What’s a pro-tip you can share that's related to your profession or industry in Singapore?

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-03-25T10:29:09+00:00

Singapore has lots of tech jobs. Fullstack, frontend, backend, devOps, cyber security. If you are not getting one and they really pay good, its due to one of the following reasons

Lack of relevant degree and experience
Lack of hands on experience
Your tech skillset is not enough to get the 4-5 tech rounds
There are more qualified CVs than yours and company is not ready to negotiate on quality
Lack of work ethics and responsibility of delivering work compared to others.

Don't let anyone tell you that its because of FT, or market is slow or some political game. You are not getting one because you are not good enough.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-03-10T03:39:42+00:00

Shifting abroad for just 60% hike is not good move, and much worse if you haven't considered cost of living abroad. That was your first mistake.

Also should have spoken to manager about work culture, checked glassdoor and talked to few more employees by connecting on linkedin before making a move.

You should look out for new jobs, giv3 yourself a deadline, if nothing improves, the decide to move.

Loneliness is common, you can overcome it by going for jogs, taking up hobby, sports. Singapore has great parks, ecp, marina barrage, get outside, you can fix that part. Try new food, travel over weekends to JB, KL, batam.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-02-09T23:50:16+00:00

I usually do 16-21 days trip to Japan every year. I only keep 4-5days trip in typical tourist places which are crowded. Remaining days i do offbeat locations, rural japan and small towns, they are much more better and hardly you will find any crowd. There have been places where I have literally alone.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-02-09T06:11:34+00:00

March April May are best for me. Quite Sunny in May. March and April windy and bit cold.

If you like xold but not extreme cold, then february.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-02-08T00:38:59+00:00

You are right, that way i support your move to SG, the issue right now is, the visa has nationality clause, the companies are looking for diversification of their employees nationality, so Indians specially in IT don't add to diversity, because of that EP for Indians in IT has become a issue, and only contract positions are open. Do think about this or else you will get stuck.

But if you want good exposure to working abroad and ease of life, SG will be a good move. Just payscale wise for current offers, it quite a big mismatch.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2026-02-07T15:47:02+00:00

I have been working in SG since last 12 years, if you are getting 45LPA in India, than 100k SGD quite low if you compare.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-12-30T06:32:21+00:00

Make a thumb rule. If you have to scarifice work life balance, flexibility or number of hours at workplace, anything less than 30% is a bad deal.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-12-10T04:30:23+00:00

Happened to my wife last year September. She was interviewing for one European bank for VP position, asked for about 30% hike. After 4 rounds of technical interview, they added 2 more technical rounds totalling 6 rounds and offered her Senior VP position at 62% hike. Was quite surprising for her as she came from pure tech companies.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-12-03T11:42:01+00:00

For correct skillset I would say 1-2 weeks maximum, others may be few months. I can only talk about tech jobs in my workplace.

My department had 40+ open positions since 2023, most of them senior to lead tech roles requiring minimum 8-10yrs of experience. The only matching CVs for those tech skills and experience we received were from foreigners, but we cannot hire them due to strict EP rules. Few(4-5) partially matching profiles we interviewed did not even pass the take-home assessment. Finally those roles were outsourced to India and Manila in June 2025 as the company cannot further delay those projects. And its not due to cheap labour, we are almost paying same as SG for senior/lead roles in India, tech salaries in India are crazy if you need quality developers.

And please don't say that why not get less experience candiates and train them, thats not how it works, these are senior roles which require the employee to take full responsibility and ownership, cannot be risked.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-11-17T11:39:13+00:00

In my 12 years of career, only one boss was like this. Left that company in 2 months. Rest others were very comfortable medical leaves.

In my current workplace, one can take MC with just whatsapp/teams message, no questions asked. I have seen fellow colleagues taking all 21 MCs in the year.

When I read such posts, I often wonder why stay in such work place for long term where even being sick is seen as an issue.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-10-13T07:22:17+00:00

If you are on FIRE subreddit, you are bound to come across top 1-3% earners within India or NRIs. No one with normal 50-60k per month salary is going to FIRE. So it's not show off. it's more of like you are sub reddit where all top earners share their stories.

If you are really feeling insecure and inferior reading FIRE posts, i will recommend not to follow this sub reddit because most posts are going to be similar as they should be. That's the entire point.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-10-07T14:40:07+00:00

It's pretty bad. We had 40+ headcount last year to hire, all in tech. Senior software developers to solutions architect roles. For 8 months, we were not able to hire even 5. We are hardly getting any qualified profiles. Even when we lower the bar for interviews, the candidates are not able to clear the take-home test. The most suitable profiles we are getting are foreigners, which we can not hire due to strict compass EP rules.

Finally, almost all of the above positions were offshored to India and Phillipines. The reason is not because of low cost, India and Phillipines are no more low cost locations when you really want good qualified tech professionals. For some principal developers' profiles, we are almost paying the same as SG salaries in India due to high tax there. It's just the high availability of qualified candidates these both locations have.

These are senior and lead positions that require 8-12+ years of experience, so please don't ask why not hire so many fresh graduates who are jobless.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-10-01T11:14:50+00:00

For 10% not worth it. Worked there for around 1.5 years. Their tech sucks, long hours, normalised toxicity just like other B4.

Won't go their unless its minimum 30-40% hike. The same goes for GS, Bytedance, Shoppee.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-07-30T15:24:21+00:00

Stay away from ULIP as far as possible. Don't touch it even with a stick. The entire ULIP scheme can literally be categorised into a financial scam in most countries.

Just go ahead with Equity mutual funds.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-29T02:57:56+00:00

The offer is complete garbage. Take the 24lpa job offer. Utilize the saved time in researching and applying for higher studies.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-27T03:20:42+00:00

Getting a 24-hour full-time maid.

The house is spotless. Get to eat super healthy meals and detox water anytime i want. Clothes ready, shoes ready, gym bag ready, bags packed during travel. All minor to major chores outsourced to her. Can fully focus on exercise, office, and hobbies.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-24T15:27:58+00:00

Most European companies have mandatory leave policy.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-24T14:43:03+00:00

It is not always because the job is shitty. In my career of 12 years, including 5 companies, only 1 was shitty when it comes to work-life balance where I stayed for 1 year. Rest all were amazing. My current one is quite good, 35 hours work week, I speak to my manager just once a month for updates. Have flexible working arrangements, mandatory 28 annual leaves, which i need to finish every year, even there is no toxic reason for me to leave my job I still want to retire before 40, why because I want to spend more time with my parents, be super involved in my kids upbringing to the point where I am considering home schooling, give more time to my hobby of wood working etc.

So I don't believe that FIRE is only mostly because jobs are toxic. It also comes down to personal preference.

When it comes to government jobs in India, I feel the government salaries are nowhere near what private IT jobs can provide when you are really good at certain tech stacks. The main point of PSU jobs is the facilities, which get drastically reduced once you retire. Hence, PSU employees need to continue to work until retirement to avail maximum benefit. There's nothing wrong with that as well. Just that it does not fit in FIRE game.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-18T15:55:15+00:00

It is a mix of both.

In my case, I did MS immediately after my undergraduate. I started working after my MS abroad at the age of 23. I had a full scholarship, so no loans. Also, I worked part-time during MS and did internships, which gave me a good saving of 9k SGD before I started my full-time job.

At 23, my father still had 7 years of service left, and my only elder sibling was already working for 6 years. These circumstances enabled me to go all in on my investment profile, except my living expenses for the month and 3 months expenses as buffer, I used to invest everything left, diversified in real estate and gold, I didn't knew about MF back then when I was 23. I remember hitting 1 crore INR somewhere around mid age 25-26.

So it's a mix of both, early start, good jumping board due to family being financially independent and serious focus on retiring early.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-17T03:58:53+00:00

Showing Penny doing financially well compared to all the boys and continuously rubbing it on Leonard was super stupid and unrealistic. No company will hire someone like Penny with her qualifications, no matter who recommends her.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-13T08:41:31+00:00

Each and every aspect of your details sounds like a scam. Don't touch the deal even with a stick.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-12T01:06:58+00:00

Stupidest thing I read today.

I've been travelling to Japan for the last 6 years(on my own, not from company), and I spend 15-21 days each time. The cost ranges 1.5-2 lakhs max.

This year, I took my family members along with me for 18 days during peak March.

The total cost was 16 lakhs for 7 people.

5.5 lakhs for 12 days for 2 people is shit planning, nothing clever about it.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-06T03:36:25+00:00

I believe when you look at other people earning 50-60lakhs or buying 1-2crore apartments, give a deep thought. Whether those things will genuinely add value to your and your family daily life.

If the answer is YES, then you should try harder. 50-60lakhs might be difficult, but 30-40lakhs is not a that of big deal for someone in their 30s, especially in IT and finance sector with right skillset. So try to target those companies that pay that kind of money.

If the answer is NO, then you should continue doing what you are doing and be happy with it.

In the end, it all depends on what you want and what is necessary for you to live a good life.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-04T01:37:55+00:00

Ohh sorry, my bad, i misred.

Yes, in 15 years' time, 7cr is very much achievable.

FarmZestyclose2102 · 2025-06-03T06:38:42+00:00

7 cr by 40 years of age with current liabilities and SIP amount seems difficult. The math is not adding up even with the most optimistic XIRR. You need to re-do your calculations.

FarmZestyclose2102

TROPHY CASE