Advice on moving to Singapore needed!

[Mulben]

Hi there!

I am a 19 year old British guy, currently living in the Middle East but looking to move to Singapore. Work in the Middle East is proving very difficult to come by! I have no University degree...just full British and Spanish qualifications up to the age of 18. Would this suffice to secure me a job in Singapore? What sort of jobs are available? Is Singapore a good place to live as somebody of my age?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[ecureilx]

do a read through on the previous postings, about Singapore and the lifestyle here.

There are lot of previous postings on that subject on this forum.

Cheers

[anonfire]

HI. if you were from Britain i take it you have a GCE 'A' level cert or if not a GCE 'O' level cert, no?

if you have that the jobs u can apply are mostly admin/clerical work, telemarketing that kind of jobs. you can try checking out jobs classified websites such as jobsdb, 88db, jobstreet etc.

[ini_niki]

Jobs are hard to get everywhere at the moment ... with no qualifications and no really measurable skills it will be hard to get work in Singapore.

The biggest thing you need to remember is that in Singapore they don't need people who can speak English -- they all can.

Without any skills you'd be best to look at countries where language skills alone could get you work ie. Vietnam, Cambodia, isolated parts of China, African nations maybe?

You could get work in these countries doing voice-overs / conversational English lessons (unless you've got TEAFL training etc) working in reception in hotels etc ... but even there with absolutely no skills at all (you must have done something as a part time job somewhere?) you'll find it hard to get work.

If you go to a less developed nation you'll have better luck -- if you're good looking maybe modeling / TV work? or bartending in posh restaurant? ...

Sorry ... but Singapore is a developed nation -- people here are very well-educated / well-travelled / and speak a number of languages that are useful for the Asian region ... so it's going to be hard to find any sort of job ...

I hope I haven't been too negative but you need to be realistic ... maybe you could look into one of the other countries I suggested ... or pick up some skills before you move.

Doing a Cambridge course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a great tool to have if you want to travel around southeast asia / the world

Good luck
ini_niki

[Miss Swan]

Mulben, I might be wrong but I believe for any expat to work in Singapore, he/she is required to possess a degree. Even with the recent stream of 2nd/3rd world immigrants i.e. Vietnam/Cambodia/India coming in, they all possess some sort of degree.

ini niki has made a very good suggestion. Why not teach English as a foreign language? You'd do well in several Asian countries such as China, Taiwan & Korea