a different picture

[madcap]

Folks,

I know there is a lot of negativity surrounding the job market and FTs here in this forum and most of it might be true. But my experience has been quite different and i am posting this so that some of the aspirants don't lose hope.
I applied for a PEP around first week of june and got an approval in less than 3 weeks. I moved to singapore one week back and already have one job offer. Things are after all not that bad. And I belong to the much hated and pigeon holed Indian nationality. I suggest job seekers who have confidence in their skills to apply. One should make some headway sooner rather than later.

[sundaymorningstaple]

It's what you haven't told us that is important.

[madcap]

SMS,

I don't understand ... I'm not hiding anything. My qualifications are on bare display if anybody looks through the couple of threads i contributed earlier. Anyways I must thank you in particular as you are one of the few along with revhappy, strong eagle and billyb(and few others) who make meaningful replies even though they might paint a grim picture. Some of them just take cheap (racial?) shots even when they have nothing to add.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I told you early on, you had credentials that should, in normal instances, be a shoe-in. With US work history, good US MBA, previous salary already more than the old and the new PEP minimums, it shouldn't be a problem, with only your ethnicity the possible spanner in the works. As you have sort of a niche specialty set, the government probably said why not.

The have tightened up considerably. We've never said they shut it off. But, you can read the threads here as easy as the rest of us. The number of bounces heavily outweigh the approvals. So, should we tell everybody here that sure, you'll probably get your PEP, etc. etc. Or should we continue to be blunt and truthful. From my POV, the blunt truth, is better than building them up for a letdown. My way makes one feel special if they manage to beat the odds. You see, there is a method to my madness!

[nakatago]

Thing is, when people see the exception to the rule, they expect to be part of that exception as well. People have delusions that they're better than most, which most of the time, they're not. Confidence alone does not make one stand out in a good way; in a bad way, most probably though.

[madcap]

Nakatago & SMS,

I will be the first one in thanking you guys for painting a realistic picture .... but i felt another point of view needs to be out here in this forum.

Sometimes all this negativity can dampen the best spirits like it did to me. I really had no hope of a PEP let alone a job in just 1 week and hence the post. The intention was never to encourage people make wrong decisions.

One more thing that put me off here was the mean and downright rude replies by some of the members(Jaycee was it?). I'm not sure if it was my race that prompted such responses. But again I may have to grow a thick skin(having moved to asia) after having spent close to a decade in the US were racial slurs are a big No-No.

All that aside thank you everyone who had the patience to take some time and give your insights. Mucho gracias!

[nakatago]

Nakatago & SMS,

I will be the first one in thanking you guys for painting a realistic picture .... but i felt another point of view needs to be out here in this forum.

Sometimes all this negativity can dampen the best spirits like it did to me. I really had no hope of a PEP let alone a job in just 1 week and hence the post. The intention was never to encourage people make wrong decisions.

One more thing that put me off here was the mean and downright rude replies by some of the members(Jaycee was it?). I'm not sure if it was my race that prompted such responses. But again I may have to grow a thick skin(having moved to asia) after having spent close to a decade in the US were racial slurs are a big No-No.

All that aside thank you everyone who had the patience to take some time and give your insights. Mucho gracias!

To be frank, you guys have a bad rep of being proud and overconfident.

[madcap]

well ... doesn't this fit into stereotyping?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yeah, it is. But after 7 years on the board, if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably NOT the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Anyway, If the largest debtor nation on the earth can use racial profiling, why can't we? We wanna make our US friends feel at home.

[sundaymorningstaple]

If Kiasuism is anything to go by, stereotyping is very much alive and well here and not by us expats, but the locals are even worse.

[nakatago]

well ... doesn't this fit into stereotyping?

Those that don't fit the stereotype don't flood the forums with non-impressive life stories and CVs. And like always, if it happens often enough, you start to see patterns forming. There are always exceptions, of course but often, it gets really bad that you'll just have to call out a group for their collective undesirable behavior. We'll have to apologize to the good ones but let's just face it: there are a lot out there giving the rest of you a bad name.

[madcap]

I had to google to find out what kiasuism meant. I think this phenomenon will exist in any country where the resources are scarce. More so in India where the government does nothing for its citizens.