Waiting for advice (software developer)

[SergeyF]

Hi from Russia

Very soon I'll go to Singapore to try to find a job and stay there
I'm a C++ software developer. I have sent my resume to various employers and recruitment agencies, but so far I did not get any feedback. Maybe I do something wrong. My work experience is more than 8 years and it seems to me that the CV is OK. Maybe someone could help me with an advice? Should I call by phone instead of sending emails? I will stay in Singapore for one month only, so in that period of time I should have as much interviews as possible… Any help will be much appreciated

[offshoreoildude]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

[nakatago]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

There is a lot of coding here as I'm doing some myself (embedded systems in C).

But it's numbing my mind and I don't think our friend Sergey would be willing to compete with the low wages.

[v4jr4]

What OSOD said is, sadly, true. I know that C++ can go anywhere, but what I see in LinkedIn, Monster, and Jobstreet, are mostly someone with Java, SAP, DB2, or Oracle skill set. Perhaps OP needs to specify something which is rare.

[SergeyF]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

There is a lot of coding here as I'm doing some myself (embedded systems in C).

But it's numbing my mind and I don't think our friend Sergey would be willing to compete with the low wages.

I don't expect high salary at the beginning. But it should be high enough to rent an apartment and live there with my wife. She wants to rest a couple of month and just walk around and do nothing Then after some time I will be able to find a job with better salary.

[SergeyF]

What OSOD said is, sadly, true. I know that C++ can go anywhere, but what I see in LinkedIn, Monster, and Jobstreet, are mostly someone with Java, SAP, DB2, or Oracle skill set. Perhaps OP needs to specify something which is rare.

Yeah, it is more cost efficient for a company to develop in Java or C# then in C++. The developing process is much slower in C++.

[v4jr4]

What OSOD said is, sadly, true. I know that C++ can go anywhere, but what I see in LinkedIn, Monster, and Jobstreet, are mostly someone with Java, SAP, DB2, or Oracle skill set. Perhaps OP needs to specify something which is rare.

Yeah, it is more cost efficient for a company to develop in Java or C# then in C++. The developing process is much slower in C++.

It's not like the C++ can't be used, but most people will use "quick shortcut" to develop something related with reporting tools or message transfer. There are many applications which are ready to be used. But as for the 3D development, if I'm not mistaken, C++ is still important.

[offshoreoildude]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

There is a lot of coding here as I'm doing some myself (embedded systems in C).

But it's numbing my mind and I don't think our friend Sergey would be willing to compete with the low wages.

I don't expect high salary at the beginning. But it should be high enough to rent an apartment and live there with my wife. She wants to rest a couple of month and just walk around and do nothing Then after some time I will be able to find a job with better salary.

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[offshoreoildude]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

There is a lot of coding here as I'm doing some myself (embedded systems in C).

But it's numbing my mind and I don't think our friend Sergey would be willing to compete with the low wages.

I don't expect high salary at the beginning. But it should be high enough to rent an apartment and live there with my wife. She wants to rest a couple of month and just walk around and do nothing Then after some time I will be able to find a job with better salary.

THAT, my friend, will be hard. MY wife walks around and does nothing but the only way we can afford it, it by me working my ass off as a general manager. I can't see it happening on a low end coders salary. Have a look at the local job boards etc. (ST seven oh one in numbers dot com)

[offshoreoildude]

I personally don't see a lot of demand for someone with your skills. There is not a lot of coding done here now. It's all over in India etc now. (I lead an IT development project in Singapore about 10 years ago).

There is a lot of coding here as I'm doing some myself (embedded systems in C).

But it's numbing my mind and I don't think our friend Sergey would be willing to compete with the low wages.

Embedded systems in C requires (typically) strong domain knowledge of the application you are coding into - or often a good background in EE, EEE or Control Systems engineering to deal with the hardware interface layer at least. I don't think our Russian buddy has that skillset - or at least he hasn't said so. The project I remember the best from my C days was a project that returned the company about $1000 per byte of final object code per sale - it was less than 512 bytes full loaded into the PROM. I don't do that stuff anymore - too old, too cranky, too blind and too impatient.

[SergeyF]

I think that it will be a very interesting experience to live and work abroad. Besides it will helps me to see different approaches in my profession which maybe I can’t see in Russia, and helps me to learn English better. Also it is interesting to see different culture inside. So I think about that as about experience, not as about making money. I know that in Moscow our income will be higher. But we always can come back to Russia and find a job here. I already bought tickets and get a vocation, so I will go anyway and I will not change my mind

Back to business
Could someone give me a clue what I should do before I go and when I’m in Singapore?
Should I call to recruitment agencies (and/or employers) by phone?
Which agencies and employers could you recommend?
Which inexpensive hotel could you recommend?

[Strong Eagle]

I think that it will be a very interesting experience to live and work abroad. Besides it will helps me to see different approaches in my profession which maybe I can’t see in Russia, and helps me to learn English better. Also it is interesting to see different culture inside. So I think about that as about experience, not as about making money. I know that in Moscow our income will be higher. But we always can come back to Russia and find a job here. I already bought tickets and get a vocation, so I will go anyway and I will not change my mind

Back to business
Could someone give me a clue what I should do before I go and when I’m in Singapore?
Should I call to recruitment agencies (and/or employers) by phone?
Which agencies and employers could you recommend?
Which inexpensive hotel could you recommend?

Mate, employment agencies here aren't worth a crap. Your best bet would be to search LinkedIn and/or JobsDB to see if there is even work for you.

[SergeyF]

Mate, employment agencies here aren't worth a crap. Your best bet would be to search LinkedIn and/or JobsDB to see if there is even work for you.

Hmmm... I see.

[Strong Eagle]

Mate, employment agencies here aren't worth a crap. Your best bet would be to search LinkedIn and/or JobsDB to see if there is even work for you.

Hmmm... I see.

But, you don't seem to have been reading any of the other posts. If you are a bog standard coder, you can be had for S$3K per month, maybe less. If you want to live 6 to a room, make rice your main staple, you can program here.

Otherwise, you really need to be able to identify your skill sets that set you apart from others.

Cheap hotel = S$80 per day.

[nakatago]

Mate, employment agencies here aren't worth a crap. Your best bet would be to search LinkedIn and/or JobsDB to see if there is even work for you.

Hmmm... I see.

But, you don't seem to have been reading any of the other posts. If you are a bog standard coder, you can be had for S$3K per month, maybe less. If you want to live 6 to a room, make rice your main staple, you can program here.

Otherwise, you really need to be able to identify your skill sets that set you apart from others.

Cheap hotel = S$80 per day.

Not to mention a lot of coding here isn't really creatively stimulating, depending on your luck (on the assignment). If it were, I'd spend less time on the forum and won't be a moderator.