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Current Job outlook for IT Finance professionals
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Current Job outlook for IT Finance professionals
Hi Expats
Any ideas what the current job market/outlook is like for IT Finance professionals in Singapore with experience in front and risk mgmt software development and BA experience?
I am looking to relocate out there in Jan from London! Are the chances of getting interview very slim.
Any ideas what the current job market/outlook is like for IT Finance professionals in Singapore with experience in front and risk mgmt software development and BA experience?
I am looking to relocate out there in Jan from London! Are the chances of getting interview very slim.
- Strong Eagle
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Ironically a 'related' news article on the same page from 2nd october:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 20/1/.html
Spolier: "Singapore's job market looks set to stay strong in the final quarter of 2012, with two in three employers saying they'll be hiring, according to a survey by leading job portal, JobsCentral."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 20/1/.html
Spolier: "Singapore's job market looks set to stay strong in the final quarter of 2012, with two in three employers saying they'll be hiring, according to a survey by leading job portal, JobsCentral."

- sundaymorningstaple
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You did take the time to read with an open mind, correct? Nowhere did it mention the financial sector hiring. SME, Manfuacturing, other service industries. Everywhere BUT financials.Dooply wrote:Ironically a 'related' news article on the same page from 2nd october:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 20/1/.html
Spolier: "Singapore's job market looks set to stay strong in the final quarter of 2012, with two in three employers saying they'll be hiring, according to a survey by leading job portal, JobsCentral."

SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
I did read the two articles. I was just pointing out the fact that both articles seem to be contradictory in nature. One is suggesting that companies would be cutting back on hiring in Q4 w whereas the other one claims that at least 66% of the companies will be hiring. Thus my point: take these articles with a pinch of salt.sundaymorningstaple wrote:You did take the time to read with an open mind, correct? Nowhere did it mention the financial sector hiring. SME, Manfuacturing, other service industries. Everywhere BUT financials.Dooply wrote:Ironically a 'related' news article on the same page from 2nd october:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 20/1/.html
Spolier: "Singapore's job market looks set to stay strong in the final quarter of 2012, with two in three employers saying they'll be hiring, according to a survey by leading job portal, JobsCentral."
Cheers
- sundaymorningstaple
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Well, you can also take all of our anecdotal evidence here as contradictory as well. The articles are written by Jorno's, the posts here are written by the man on the ground...... 

SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
- publicduende
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I think an option would be to convince your current employer (an investment bank, I could assume) to relocate you to Singapore. I am currently contracting with Barclays Capital, which has a strong presence in SG, and thought it didn't cost anything to ask my manager to let me work in SG, where there is already a small team, on the same projects.
Despite some reluctance, he agreed. The conditions are obviously to become a permanent (on a VP role) and accept the standard package, which unfortunately isn't that impressive (140K SGD). I am trying to negotiate that up to 160K and will probably be happy, as I already love the team and the project I am working on.
I think it is true, mid to high profile jobs in finance IT are getting more scarce and, as I was told by a recruiter, banks will happily try to recruit within SG or the usual satellite markets (Malaysia, India and Pakistan, Burma and the Philippines) on a lower cost point before resorting to sending their specs over to London or Sidney.
I know Standard Chartered are still recruiting a couple of senior .NET people to work on their FX e-commerce platform, which is a notorious wreck that has scared away more than a good developer in the past. The last thing one would want is to struggle with relocation and settling in a place so far away, while having the added headache of a hellish workplace and a stalling project.
You say your chances are slim. What are your skills? What's your seniority level? Most importantly, what are your expectations? The happy days of equivalent salaries and fat expat packages are long gone. That should be well understood.
Despite some reluctance, he agreed. The conditions are obviously to become a permanent (on a VP role) and accept the standard package, which unfortunately isn't that impressive (140K SGD). I am trying to negotiate that up to 160K and will probably be happy, as I already love the team and the project I am working on.
I think it is true, mid to high profile jobs in finance IT are getting more scarce and, as I was told by a recruiter, banks will happily try to recruit within SG or the usual satellite markets (Malaysia, India and Pakistan, Burma and the Philippines) on a lower cost point before resorting to sending their specs over to London or Sidney.
I know Standard Chartered are still recruiting a couple of senior .NET people to work on their FX e-commerce platform, which is a notorious wreck that has scared away more than a good developer in the past. The last thing one would want is to struggle with relocation and settling in a place so far away, while having the added headache of a hellish workplace and a stalling project.
You say your chances are slim. What are your skills? What's your seniority level? Most importantly, what are your expectations? The happy days of equivalent salaries and fat expat packages are long gone. That should be well understood.
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9 years of .NET/SQL - no direct IB experience. Roles to date have been for s/w houses and a prop trading firm mixture of BA/development/team lead.
Expectation wise I'm just looking for a change of scenery..better weather..and somewhere we can use as a base to explore the far east more, I figured if I don't do the jump now...Ill regret it if I don't try.
Salary wise willing to take a drop on the basis playing less tax and living costs bar accommodation is less than London.
Expectation wise I'm just looking for a change of scenery..better weather..and somewhere we can use as a base to explore the far east more, I figured if I don't do the jump now...Ill regret it if I don't try.
Salary wise willing to take a drop on the basis playing less tax and living costs bar accommodation is less than London.
All good reasons, and ones shared by many of us.
Good luck getting it together, you've passed mental critical mass*, you won't regret it!
* I speak of, people who are told they are being trfd to SG and it's like 'Oh ok, what the hell' [me lol], and others who work and fight tooth and nail specifically to get there by any means...
Good luck getting it together, you've passed mental critical mass*, you won't regret it!
* I speak of, people who are told they are being trfd to SG and it's like 'Oh ok, what the hell' [me lol], and others who work and fight tooth and nail specifically to get there by any means...
VP`s at Barcap earn only 140K? as the old saying goes " Dont be fooled by the title - you`re really an AVP"publicduende wrote:Despite some reluctance, he agreed. The conditions are obviously to become a permanent (on a VP role) and accept the standard package, which unfortunately isn't that impressive (140K SGD). I am trying to negotiate that up to 160K and will probably be happy, as I already love the team and the project I am working on.

Everybody was KungFu Fighting.....
Yeah, I spoke to a recruitment consultant and the impression I got out of it is the Barclays titles are 1 level higher than the other banks(CS for eg) for the same role.aargon wrote:VP`s at Barcap earn only 140K? as the old saying goes " Dont be fooled by the title - you`re really an AVP"publicduende wrote:Despite some reluctance, he agreed. The conditions are obviously to become a permanent (on a VP role) and accept the standard package, which unfortunately isn't that impressive (140K SGD). I am trying to negotiate that up to 160K and will probably be happy, as I already love the team and the project I am working on.
At Barclays a senior developer earning 90k gets AVP title whereas in CS the same role and salary would get the title of ENO. Below those salaries Barclays calls as analyst and CS doesn't even keep permanent staff at analyst level, they are all vendor payrolls.
An AVP in CS gets 120k minimum and typically 140k in the higher bands and usually AVPs lead teams.
It is much more messed up in CS (at least, in our department, other businesses within CS may be completely (!) different): it is not unusual to see 3-4 AVPs in a team (majority of team members), almost everybody who is below AVP is on vendor payroll here (with rare exceptions). Thus, if there are 50 people on the project, 1 of them is VP, 25-30 - AVPs, others - senior developers, few - simply developers (fresh grads).Callput wrote:Yeah, I spoke to a recruitment consultant and the impression I got out of it is the Barclays titles are 1 level higher than the other banks(CS for eg) for the same role.aargon wrote:VP`s at Barcap earn only 140K? as the old saying goes " Dont be fooled by the title - you`re really an AVP"publicduende wrote:Despite some reluctance, he agreed. The conditions are obviously to become a permanent (on a VP role) and accept the standard package, which unfortunately isn't that impressive (140K SGD). I am trying to negotiate that up to 160K and will probably be happy, as I already love the team and the project I am working on.
At Barclays a senior developer earning 90k gets AVP title whereas in CS the same role and salary would get the title of ENO. Below those salaries Barclays calls as analyst and CS doesn't even keep permanent staff at analyst level, they are all vendor payrolls.
An AVP in CS gets 120k minimum and typically 140k in the higher bands and usually AVPs lead teams.
I see thats a bit scary. During costing cutting time, many AVPs will get fired in that case.Sergei82 wrote:It is much more messed up in CS (at least, in our department, other businesses within CS may be completely (!) different): it is not unusual to see 3-4 AVPs in a team (majority of team members), almost everybody who is below AVP is on vendor payroll here (with rare exceptions). Thus, if there are 50 people on the project, 1 of them is VP, 25-30 - AVPs, others - senior developers, few - simply developers (fresh grads).Callput wrote:Yeah, I spoke to a recruitment consultant and the impression I got out of it is the Barclays titles are 1 level higher than the other banks(CS for eg) for the same role.aargon wrote: VP`s at Barcap earn only 140K? as the old saying goes " Dont be fooled by the title - you`re really an AVP"
At Barclays a senior developer earning 90k gets AVP title whereas in CS the same role and salary would get the title of ENO. Below those salaries Barclays calls as analyst and CS doesn't even keep permanent staff at analyst level, they are all vendor payrolls.
An AVP in CS gets 120k minimum and typically 140k in the higher bands and usually AVPs lead teams.
Luckily our dept is more leanly staffed, in a dept of 25, 1 DIR, 4 AVPs, 4 ENOs and about 15 vendor payroll contractors(we call them external). So far all layoffs have affected the contractors.
I am ENO btw

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