Sick of seeing "Singaporeans and PRs need only apply"!

[vangel]

please dont blame locals and pRs. one day you may have a PR too. Trust me, it is not easy for us as well. My wife has a PR and has worked here for few years when she accompanied me. That was before sh*t hit the fan.

She has been applying for almost an year for jobs. She gets the calls and goes for interviews (one or two every month). She applies everyday to 4-5 poisitons that match skills, she will write the cover letter etc. call them to confirm they received the mail.... to no avail.

i might as well write it here whether or not I get flamed for it. We have lived here for years, we can't go back to our country too. Times are tough. You have to do what everyone else is doing. Hang in, keep trying.

[madura]

It's not necessarily to do with race though - I am mainly talking about Permanent Residency and wondered why that was so important...Not that you have to be born and bred in Singapore, but you have to be a PR. That was my initial query.

are there countries which don't have a PR and citizens hiring policy?

[madura]

Otherwise, you're looking to break into the same network as all other expats who want to be here... trailing or otherwise. You do have the advantage of being able to build networks... and for the trailing spouse, the volunteer network will be the best to start. AWA, AAS, FOM... to name but three gives one the opportunity to meet other people whose spouse are working and hiring.

google "the kind exchange". you might be able to find some volunteer work which matches your skill set.

[adione]

@All

my feeling/understanding is that the SG gov. is granting tax discounts or other facilities to firms that employe local people, PR or citizen
thus to help local people during this hard time...

me and my GF are not PR and we observed that till last Feb./Mar. 2009
there was lot of offers open to anyone, then the gov. brought in this "discounts"or whatever and almost any job ad. had the "SG/PR only" statement added.

It's all about money...
btw my GF got job anyway and also her work pass, now the contract is finished so she's back on hunting for a job ...and it doesn't seems to easy,
but I wouldn't say it's because she's foreigner...

[sundaymorningstaple]

@All

my feeling/understanding is that the SG gov. is granting tax discounts or other facilities to firms that employe local people, PR or citizen
thus to help local people during this hard time...

Not true. It's just now, they are actually making the foreigners toe the mark when it come to qualifications AND the employers really need to justify their reasons for wanting to hire a foreigner. This is no different than most countries. Before it was getting too easy and companies were taking advantage of the MOM and now it gonna stop.

[adione]

Not true. It's just now, they are actually making the foreigners toe the mark when it come to qualifications AND the employers really need to justify their reasons for wanting to hire a foreigner. This is no different than most countries. Before it was getting too easy and companies were taking advantage of the MOM and now it gonna stop.

Yep, that's understandable - I would expect that
[ even if I'm Italian ]

btw, as u pointed out in another thread, SG gov is helping local businesses
in a way that local people are preferred, and this is also something I would expect from the gov; and anyway I cannot get why companies should have
taken advantage of hiring foreigner just because "it was too easy" ??

[vangel]

the gov has said that things will improve now. They have been saying so for awhile. Simply by putting PR and SPR in the fore it seems the salaries offered is improving. Which means when we do join the workforce the pay will be much better than it was in 2008 (2009 was same as 2008 or lower).

Employers choose foreigners (most not all) because we can work for lower pay than locals and bring better qualifications and skills on the table.

The liability for hiring foreigners is less troublesome to maintain. No CPF/Medisave and Healthcare required, just basic workmen compensation will do.

Less likely for foreigners to quit because the EP is tied to employers. Though with so much qualifications it is understandable that they eventually find workaround

Go into business. its a swell time. look for local partners. If you need info on how to start and what you will need you can PM me. I have done it so I can share what the road is like.

[adione]

Employers choose foreigners (most not all) because we can work for lower pay than locals and bring better qualifications and skills on the table.

The liability for hiring foreigners is less troublesome to maintain. No CPF/Medisave and Healthcare required, just basic workmen compensation will do.

Less likely for foreigners to quit because the EP is tied to employers.

ohhh I see ur point now!
the thing is: I was thinking about foreigner with high qualifications and high
er position... btw the CPF/medisave still applies
well, that's pretty common - taking advantages I mean - business is business or as that lady said "we make money not art"
(it's a blog actually, u can google for it)

Though with so much qualifications it is understandable that they eventually find workaround

a workaround
that's so italian

Go into business. its a swell time. look for local partners. If you need info on how to start and what you will need you can PM me. I have done it so I can share what the road is like.

not keen in doing my own business, maybe my GF is more interested at that...
guess the biggest problem is finding the right idea, all the other things are a bit of bureaucracy, isn't it?

[vangel]

Employers choose foreigners (most not all) because we can work for lower pay than locals and bring better qualifications and skills on the table.

The liability for hiring foreigners is less troublesome to maintain. No CPF/Medisave and Healthcare required, just basic workmen compensation will do.

Less likely for foreigners to quit because the EP is tied to employers.

ohhh I see ur point now!
the thing is: I was thinking about foreigner with high qualifications and high
er position... btw the CPF/medisave still applies
well, that's pretty common - taking advantages I mean - business is business or as that lady said "we make money not art"
(it's a blog actually, u can google for it)

Though with so much qualifications it is understandable that they eventually find workaround

a workaround
that's so italian

Go into business. its a swell time. look for local partners. If you need info on how to start and what you will need you can PM me. I have done it so I can share what the road is like.

not keen in doing my own business, maybe my GF is more interested at that...
guess the biggest problem is finding the right idea, all the other things are a bit of bureaucracy, isn't it?

CPF/Medisave does not apply to anyone who is not a Citizen or PR. It is possible if employers agree or if you wish to open your own account (and we would choose SRS not CPF). So by your own very true words... it is business, why would employers pay CPF when not compulsory.

Qualifications higher or lesser has nothing to do with PR/DP/S-Pass etc etc (just clarifying if we are on the same page)

I dont quite understand your mention of bureaucracy part at all. Singapore has the least of it here.

Like someone put it earlier "Singapore owes us nothing". Other countries are far worse when it comes to foreigners (higher qualification or whatever). Singapore is still quite diplomatic.

No matter how higher position or high qualified you are , if you are on EP/DP etc etc you dont get CPF and Medisave. Any healthcare benefit is solely the generosity of the employer.If anything they love to higher non S'poreans or PRs.
I know since would do too. I have part time DP holders working for us. Some are just doing it to get by, some are happy with the flexibility and the extra income.

[Loops]

to Carolinemain - You could try the American Association - they have a job finding area on their website which is aimed at expats (you don't have to be from the USA, but you have to pay to join). Some still want PR but not all.

[intellectualsmuse]

intellectualmuse, by all means, try for jobs. You got good stuff to offer!

Another thing about jobs is, it might get a tad better after the Chinese New Year. This is due to the bonus payout before CNY for some companies, and some employees would resign shortly after that. And therefore, the vacancies to fill.

Thanks! Will be moving in early Feb, so should be a good time to look for jobs

[parramatta]

I know that Singapore does not owe us anything but does anybody else have issues with jobs asking you to be BILINGUAL?

Some jobs I can understand but others...

...lets just say you need to read between the lines.

Does anyone else have problems with this?

[irvine]

To piggyback on this thread..

I have a question to the experienced, especially SMS.

When recruiters ask for a resume in Word document specifically, 1) what do they want to do? They ask for Word file after I have sent a pdf Resume.

I am guessing they want to 'manipulate' it, else why Word? (Of course they can still copy paste with PDF data). 2) But what if I'm uncomfortable of them 'changing' my resume? 3) Why the need in Word? 4) Is it ethical to do that if that's what they're doing?

[irvine]

parramatta, unfortunately some employers like a bilingual candidate. If it's not related to the job, they may want this advantage for communication ease in the office as sometimes the locals would talk in Mandarin or any other language even though most if not all written stuff is in English.

How about illuminating your other strengths and talents?

[nakatago]

To piggyback on this thread..

I have a question to the experienced, especially SMS.

When recruiters ask for a resume in Word document specifically, 1) what do they want to do? They ask for Word file after I have sent a pdf Resume.

I am guessing they want to 'manipulate' it, else why Word? (Of course they can still copy paste with PDF data). 2) But what if I'm uncomfortable of them 'changing' my resume? 3) Why the need in Word? 4) Is it ethical to do that if that's what they're doing?

I've theorized that the reason for this is the same as why a lot of people still stick with MSOffice: convenience for them.