Difficulty with recruitment agencies

[Strong Eagle]

Bitter opinions? I've seen sound advice. Fact is, an expat hooking up with a local company is quite rare, and often unsatisfactory. You may do much better with an MNC... and since you are not transferred from elsewhere, will still be on a local package.

Good luck in your hunt.

[steeveendee]

Bitter opinions?

Apologies, that blanket statement was unfair to many of the early responses. There's definitely some good advice in this thread.

Thanks all.

[AniCheers]

Hello All,
I really thank you all for this forum. This gives us lot of valuable information.

I have relocated to Singapore Oct 2011 on a permanent basis since my husband accepted a tenured position in one of the reputed local university. However, now I am having a frustrating experience in job hunting for myself, even after having 17 years of experience in the field and Masters degree from good universities of USA.

I totally agree with the earlier comments in this topic. The recruiters/headhunters do not even respond to emails or phone calls or voice messages. All I hear from them is just to register in their company websites and someone will get back to me, which never happens.

I am in the job market from March and I did not have any response so far. I have registered in 100's of job sites and company web sites directly, applied 100's of jobs online, but no luck yet.

Some people are saying that the openings are mostly for the locals now-a-days, not for foreigners. Some are saying you have to have connection inside the companies to get any call, which, being new in he country, I hardly have.
I do know that there is lot of competition from locals and people from other countries, specially in my field (IT development and Business analysis). But I thought that with my experience and knowledge I will at least have a few chances to sit in some interviews.. I guess I was terribly wrong !

What is the best way of job hunting in Singapore ? Is the market very bad now in Singapore or is this the norm ?
Any advice would be highly appreciated !

Regards.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sadly it is norm for the past. 15 months or so. Hopefully you are aware of the Letter of Consent. Many employers are not even aware of this option. When have another here, intellectualsmuse, who had similar problems until learning about this LoC and how it works. She was then able to educate employers and was successful. Subsequently when a better opportunity presented itself she was able to get her own EP. You can do a search using her nick to read of her trials

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sadly it is norm for the past. 15 months or so. Hopefully you are aware of the Letter of Consent. Many employers are not even aware of this option. When have another here, intellectualsmuse, who had similar problems until learning about this LoC and how it works. She was then able to educate employers and was successful. Subsequently when a better opportunity presented itself she was able to get her own EP. You can do a search using her nick to read of her trials

[AniCheers]

Thanks Sundaymorningstaple for the response. I will read intellectualsmuse's trials.

Yes I know about LOC and mentioned that clearly in my resume as well.

Also, is it required to put a photo in the resume in Singapore ? I never had to do that in USA, and did not know about it until someone mentioned it to me other day. 2ndly, I was also told that the age is a big factor here. Is it a valid statement ? even in senior roles ? If so, what is the cut-off age in general ?