Relocating to Singapore - from Israel

[marc_h]

Hi guys, I'm relocating from Israel to Singapore for an IT position. How much money should I ask for? Hence I would like to keep the same quality of life that I have in Israel. I want to be able to live in my own studio apartment, have a gym membership, go out to the pub twice a week. What would be a good salary to ask for in order to live comfortably?

thank you

[sundaymorningstaple]

IT is a big field. Here it commands salaries from 2,000 SGD/mo to over 20K SGD/mo depending on your qualifications, experience and desire, so we would need a lot more info before we could give you a ballpark figure.

However, you will NOT be able to enjoy the same quality of life here as you do in Israel. While we are surrounded by Muslim countries (like Israel) we don't have incoming on a regular basis, so you will probably sleep a lot better. Also the locals don't walk around packing heat either.

[zzm9980]

Living in alone in a studio is not a common situation in Singapore. Studio rentals are rare, and when you do find them, they are quite expensive for what you get. Say $2500-3500/month in an area a young single would likely want to live in. It is much more common to find roommates that split a two or three bedroom unit. You can probably find a master bedroom (with private bath) in a unit for $1000-1500. You'll have roommates, but hopefully can deal with it.

For your life style I wouldn't consider anything less than $5000/month. More than that if you want to be able save.

[Sergei82]

...Singapore for an IT position...

It tells us absolutely nothing.

[Sergei82]

Living in alone in a studio is not a common situation in Singapore. Studio rentals are rare, and when you do find them, they are quite expensive for what you get. Say $2500-3500/month in an area a young single would likely want to live in. It is much more common to find roommates that split a two or three bedroom unit. You can probably find a master bedroom (with private bath) in a unit for $1000-1500. You'll have roommates, but hopefully can deal with it.

For your life style I wouldn't consider anything less than $5000/month. More than that if you want to be able save.

I think, if he is frugal, he can keep his necessary expenses (rent+utilities+food+clothing) under SGD 3500 per month most of the time.
But then, if he wants to go out to a pub twice (!) per week every week, I think, that will be minimum SGD 2 K more per month. Just to go out have fun in clubs - modestly. If you will binge, it'll easily reach 3-4 K per month. And this is excluding travelling in the region every so often - you will need to earn more for that.

[marc_h]

IT is a big field. Here it commands salaries from 2,000 SGD/mo to over 20K SGD/mo depending on your qualifications, experience and desire, so we would need a lot more info before we could give you a ballpark figure.

However, you will NOT be able to enjoy the same quality of life here as you do in Israel. While we are surrounded by Muslim countries (like Israel) we don't have incoming on a regular basis, so you will probably sleep a lot better. Also the locals don't walk around packing heat either.

Thanks for the reply. I have about 5 years of experience in the field. This is however the first Job I would be doing in IT management. I will be implementing projects with customers. I'm pretty stressed about how much I would get paid, what do you think I could ask for? Thanks a lot.

[marc_h]

Do you guys think it's feasible to ask for $7000 - $8000 SD monthly salary? Considering the following criteria that I have:
- 5 years experience
-B.S. degree in IT.
-Good recommendations from my current managers

thanks

[Hannieroo]

You could ask for the moon on a diamond encrusted stick.

How much is the role worth in Israel? Then convert that to SGD then compare Israeli cost of living with SG cost of living and multiply the potential Israeli salary by the COL difference.

Although if you are young and relatively inexperienced it might be worth doing in spite of the salary.

[the lynx]

mac_h,

If that helps, follow Hannieroo's advice and use this calculator to compare the cost of living between Israel and Singapore for better understanding. Hope that helps you to get a foothold.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp

[Sergei82]

Maybe, it's time to tell us what is the role exactly? Otherwise how can we talk about salary?

[marc_h]

Thanks a lot guys, according to this site http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living I need about 7,943 S$ in Singapore to maintain the same standard of life that I have in Israel with my current salary. I hope I can get that

[Sergei82]

I started having doubts that this guy is really an IT guy moving from Israel to SG. Question about his job was simple and trivial one - ignoring it may mean he doesn't have any idea about anything related to IT.

[zzm9980]

I started having doubts that this guy is really an IT guy moving from Israel to SG. Question about his job was simple and trivial one - ignoring it may mean he doesn't have any idea about anything related to IT.

I disagree. Perhaps he is just smart enough to be discreet. Young single guy coming from Israel for an IT Mgmt job? Post a few more details, and it could be really easy for his potential employer or coworkers to figure out exactly who he is. We don't need this guy pulling a "RevHappy" in a few months time...

OP, based on that, I think you should ask for $8000.

[Sergei82]

IT industry in Israel is quite large and diverse - it is not a village, so there is absolutely nothing dangerous in posting a few details. I do not see any grounds for receiving 8K/month. I know a local sys. admin who earns 2K/month in his company - also an IT guy.

[x9200]

I started having doubts that this guy is really an IT guy moving from Israel to SG. Question about his job was simple and trivial one - ignoring it may mean he doesn't have any idea about anything related to IT.

He is writing from Israel and we see almost every month people including the IT sector who can not handle the most basic IT tasks namely the use of search engines.