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[h=2]A personal experience: How a jobless PMET managed to start his own business[/h]Posted by temasektimes on June 4, 2012
I graduated with an economics degree 3 years ago from SIM, and i took 6 months sending out resumes and earned zero interview. It’s not just sending out resumes blindly, but in the course of the 6 months, I’ve been actively refining on my resume and gathering opinions and feedbacks from friends so as to ensure that my resume is presentable. But yet, I didn’t manage to secure a single interview.
It’s not that I’ve been choosy towards the type of position that are available, in fact I applied for almost all the positions available related to my studies, and many of which only require diploma level.
In the end, fortunately, opportunity struck and I ended my search for a job — I ended up starting up my own business. After running my own business for the past 3 years, then I realized what’s been going on in the job market.
Everytime I post a job ad, I will receive 70-80% of applicants from foreigners. And out of which, more than half are pinoys and the rest a mixture of PRCs and Malaysians.
I received a number of impressive resumes from locals, but as an SME employer, employment cost is highly sensitive to us. Hence, by the fact that majority of the applicants are willing to accept the job at a much lower wage, the seemingly ‘fair’ wage expectations of the local applicants would by contrast be a lot more expensive.
Yes, we don’t have to contribute levy, but to us it’s entirely trivial. Whether is it levy or CPF contribution, it’s the same. It’s a cost for our firm. We might end up paying lesser if we get a foreigner if his wage expectation is so much lower than the local!
As long as our quota permits, naturally we will go for foreigners. Few reasons: 1) it’s really alot more cheaper. Paying a PRC $800, after deducting his shared room rental of $200, their take home pay is easily RMB3,000. But Paying a Singaporean SGD1,000, he might not even able to survive (hello, a newly launched 3 room HDB flat in matured estate already cost you $1.3k in installment) 2) you don’t have to worry about RT, IPPT and ICT commitments.
We don’t have to worry who is going to stand in for the chap’s duty when he’s called back for NS commitments. 3) they’ve got no family commitment here, so you get them to work OT, come back during weekend, there’ll be a lower chance that they’ll come up with all sorts of excuses.
With so many perks and benefits of employing foreigners, which employer in their right mind would employ a local? But in the end, I still manage to maintain a team consists of all local employees, perhaps it’s my stereotype towards the integrity of foreigners, so I don’t mind paying more for someone with better integrity and trustworthiness.
K C BOO
*The above was first posted as a comment on Facebook
I graduated with an economics degree 3 years ago from SIM, and i took 6 months sending out resumes and earned zero interview. It’s not just sending out resumes blindly, but in the course of the 6 months, I’ve been actively refining on my resume and gathering opinions and feedbacks from friends so as to ensure that my resume is presentable. But yet, I didn’t manage to secure a single interview.
It’s not that I’ve been choosy towards the type of position that are available, in fact I applied for almost all the positions available related to my studies, and many of which only require diploma level.
In the end, fortunately, opportunity struck and I ended my search for a job — I ended up starting up my own business. After running my own business for the past 3 years, then I realized what’s been going on in the job market.
Everytime I post a job ad, I will receive 70-80% of applicants from foreigners. And out of which, more than half are pinoys and the rest a mixture of PRCs and Malaysians.
I received a number of impressive resumes from locals, but as an SME employer, employment cost is highly sensitive to us. Hence, by the fact that majority of the applicants are willing to accept the job at a much lower wage, the seemingly ‘fair’ wage expectations of the local applicants would by contrast be a lot more expensive.
Yes, we don’t have to contribute levy, but to us it’s entirely trivial. Whether is it levy or CPF contribution, it’s the same. It’s a cost for our firm. We might end up paying lesser if we get a foreigner if his wage expectation is so much lower than the local!
As long as our quota permits, naturally we will go for foreigners. Few reasons: 1) it’s really alot more cheaper. Paying a PRC $800, after deducting his shared room rental of $200, their take home pay is easily RMB3,000. But Paying a Singaporean SGD1,000, he might not even able to survive (hello, a newly launched 3 room HDB flat in matured estate already cost you $1.3k in installment) 2) you don’t have to worry about RT, IPPT and ICT commitments.
We don’t have to worry who is going to stand in for the chap’s duty when he’s called back for NS commitments. 3) they’ve got no family commitment here, so you get them to work OT, come back during weekend, there’ll be a lower chance that they’ll come up with all sorts of excuses.
With so many perks and benefits of employing foreigners, which employer in their right mind would employ a local? But in the end, I still manage to maintain a team consists of all local employees, perhaps it’s my stereotype towards the integrity of foreigners, so I don’t mind paying more for someone with better integrity and trustworthiness.
K C BOO
*The above was first posted as a comment on Facebook
