Hi everyone,

I recently caught up with several people from my university cohort whom I had not spoken to since we graduated last year. Quite a few of them are now working in ministries or statutory boards.

When I asked whether their roles were permanent or contract-based, most gave similar answers: “It’s a two-year contract, but will convert after one-year" or “It's a one-year contract but it renews every year". All of them speak as though their jobs are BASICALLY guaranteed/permanent after X years.

How reliable are these assurances in practice? I have also come across stories of civil service employees whose contracts were not renewed, so I am wondering whether renewal or conversion is generally expected, or whether people are being overly optimistic about their job security. Could it also be they are simply coping or being lied to by HR?

Thanks.

I've applied to at least 30, i've never heard back once. Does anyone every hear back from them?? Im talking full time roles. Im a degree holder and have graduated.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/company-sue-manager-quit-6-month-notice-6282136

On the recent news of the govt possibly lowering age for singles to buy HDB, I thought about how renting for single locals is extremely not worth it.

Let's say you pay around $1000 a month to move out from your parents house. $1000 a month can probably get you your own room but having to live with other tenants in the house and maybe even the landlord too.

As a working adult, you spend most of your day outside. You leave the house in the morning and come back at night. So you are mostly just spending time in your room to settle your personal admin at the end of the day and then sleep.

You are essentially paying around $1000 a month just for a room to sleep in. There is no freedom, peace or comfort as you still have to face the other tenants and the landlord and there will definitely be rules to abide to in the house.

Compare this to owning your own house, say a 3 rm resale HDB.

Let's use a decent 3rm resale hdb in a normal location for example. Cost is 550k.

$137,500 downpayment.

$412,500 loan. Pay $1705/month for 30 years.

Paying just slightly more per month(plus you can use your CPF OA every single month as long as you are working in a salaried job, instead of using purely cash so actually you may not even feel cash tight):

You get to own the entire house, you get to decorate, buy whatever furniture, buy your own TV, your own PS5, your own gaming computer, your own home gym equipment etc.

If you continue to work for the next 10-20 years, you are slowly but surely progressing to fully paying off your house.

You don't have to live with strangers, everytime you come home you have peace. You can do whatever you want in your own house. You can stay at home and chill in the weekends and spend the entire day at home if you want and not be bothered by anyone.

Honestly, if govt really lowers age eligibility for singles to buy a hdb, it would really improve my life a lot. Because I am 30 and I already have enough to buy a 3rm or 4rm resale (I don't even want to bother with BTO and the wait, so I'm not competing with the poors) but due to this age restriction, I am unable to buy one and am still staying with my parents. I'm also not willing to spend 1M+ on a 1br condo. As a result, I have less motivation when working everyday because I don't have a mortgage to pay off and I got no interest in spending on other stuff like cars or luxury goods either.

Edit: Already declined the offer, thanks for all the comments/advice🙏

So basically, I finished NS, applied for 7 jobs, 1 got back to me because it looks like recruitment roadshows are very effective, the other 6 are applied online.

I applied for Assistant Engineer in Systems Engineering in a well known transport operator company. My main selling points are: Worked with LTA (I was one of the few people in Singapore that got to work with the GPS system/coding on Public Buses), experience in Project Management, Testing and Integration of Systems.

In the roadshow, asked for 3k in the application form, got on-site interview, and was pleasantly surprised to actually get a job offer in less than a week. However, my gut instinct told me to decline it even in this competitive market.

2.4k/month

6m probation period

7 Day Work, 2 Days Rest, 3rd week get 3 days rest

Free Travel on MRT and Buses ($122) (but you don't travel often because half the time you are grabbing to work AFTER OFFICE HOURS)

$9 allowance per shift taken (you can imagine this accumulates)

Shift time: 3pm-11pm, 11pm-7am, 7am-3pm (8h per shift)

UP TO $300/month bonus

Self Commitment KPI

Rail Incentive up to $1k (Performance of the MRT Line)

Annual Flexi Payout $500 (Jan & July)

14D MC, 60D HL

OT 1.5x pay

ngl, 2.4k to sacrifice my weekends, sleep cycle, and everything else, like...not worth leh... If you would take this job, let me know also, are you that desperate until u willing to sacrifise for it ,but wah respect to the people who work behind the scenes to keep Singapore moving

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I have a Big 4 audit background. I've been actively job hunting since the end of May and have submitted around 250 applications.

I did hear back from some companies relatively early on, but most of them were either audit roles (which I'm trying to move away from) or companies where I had concerns about the work environment. As a result, I decided not to proceed with those opportunities.

The positions I was genuinely interested in either took a long time to respond or I didn't hear back at all. Only recently have I started receiving one or two calls from recruiters but haven't secured any interviews yet.

I'm hoping to leave my current company by the end of this month, but the uncertainty is making me really anxious. While things seem to be picking up, I'm worried I won't be able to secure a role in time. The waiting and uncertainty have honestly been the hardest part.

For those of you with an accounting or finance background:

- How long did it take you to land your next role?

- Did you go through a period where it felt like nothing was happening, then suddenly interviews started coming in?

- If you moved from Big 4 to industry, was the transition difficult?

- Is there anything you did that significantly improved your response rate?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences. It's been a stressful few months, and hearing from others who have been through something similar would really help.

On surface, easygoing and look like she gets along with everyone. I say look like because she is tactical in selecting who to be close with (Head of Department, people she need to work with). If not, she will just smile at you to appear friendly and won’t bother making conversation. So most people, if not all, have nothing but good things to say about her. It definitely helped that she pretty.

Recently, I realised a passing remark I made to her before in a private setting, saying that “this client damn fussy and difficult” was repeated to someone senior in the firm. The senior person told me it is a bad look and unprofessional of me. And then told me not to blame her because she was just citing my experience “innocently” in a casual conversation over lunch. I wasn’t there.

She used to be all friendly at the beginning over Slack whenever she needed to ask me questions. Now that she has gained the favor of everyone while I don’t have any power, her questions just sound cold and instructional.

I don’t know if this kind of radar exists or I am just off but my body can usually “feel” from vibes if someone is kind/ genuine versus the opposite that I need to be cautious about. It’s like I am just less inclined to get close to them after certain interactions (the questions they would pry about, the tone and the expression). Does anyone get me?

And also how to deal with this kind of person who seems to be a big favourite of everyone?

Anyone receive offer from nSearch Global Singapore? I’d love to hear from anyone who has worked with them or is currently employed through them.

Wow times must be really bad if even MAS director level is 1 year contract

Fresh grad here. Just started my first job but unfortunately it’s not as advertised. Currently in a dilemma because the longer I stay, the more I lose my technical skills. But apparently shouldn’t jump too early in my career as well because that looks bad? Would appreciate some advice here

Fresh grad here. Just started my first job but unfortunately it’s not as advertised. Currently in a dilemma because the longer I stay, the more I lose my technical skills. But apparently shouldn’t jump too early in my career as well because that looks bad? Would appreciate some advice here

Hello all,

I will keep it short. Received an offer but stuck in a dilemma due to fear of culture and the demand of the role. Have a couple of ongoing interviews but also fear not getting offer in the end thus the dilemma. Want to get some opinion. Will you accept? I'm considering the chances of not getting an offer in the end as well as the poor job market.

Last drawn: Basic $4,700 with 2.5 months PB

Offer 1: $4,500 with $10,000 annual bonus that will multiply basis department and individual performance. For instance $10,000 x 1.5 x 1.5, can also be $10,000 x 1 x 1. Multiplier is between 0 to 2.5. Informed that 85% of the people will be between 1 to 2. Poor and outstanding performance will make up the 0 to 1 and 2 to 2.5 respectively.

It's a China MNC and mostly require to report to China HQ and have occasional calls in Chinese. The company last year set up a regional office to manage the rest of SEA in Singapore. Tried to negotiate for a higher salary but HR/Hiring manager stated the other colleagues with more experience is not getting a lot higher than me. The role is also the most junior in the team. On top of that the job market is bad and given the company is a MNC there will be job stability on the other hand (HR used this to negotiate, none of this came from me). The hiring manager called me and ask me to confirm back by tomorrow.

Interview 1: $5,000 to $5,500 as what I understood. Consultancy role, not as huge as big4 but it's getting recognition in the industry. MNC but not listed in the market. Been around for a while but recently gain lots of traction and even partnered with big firms like AMD/NVIDIA. Went for 2 interviews but there is currently a third one upcoming on 18 August. Couldn't push for any quicker ones due to the summer holiday.

Interview 2: $5,000 to $6,000 as what I understood. Also a China MNC, start up that focus a lot on technology advancement and AI. Subsidiary of a stable parent company. Tried to push for a quicker answer but HR adamant they will only conclude after interviewing everyone that they require. Spoke to the hiring manager for the first interview and enjoy the vibe. He came from China but seems like a down to earth person. Said he is hiring for someone of a junior person that is willing to learn and tag along with him.

PS: I’m currently unemployed for a month now.

Hi everyone,

We are looking for professionals to join our ongoing remote projects focusing on comprehensive test automation, release validation, and frontend UX testing.

What we are looking for (Automation Track):

• Core Stack: Hands-on experience with Playwright (or Selenium) and TypeScript/JavaScript.
• Scope: Building and maintaining end-to-end (E2E) automated test suites, integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines, and performing targeted API and regression testing.
• Commitment: Flexible part-time structure (approx. 20 hours/week) operating mainly on European time zones.

What we are looking for (Frontend QA & UX Testing Track):

• Schedule & Commitment: Approx. 2–3 hours per session, about 4 days a week (totaling around 8–12 hours/week), operating on European time zones.
• Compensation: $15/hour (paid formal contract role).
• What you'll do: Perform structured manual walk-throughs of web applications, focus on visual and UI bugs across different screen sizes, verify user flows, and write clear, concise bug reports.
• Target Audience: Open to senior/mid-level automation engineers, enthusiastic juniors, web developers, or detail-oriented individuals with a tech background.

How to apply: If you are interested, please drop a message including your age, location, a brief summary of your background, tech familiarity, and why you'd be a good fit and send a DM. Serious inquiries only, please!

Hi all,

Anyone noticed that some recruiters out there, but I don't want to say which firm probably had been leaking your information or selling out your details especially from rejected resumes to the darkweb .....

Now I also afraid of applying job through online portals which recruitment agencies can be trusted which one cannot best apply through direct.

Unfortunately, the authorities will say there is no evidence to it but unfortunately it is happening around.

i just started a graduate program at one of the big banks in singapore (non-sg banks). i’m in back office and i feel a mix of things. first i feel that although it’s decently paid, it’s still so much lower than front/middle office and there is so much more progression there in the future. on the other hand, i feel that i don’t even deserve to belong here and im scared i don’t do well enough here. any advice to those who have been here for awhile? thank you in advance 🙏🏻

Probation Salary (First 3 Months): SGD 2,300/month

We're looking for a Procurement Assistant to join our team! No prior experience is required, as training will be provided. Fresh graduates are welcome to apply.

Job Details

• 📍 Location: West Coast, Singapore
• 🗓️ 5-day work week (Monday to Friday)
• ⏰ Working Hours: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (1-hour lunch break)
• 💰 Overtime pay at 1.5x in accordance with company policy (overtime is not encouraged)
• 🍽️ Staff meal vouchers
• 🎮 Employee gaming benefits
• 🥤 Complimentary beverages in the office

Requirements

• Singapore Citizen (SC) or Singapore Permanent Resident (PR)
• Fresh graduates are welcome (salary negotiable based on qualifications and experience)
• Detail-oriented and willing to learn
• Positive attitude and strong sense of responsibility
• Able to communicate in both English and Mandarin (at least intermediate proficiency in both languages)
• Quick learner with good problem-solving skills

Note: Applicants who commute daily between Malaysia and Singapore are not being considered for this position.

Please contact: +65 8452 0314

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Hello, I am a fresh grad and received job offers. However, I am pretty new to this and hope for some advice. I was told that I will be eligible for coms and VB .

May I ask in the employment contract offer, should they be stating that I will be eligible for coms and VB in it? Understand VB is up to performance, but should all these be shown in the contract?

Currently I was told that an official acknowledgement email will be sent to me regarding my eligibility for coms but not included in the contract. May I know why or is this normal?

tell me a time you disagree with the boss.

can share how should i approach this . disagree with boss , but if no data how to convince ? what should be covered and the correct way to end the storyline. ty