Singapore Expats

Hi there,

my name is philipp, 22y and from munich, germany.
I recently finished my 3 year apprenticeship as it systems engineer.
In Germany we have a dual apprenticeship system, which means you gather practical experience in company and theoretical classes in school.
Its not as high as an university degree, but more practical.

During this time i got a lot of experience in linux systems like RHEL, KVM, SLES, Debian, and all of the basic services like mailing, webserver, hardening, etc.

I also have a good knowledge of Windows Server and Networking.

I obtained the following certifications: RHCE, CCNA, LPIC1+2

Here comes the question: Do i have chances to get a job in singapore for 1 year with my qualifications? And if so, how much can i earn? I know the living costs and rents are very high.

How much will i need for living, rent etc.? 4000 S$?

My english is not the worst, but especially in business its not the best.

I have many other questions, but i would appreciate if you could answer these.

Thx in advance!

Greetings,
Philipp

Your chances, unfortunately, are very low. There is no reason to hire you with your level of experience and education because there are locals with the same qualifications and the government requires that companies give preference to locals.

$4,000 is essentially the minimum for any type of work pass, and that presumes other skills and experience, which you don't have, other than an apprenticeship, which, I know is a great way to learn, but not something the immigration officials here think much about.

Finally, IT jobs are moving out of Singapore. Headquarters PMO's handle security, networks, etc. Teams in Malaysia, India, or the Philippines handle all the remote work. Banks are offshoring IT and back office personnel in droves. You should search/read the careers posts.

This, I am afraid, is the reality.

you'll have a hard time getting a job in Singapore with your current skills, you might want to move up the ladder particularly with your cisco credentials CCIE would be more current, but then again the jobs for these positions are taken up by mostly Locals/Indians/Filipinos/others in ASEAN region.

Okay thx for the answers, sounds pretty devastating.

maybe i will try to apply for jobs like this in 1-2 years.

http://jobs.redhat.com/jobs/description ... -1-4506334

is singapore still a good place for a german, who wants to see the world and have some foreign-country experience?

probably im too young now.

kind regards

Unicycling Gorilla wrote:Okay thx for the answers, sounds pretty devastating.

maybe i will try to apply for jobs like this in 1-2 years.

http://jobs.redhat.com/jobs/description ... -1-4506334

is singapore still a good place for a german, who wants to see the world and have some foreign-country experience?

probably im too young now.

kind regards

It's a great place for expats of pretty much any nationality. The challenge as the others have noted is building a skillset and experience that can not be easily matched by Singaporeans (or you won't get an EP) or regional expats (or you'll be priced out of the market most likely).

have you checked if you qualify for a working holiday visa? (generally for university students/grads but never hurts to confirm that)

Unicycling Gorilla wrote:Okay thx for the answers, sounds pretty devastating.

maybe i will try to apply for jobs like this in 1-2 years.

http://jobs.redhat.com/jobs/description ... -1-4506334

is singapore still a good place for a german, who wants to see the world and have some foreign-country experience?

probably im too young now.

The gov pretty much closed the door on inexperienced IT professionals fresh out of college, as they have enough of those locally. Nevermind that Linux is not really a thing in SG afaik. If you want to go to APAC with a somewhat decent salary, you may want to try HK (with some caveats), JP, MY, AU, NZ (not sure about the last two though). Countries other than those in the region will likely make it quite difficult to get a work visa and/or do not employ many foreigners and/or have really low starting salaries (e.g., TH, PH, VN, ID, IN).

That said, you can still try, but make sure to secure a job and work visa before moving. Other than that, my advice currently would be to gather some full-time work experience first (3-4 years) before going to Asia.

AngMoG wrote:

Unicycling Gorilla wrote:Okay thx for the answers, sounds pretty devastating.

maybe i will try to apply for jobs like this in 1-2 years.

http://jobs.redhat.com/jobs/description ... -1-4506334

is singapore still a good place for a german, who wants to see the world and have some foreign-country experience?

probably im too young now.

The gov pretty much closed the door on inexperienced IT professionals fresh out of college, as they have enough of those locally. Nevermind that Linux is not really a thing in SG afaik. If you want to go to APAC with a somewhat decent salary, you may want to try HK (with some caveats), JP, MY, AU, NZ (not sure about the last two though). Countries other than those in the region will likely make it quite difficult to get a work visa and/or do not employ many foreigners and/or have really low starting salaries (e.g., TH, PH, VN, ID, IN).

That said, you can still try, but make sure to secure a job and work visa before moving. Other than that, my advice currently would be to gather some full-time work experience first (3-4 years) before going to Asia.

He might have a shot in Malaysia if he's willing to work at local rates.

AngMoG wrote:Nevermind that Linux is not really a thing in SG afaik.

I assure you it is a 'thing' even in Singapore. Everything else you said though is correct.

zzm9980 wrote:

AngMoG wrote:Nevermind that Linux is not really a thing in SG afaik.

I assure you it is a 'thing' even in Singapore. Everything else you said though is correct.

During my time in SG, the place struck me as almost exclusively using MS-based technologies, even at the university. So not too sure who uses Linux there

Banks use Unix for their servers but even there, from what I heard, lots of server administration jobs gettting offshored out of Singapore to cheaper locations. Only very critical/minimal presence is maintained here. Those roles are hardly going to go to fresh grads, if at all, those fresh grads will come from NUS and not from Germany.

AngMoG wrote:

zzm9980 wrote:

AngMoG wrote:Nevermind that Linux is not really a thing in SG afaik.

I assure you it is a 'thing' even in Singapore. Everything else you said though is correct.

During my time in SG, the place struck me as almost exclusively using MS-based technologies, even at the university. So not too sure who uses Linux there

*shrug* the companies I've worked, and many I know spread across multiple companies, use it extensively. I don't think very many "Microsoft exclusive" (or anything-exclusive) shops exist in most places anymore beyond SMBs (small/medium businesses). Those that are seem to be moving away from it to a more logical and efficient mix.