for some advice, as I figure most of you have already done, what I’m hoping to do…….

I’ve just returned from a trip to Singapore, to visit a family member who is working out there. Anyway, I’m planning to move over myself, in early 2010, to work myself.

Why? A bit sick of England. And I’d like to try something new.

Firstly, I should say that in regards to the general re-location and moving to a new country, I won’t have any problems. I’ve probably clocked up 6 months in the country, through a number of trips, and am already pretty used to the climate, and general culture. I actually prefer it.

I also already have a pretty stressful, demanding job, and regularly work 50 hour weeks, so have no real fears of the dreaded Singapore “working hours”

[littlegreenman]

Hi there,

welcome to our forum. You shouldn't worry about being a bit behind in your career as local guys have to do two years national service, so many graduate at the time you graduate.

I personally see the problem in you getting a job/employment pass. There are plenty of locals to fill that kind of job you are looking for and at the wage you are aiming for so the government will most likely not give you an EP. Also you should say good bye to the idea of finding a job while you are still in the UK. That only works in cases where you are extremely skilled and a company is desperate to hire you.

The only possibility I see is if you work something out with your brother's in-laws if they can hire you in one of their businesses and you use this time to find a permanent job in media. Media however is tricky in general as most of the media is government controlled in Singapore and so any editorial jobs would go to party faithfuls only. The fact that you are not Singaporean doesn't help there. I know many people will cry foul here but that is just the impression I get. Those who know Singapore and how it works will agree. Unfortunately there aren't plenty of private publishing houses in Singapore, so that limits your potential employers as well.

I am just pointing out the difficulties I see coming your way, I do not want to discourage you. So the first thing to sort out for you would be a way to stay legally in Singapore and to buy time to find a job. Possible ways could be an EPEC, PEP or maybe LTSVP through your brother. Once you can stay in Singapore legally you can look for a job, which might take a while at the moment though. In the end your chances might be better as an English tutor but then again that makes it difficult for you to get an EP although the money would be good. These are my first thoughts. Shoot if you have any questions regarding what I wrote.

Good luck!

[ceej1979]

Hi there,

welcome to our forum. You shouldn't worry about being a bit behind in your career as local guys have to do two years national service, so many graduate at the time you graduate.

I personally see the problem in you getting a job/employment pass. There are plenty of locals to fill that kind of job you are looking for and at the wage you are aiming for so the government will most likely not give you an EP. Also you should say good bye to the idea of finding a job while you are still in the UK. That only works in cases where you are extremely skilled and a company is desperate to hire you.

The only possibility I see is if you work something out with your brother's in-laws if they can hire you in one of their businesses and you use this time to find a permanent job in media. Media however is tricky in general as most of the media is government controlled in Singapore and so any editorial jobs would go to party faithfuls only. The fact that you are not Singaporean doesn't help there. I know many people will cry foul here but that is just the impression I get. Those who know Singapore and how it works will agree. Unfortunately there aren't plenty of private publishing houses in Singapore, so that limits your potential employers as well.

I am just pointing out the difficulties I see coming your way, I do not want to discourage you. So the first thing to sort out for you would be a way to stay legally in Singapore and to buy time to find a job. Possible ways could be an EPEC, PEP or maybe LTSVP through your brother. Once you can stay in Singapore legally you can look for a job, which might take a while at the moment though. In the end your chances might be better as an English tutor but then again that makes it difficult for you to get an EP although the money would be good. These are my first thoughts. Shoot if you have any questions regarding what I wrote.

Good luck!

Hi,

thanks for the feedback. It was pretty useful. I guess I'm just sounding things off at the minute. A move isn't definite, but it's something I'm looking into.

The thing I've found confusing is the sheer number of publishing jobs I've seen while looking. Way more than you even see in London (with 4x the population) in a given month.

Which kind of led me to think that it was a pretty big market over there. A lot of them specify "good written English" also. That's almost a given for a publisher in the UK, and you'd never see something like that on an advert! So I kind of thought that being a pretty high level English writer, even by UK standards, I thought it may be seen as advantageous?

Am I right in thinking, most of the jobs online (even though they state they are open to ex-pats) they probably wouldn't consider me because of my location?

[littlegreenman]

Am I right in thinking, most of the jobs online (even though they state they are open to ex-pats) they probably wouldn't consider me because of my location?

That is Singapore for you mate. There is a chance these jobs you saw are not even existing but have only been posted by agencies to get your CV so they can put you in your database. But yes, living overseas on not having PR or EPEC or such is a problem.

[ceej1979]

Am I right in thinking, most of the jobs online (even though they state they are open to ex-pats) they probably wouldn't consider me because of my location?

That is Singapore for you mate. There is a chance these jobs you saw are not even existing but have only been posted by agencies to get your CV so they can put you in your database. But yes, living overseas on not having PR or EPEC or such is a problem.

Hi,

Thanks for the continued, useful input. Refreshing to see someone who wants to help, rather than just attempt to wind up!

Anyway, the plan probably.............

I have to go back to Singapore next year, anyway. I have a number of family things to attend, and will be there for at least a month.

As stated, I have decent accomodation, almost indefinitely, that won't be a problem, so can probably afford to just stay in the country for the entire duration of the 3 month tourist pass.

In the meantime, I'm badgering publishing/broadcasting companies (targeting multi nationals basically, with offices in Singapore) trying to get something out of them about getting a job. As well as e-mail agencies, and applying for jobs.

The aim being, to have some sort of a sniff of a job, by the time I go over. Worst case scenario - just a company telling me they'd consider me if I applied while I'm over. Best case scenario, maybe an interview or 2 to attend.

Any case, I'll probably spend the 3 months applying, and see where it gets me. Hopefully some sort of job, so I can stay longer.

If it doesn' t work out, I'll just come back, call it a long holiday, and get a job back with my current company - who's blessing I basically have to pursue this.

[Strong Eagle]

The thing I've found confusing is the sheer number of publishing jobs I've seen while looking. Way more than you even see in London (with 4x the population) in a given month.

I'd bet money that 98 percent of the jobs were posted by agencies... and they don't exist. There are also 1000's upon 1000's of IT jobs 'available' but pull the agency ads and the count plummets.

I put up an ad on JobsDB for a senior project manager. This generated 92 CV's the first day, and overall more than 200. Half are qualified... tells you something about the level of competition.

[ceej1979]

The thing I've found confusing is the sheer number of publishing jobs I've seen while looking. Way more than you even see in London (with 4x the population) in a given month.

I'd bet money that 98 percent of the jobs were posted by agencies... and they don't exist. There are also 1000's upon 1000's of IT jobs 'available' but pull the agency ads and the count plummets.

I put up an ad on JobsDB for a senior project manager. This generated 92 CV's the first day, and overall more than 200. Half are qualified... tells you something about the level of competition.

Yes, you are probably right. I did e-mail a few of the contacts, asking a few specific questions, and didn't even get a reply, so it's probably quite safe to say that quite a few are maybe phantom jobs.........

In regards to numbers, I was on the interview panel for a few jobs here, and we regularly got 150-160 applications for those jobs. It's actually pretty hard to get jobs in the UK, at the minute, so I'll know what to expect.

I think any success will be down to basically having a fair bit of luck, and being in the right place at the right time..........

[Allibert]

I don't want to dent your hopes and wish you the best of luck in your search but in your position, if I were stating that my written English is very good, I'd make sure I avoid the following mistakes:

A emigrating Brit - how about "an"
re-location - it's relocation
Reading Singaporean Newspapers - capital N?
high level - high-level?
sentences don't start with And or But,
my current company - who's blessing - it's whose

and there are several other mistakes

To be honest, your use of commas is pretty awful, too.

Anyway, good luck to you. I know a lot of people (myself included), like to come to Asia to avoid bad weather, long dark cold winters and to enjoy good food and experience a new environment. It is, all things considered, a very nice place to be.

Good luck with you job search but please do a grammar/spelling check before you send your applications out to prospective employers. Seriously, if I were an employer and you claimed your written English to be "high level", you wouldn't have got a reply from me either.

I don't want to sound like a pedantic ass but first impressions really do count.

Alan

[madura]

Media however is tricky in general as most of the media is government controlled in Singapore and so any editorial jobs would go to party faithfuls only. The fact that you are not Singaporean doesn't help there.

Is that true? Honest question. There seems to be quite a number of expat editors on ST?

[madura]

Secondly, I’m unsure about the salary for this sort of sector in Singapore. Not that I’m that money orientated (it’s hopeless pay in the UK – even the top publishing jobs). But, it’s become apparent that my ability to get an employment pass, is solely based on my ability to earn 2’500 sing dollars a month. I’d get one if I can, I would get an S pass if I can’t – probably….

Editors at the private publishing house with your experience level usually get <3000

[littlegreenman]

Media however is tricky in general as most of the media is government controlled in Singapore and so any editorial jobs would go to party faithfuls only. The fact that you are not Singaporean doesn't help there.

Is that true? Honest question. There seems to be quite a number of expat editors on ST?

Expat Editors, yes. The national newspaper is one of the flagship brands like SIA and they need it to be top notch, so of course they had to buy foreign talent to get it up to scratch as the national newspaper is still a relatively young paper. We are talking about editors though, not editorial assistants like the OP where they will be happy to take their own people because they can fill the talent pool locally.

I have a friend who graduated with 1st class honours in journalism in Australia. He said it is almost impossible to get into "those we don't speak of" (he is a citizen) and some of his 1st class honours foreign friends tried and failed... reason was that they only looked for high level expats with many years of experience...

Edit: replaced name of that national newspaper with "those we don't speak of" (in true "the village" style). I was actually fine with the edit done by the mod but he did one thing to sincerely p1ss me off: you do not put pink text in my posts mate! It might say violet but turns out pink which is seriously uncool!

[ceej1979]

I don't want to dent your hopes and wish you the best of luck in your search but in your position, if I were stating that my written English is very good, I'd make sure I avoid the following mistakes:

A emigrating Brit - how about "an"
re-location - it's relocation
Reading Singaporean Newspapers - capital N?
high level - high-level?
sentences don't start with And or But,
my current company - who's blessing - it's whose

and there are several other mistakes

To be honest, your use of commas is pretty awful, too.

Anyway, good luck to you. I know a lot of people (myself included), like to come to Asia to avoid bad weather, long dark cold winters and to enjoy good food and experience a new environment. It is, all things considered, a very nice place to be.

Good luck with you job search but please do a grammar/spelling check before you send your applications out to prospective employers. Seriously, if I were an employer and you claimed your written English to be "high level", you wouldn't have got a reply from me either.

I don't want to sound like a pedantic ass but first impressions really do count.

Alan

Hi Alan

1: Seriously, it's the height of ignorance to go through people's hastily written doodles, trying to pick them up on grammar. I assure you, my boss (one of the top publishers in the country) makes mistakes all the time. I'm not egotistical enough to send her pointers on this, as I realise that there is a huge difference between professional writing, and an e-mail.

2: If ego is going to override commen-sense, and you do feel you have to come on here, simply trying to humiliate someone, I suggest you at least make sure you know what you are talking about.

Not to go into too much detail, but it is perfectly acceptable to start any sentence with either "And" or "But. The point you're making is a grammar factoid. The type of factoid twittering, unqualified twerps use all the time, to make a 100 word statement, somehow last 500.

Again, I really don't care what you make of a hastily written note to be honest. And really don't see the point in wasting people's time on here, with such egotistical garbage.

[Answers?]

Again, I really don't care what you make of a hastily written note to be honest. And really don't see the point in wasting people's time on here, with such egotistical garbage.

Hoist by your own petard? So what is your point in wasting our time then, with your egotistical garbage?

Troll of the first order?

[Plavt]

it is perfectly acceptable to start any sentence with either "And" or "But. .

There you go again posting what can justly be described as bullshit! The words 'and' and 'but' are joining words and should not be used to start a sentence, at least I remember something from my school days.

[Plavt]

Troll of the first order?

Second, third and fourth to boot......