IT jobs in Singapore for foreigner

[NiceGuy406]

How is the IT job market in Singapore,
I know it is not easy to get a job as a foreigner since i have not got any response against more than 100 jobs i applied through singapore job sites.

is plenty of IT jobs available in singapore like US?

[alittlerisky]

Are you applying directly to the company, or through a recruitment agent?

I work in IT/Project management/banking/market risk, I was was brought here from Europe flights paid for etc. Granted, I work in a pretty specialised area, but all the same, I would have thought that someone with good it skills and experience should find a job pretty easily. My IT skills are actually limited to advanced VBA and SQL, and the normal desktop apps, but then I was hired for business knowledge more than IT skills.

Maybe you could be a bit more specific. Are we talking C++ programmer/developer, sysadmin, dB admin, JAVA, .net, VBA, can use word, can swtich on a PC level here?

But I would go through a recruitment agent. If you can details your skills a bit more I can prolly put you in contact with a agents work in that field. Agents are easier, you don't pay them, at least you shouldn't, if they ask go somewhere else. The hiring company should pay all fees.

[rajagainstthemachine]

The only benefit you get from working in Singapore is Monetary, the R&D power houses and software companies in India do much better quality of work than in Singapore. [ There are exceptions however]

The career growth is better in India than Singapore.

[Sergei82]

Yes, here everything is uncertain. Job market only started having some pulse within last few days - recruiters are contacting me. I'm still thinking whether staying here worth the effort or no. Definitely, India is not an option in my case, so let's see...

[Wd40]

The only benefit you get from working in Singapore is Monetary, the R&D power houses and software companies in India do much better quality of work than in Singapore. [ There are exceptions however]

The career growth is better in India than Singapore.

Even that comes at a tradeoff. For eg, if you are a bachelor sharing a room or something or live in a cheapo HDB etc.

For a like to like living style as in India, you will actually struggle with the salary here.

In Singapore what is the median salary? 5k? An IT developer makes how much? 6k? So an IT developer in Singapore is just above average. Also considering foreigners need to rent and rent is huge here, you actually are close to low class just above poverty level for Singapore.

India what is the median income in a city like bangalore? About INR 25,000. Now how much an IT developer can make in Bangalore? easily 100,000++, infact a person getting 6k SGD here can get INR 150,000-180,000 in Bangalore. Thats lavish for Bangalore standards.

So the only reason to come to Singapore is to try and save as much as possible i.e. atleast 2000 SGD a month which is about INR 90,000. With a family here you will struggle and if you have school going kids then heaven forbid.

[alittlerisky]

Yes, here everything is uncertain. Job market only started having some pulse within last few days - recruiters are contacting me. I'm still thinking whether staying here worth the effort or no. Definitely, India is not an option in my case, so let's see...

Yeah, India is hard for non-Indians as far as I can make out. When I was looking for the next contract in November last year I applied for a role in Pune which I know I could do, I was turned down as they wanted people already on location, who could speak Hindi.

[NiceGuy406]

Thanks a lot for your reponses.

@ alittlerisky

I have 9 years of Experience in Java/J2ee. currently working in a service based company in india.

Here in india what i observed is the job market in IT is pretty bad for the last 3 years. The situation has changed a lot there all the IT service based companies are struggling to get new projects and as well the are trying so hard to keep the current project due to heavy competition between other service based companies.

So almost all the company including product based companies are looking out for fresh people rather than experience people.

So getting a job or moving to another company is difficulty.


I applied the jobs through job sites directly. i found so many job sites like sg.jobsfusion.com/myjobs/index.php , monster, indeed etc..

can you please help me out the correct path ...

[Sergei82]

Yes, here everything is uncertain. Job market only started having some pulse within last few days - recruiters are contacting me. I'm still thinking whether staying here worth the effort or no. Definitely, India is not an option in my case, so let's see...

Yeah, India is hard for non-Indians as far as I can make out. When I was looking for the next contract in November last year I applied for a role in Pune which I know I could do, I was turned down as they wanted people already on location, who could speak Hindi.

Huxley spammers are bombarding me with tens of e-mails with Indian positions every day. Simple polite request "please stop" does not work. Blocking e-mail addresses is also troublesome since there are so many of them - they engage a team in India just for that. Do not get into their database! :O

[Wd40]

Thanks a lot for your reponses.

@ alittlerisky

I have 9 years of Experience in Java/J2ee. currently working in a service based company in india.

Here in india what i observed is the job market in IT is pretty bad for the last 3 years. The situation has changed a lot there all the IT service based companies are struggling to get new projects and as well the are trying so hard to keep the current project due to heavy competition between other service based companies.

So almost all the company including product based companies are looking out for fresh people rather than experience people.


So getting a job or moving to another company is difficulty.


I applied the jobs through job sites directly. i found so many job sites like sg.jobsfusion.com/myjobs/index.php , monster, indeed etc..

can you please help me out the correct path ...

If you cannot get a decent job in India, then you are pretty average. Forget about Singapore. In fact forget about any country outside India.

I am getting calls from CLSA Pune, Morgan Stanley Mumbai and ANZ Bangalore all offering above 20L.

I am just waiting for a nice severance package here before moving.

[alittlerisky]

Huxley spammers are bombarding me with tens of e-mails with Indian positions every day. Simple polite request "please stop" does not work. Blocking e-mail addresses is also troublesome since there are so many of them - they engage a team in India just for that. Do not get into their database! :O

Huxley are driving me nuts too. They seem to base their spam on like one or two search terms in your CV. I keep getting jobs for Business Objects analsyts/devs... I haven't used BO (heh..) in like 15 years... and I cant seem to get my CV off their site!

[Wd40]

You get the spam if you have resume in monster. I am also getting them. I noticed that somehow monster India and monster Singapore are interlinked. Even the companies based in Singapore, when they send me email it comes from monster.co.in.

Even though I haven't mentioned India as the preferred location, I still get them.

I guess it's ok if they are targeting Indians, but targeting westerners or other Asians is crazy. They should have some more intelligent filters.

[NiceGuy406]

If you cannot get a decent job in India, then you are pretty average. Forget about Singapore. In fact forget about any country outside India.

I am getting calls from CLSA Pune, Morgan Stanley Mumbai and ANZ Bangalore all offering above 20L.

I am just waiting for a nice severance package here before moving.

I am really surprised that you are getting calls from those majors.
Here I Have not getting any interview calls to get a job.
getting jobs is so simple in india about 4 year back i got 4 offers within 2 weeks of time.

then you are pretty average

we need to get call to attend interview , i wont accept that i am pretty average , here in all metros like you can see alteast 5 IT people out of 6 people you spot in public places.

not only me some of friends who are having more exp also facing the same problem.

all offering above 20L.

so many experience peopled are getting fired because of the their salary is about 15L.

[alittlerisky]

Thanks a lot for your reponses.

@ alittlerisky

I have 9 years of Experience in Java/J2ee. currently working in a service based company in india.

There's a thread somehwere on the forum that mentions that the outsourcing market in India is shrinking, its getting too expensive and companies are now outsourcing to places like Nicaragua.

But Java...not really my area of expertise there, I work in banking. There is a good IT job site called itjobboard.com but I think its pretty much limited to western Europe (Belgium, Holland, France and Germany basically, and you need to speak the local language for starters generally). But it may be worth browsing the site and searching for international recruiters who may have Java/J2ee clients outside Europe... you never know.

Another one to try is possibly www.efinancialcareers.com. There you can search by country and keyword. Although the site does have a financial focus, there are jobs posted for developers / sysadmins / dB admins etc too

good luck mate.

[Wd40]

If you cannot get a decent job in India, then you are pretty average. Forget about Singapore. In fact forget about any country outside India.

I am getting calls from CLSA Pune, Morgan Stanley Mumbai and ANZ Bangalore all offering above 20L.

I am just waiting for a nice severance package here before moving.

I am really surprised that you are getting calls from those majors.
Here I Have not getting any interview calls to get a job.
getting jobs is so simple in india about 4 year back i got 4 offers within 2 weeks of time.

then you are pretty average

we need to get call to attend interview , i wont accept that i am pretty average , here in all metros like you can see alteast 5 IT people out of 6 people you spot in public places.

not only me some of friends who are having more exp also facing the same problem.

all offering above 20L.

so many experience peopled are getting fired because of the their salary is about 15L.

May be it is to do with your domain. My friends who have gone to service industry like Wipro and HCL are also getting 18L plus. But hey are niche technologies like share point, biz talk, dwbi etc.

Java /J2ee are like core technologies like .net, c++ etc, you need to have some good domain knowledge like banking or else you need to move the ladder as a project manager or you need to razor sharp in those skills because every Tom, dick and Harry who comes out of college also knows .net or java.

[NiceGuy406]

every Tom, dick and Harry who comes out of college also knows .net or java.

100% correct, JAVA/J2EE is very common skill in india.
what about the chances over there?