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Long story short, just graduated few months back.from TED automotive, Trying to apply for job as finances at home are tight.. currently working as a temp in the meantime to help with income, but it isnt enough to support.. No luck so far with regards to job applications.. Not sure what to expect or how long usually the job application process take as this is my first time applying for job No driving license yet but currently midway taking class 3, didn't take when i was studying in order to focus on studies.. Anyone working in the industry so far? Thanks in advance!

The average premium collected for motor insurance dipped slightly last year, even as the sector saw a 17.3 per cent increase in underwriting profit to $59.1 million. At its annual results briefing on Tuesday, the General Insurance Association (GIA) said the average motor premium collected last year was $1,250, down from $1,280 in 2012. The association attributed the slight dip to more insurers entering the marketplace, and said this trend is likely to continue. As a whole, the motor insurance sector collected $1.22 billion in gross premiums, a 2 per cent drop from 2012. Said GIA president AK Cher: "The GIA will continue to work with our various stakeholders to ensure that motor claims are effectively managed and premiums continue to stabilise." Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/motor-insurance-sector-sees-rise-profits-general-insurance-industry-gr

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wages-in-private-sector/1137196.html Any bros saw this article...? Just some quick observations... a. I am quite sure I didn't get half of that 5.3%, and so did my whole company on average b. Is the government going to increase costs of living based on such data? ie raise bus fares again c. how did the statistics come about in the first place? Quite frankly I am worried when I see such stats..shows I am way below national average once more..

FORMER People's Action Party Hougang candidate Desmond Choo is leaving the labour movement for the private sector. Mr Choo, 35, is the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) deputy director of industrial relations and the National Transport Workers' Union's (NTWU) deputy executive secretary. He will leave NTUC at the end of this month. Yesterday, he told The Straits Times that resigning from the labour movement was not an easy decision and that he remains committed to workers' causes. "But I thought that after spending most of my working life in the civil service and some of it in NTUC, I should get more exposure in the private sector," said the former police scholarship holder who joined NTUC in 2010. He has found a job in the private sector but declined to give more details. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...sector-20130509

Our resident doc bro lala81, comments? From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_815761.html Doctors leave public sector for reasons other than money Published on Jun 28, 2012 DR GERARD Chee's most obvious conclusion from the report ('Private versus public hospitals: More than twice as costly'; last Friday) was 'how poorly paid public hospital doctors are', as reflected in the lower cost of public health care ('Bill comparisons may not reflect true cost differences'; Tuesday). This seems inappropriate. To put things into perspective:

Can somebody explain what difference it makes if obtain an appropriate Trainer certification ? Not the Gym trainer or kungfu trainer, share market trainer har.......... Its a trainer in MHA. There are different cat and the highest being Master trainer, then Principal, Senior trainer.....henceforth. My wify told me she pass the Principal Trainer course ytday. Seldom see her so happy before. She got 95 marks. Have to make presentation for solid 3+ hours. (passing mark is 90!!! not 50) And her whole dept is happy like hell too. Something like the staff's HOD will also raise in status or something. A very highly regarded certification in the govt sector. I cannot understand what it means from wify hence this thread. Cos my job come and leave office on the dot. Typical boring deck-bound job rah. Can somebody explain........

So far, I know of these sectors flooded with FTs 1) IT (Programming) 2) IT (Financial) 3) Designing 4) Customer Service

That what we are looking for , this kind of ppl should be in the review committee not some pap yes man! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC11...-private-sector by Mak Yuen Teen 04:46 AM May 26, 2011 Last week, I taught executive and director pay to an executive MBA class and, during lunch, the subject of conversation at my table was ministerial pay in Singapore - a regular topic among the executives attending the programme over the years. While most of the rest of the world is concerned with high executive pay, this must be the only country where ministerial salaries are of more interest. Quite coincidentally, on Saturday morning, I had begun writing a commentary with the tentative title of "Ministerial pay: Lessons from corporate scandals and the financial crisis". That night, I saw on the news the Prime Minister's announcement that he was setting up a committee to review ministerial pay. When you pay poorly, you might still get good people but, undoubtedly, the pool you select from will be smaller. You may also attract some who are willing to take low pay because they want to use their position for other benefit, such as taking bribes or getting directorships in companies. When you pay very well, the pool will be larger, but you also risk attracting the wrong people who are motivated purely by money. People who are attracted to politics because of the money (or power) might still want to use their positions for their own benefit because for some, it is never enough. I personally do not believe that high pay is effective for fighting corruption; I think it is an affront to the many who make an honest living on low pay to suggest that paying little encourages corruption. However, it is very difficult to determine what is the "right" pay for CEOs, people with very specialised skills - and government ministers. For CEOs, certain "benchmarks" have been suggested, such as some percentage of profits, some ratio to average employee pay, the pay of sports stars and celebrities or fellow CEOs. None of these are wholly satisfactory. Benchmarking ministerial pay to other professions has its limitations because they are totally different jobs, and different jobs come with different lifestyles and employment risks. When I look at my peers who have gone to the private sector, many are earning a lot more than I do now, but they do not have my more flexible lifestyle as an academic, and they are not able to achieve tenure which gives better job security. In any case, I believe that the best people in any field are those who are driven first by their passion and calling. IT'S HOW THEY EARN IT As a corporate governance advocate, it has never been my concern if someone is well paid and earns it in the right way. I would be outraged if someone makes a lot of money but does so in an illegal or unethical manner, where it is not related to appropriate measures of performance, or the pay determined is through a contaminated process. The corporate sector suggests the following "best practices" which should be followed in setting senior executives pay: - An "arms length" process for determining remuneration policy and packages - Benchmarks used should be comparable (similar job responsibilities, similar size and industry, etc) - There should be a reasonable mix of short- and long-term pay - Pay should be based mainly on factors within the executive's control - Performance measures used for evaluation should have strong links with the corporation's long-term performance - There should be minimal benefits and termination payments that are generally unrelated to performance - There is good disclosure and transparency A private sector approach which treats running a country as equivalent to running a corporation is, of course, flawed to start out with. After all, a government can always print money, raise taxes, determine whether it wants to make a profit (budget surplus) or a loss (budget deficit) and so on. Tying ministerial bonuses to annual GDP growth can create the same perverse incentives as tying CEO pay to annual revenue growth. For example, it can lead to incentives to invest in projects with high economic payoffs, but with attendant high social costs and under-investing for long-term growth. But if we are determined to follow a private sector approach to setting ministerial pay, then we should go the whole nine yards and adopt similar sound pay practices, which could involve the following. (Incidentally, when I showed someone the draft of this commentary, I was alerted to a 2007 speech by MP Denise Phua in which she made some similar points. I am glad there was such an alternative voice in Parliament and wish that her views were taken more seriously then.) DEFER PAY, BE TRANSPARENT One, have an independent ministerial pay committee to oversee ministerial pay policy and levels (members must be independent and perceived to be so). Two, adopt a small number of macro performance measures which capture overall performance in a holistic way (such as average GDP growth, average wage growth, Gini coefficient and unemployment rate) and micro performance measures which directly reflect a particular minister's performance (such as traffic accident rates, average expressway speeds, admission rates of Singaporeans into local universities, percentage of low-income families owning HDB flats). Three, tie a minister's pay primarily to his individual responsibilities and performance, based on his portfolio (a small component can be tied to more macro measures but these may be more relevant to assessing the performance of the "chief executive", that is, the Prime Minister). Four, benchmark targets such as GDP growth to trends in comparable economies, to better ensure that improvements are not largely due to external factors (for example, a significant increase in GDP growth - just like a significant increase in a company's stock price - may be driven more by general trends in the inter-connected global economy). Five, defer a part of a minister's pay for a number of years and put in place conditions under which the deferred pay may be reduced. Six, eliminate or significantly reduce pensions and other benefits not linked to a minister's performance. And seven, publish a report each year on the actual amount of each minister's pay and its breakdown. This may sound like an awfully tedious process for setting ministerial pay. Unfortunately, corporate scandals and the recent financial crisis have taught us that poorly designed pay schemes set through a flawed process and which lack transparency can create perverse incentives and undermine governance. The current approach to setting ministerial pay emulates the pay levels in the private sector but not the sound pay principles that well-governed companies follow. If we are not prepared to adopt similarly robust processes and practices for setting ministerial pay, then perhaps we should just follow how other countries determine pay for their government officials. We can then rely more on robust selection processes and strong enforcement of laws to take to task ministers who are corruptible, in order to ensure that we get ethical and competent government leaders. However, even if we decide to "de-privatise" ministerial pay, I believe there are certain merits in adopting some of the good practices in the private sector approach - such as having a more independent mechanism for setting ministerial pay, having better measures of ministerial performance, creating mechanisms to encourage ministers to focus on longer-term consequences of decisions, and greater transparency in ministerial pay. This may minimise the risk of receiving an "unexpected" performance appraisal from the electorate every four years. Mak Yuen Teen is an associate professor at NUS Business School

From the bumpy hosting of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to the Orchard Road floods, confidence in the public sector may have been shaken this year, according to some political observers. And in the year ahead, Singaporean residents will continue watching the government closely, in particular its measures toward housing and immigration. Yahoo! Singapore spoke to several political observers, as they took stock of this year

Top Print Edition Stories Published June 25, 2010 All that money, but bankers get the blues By SIOW LI SEN (SINGAPORE) Bankers, poor things, do suffer real pain despite being paid big bucks. 'We provide counselling services anonymously.' - SGX chief financial officer Seck Wai Kwong It seems they get confused over how much is enough. And even when they are able to eat the best and shop till they drop, depression can't be kept at bay, said one speaker at yesterday's annual Institute of Banking and Finance conference. The theme of the conference was leadership and talent issues. 'All the bankers I know want to retire at 40,' said Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology, University College London. But then they like it so much, they push it to 50, said Prof Furnham. He was answering a question from Piyush Gupta, DBS chief executive on money as incentive. For many, the question of how much money is needed to retire is not so straightforward. He cited friends who have retired and become clinically depressed because they have lost their focus in life and have no friends, said Prof Furnham. It's not only bankers but lawyers too who find that their children do not want to follow in their parents' footsteps as they dislike their stressful lives. Money is a great driver but it is not enough, he said. 'It's like a dinner of meringues - leaves you unsatisfied, or shopping when depressed. And it doesn't work in the long term.' At the Singapore Exchange (SGX), looking after the mental health of staff is as important as providing recreational activities, said Seck Wai Kwong, SGX chief financial officer. 'We provide counselling services anonymously,' he said. The mental health of staff needs to be looked after as the organisation has a high performance culture, he said. The SGX has provided two rooms for counselling and appointments are made anonymously; as a supervisor, he does not know who is making use of the service, said Mr Seck. He said that talent management at the SGX starts at the top. SGX chairman JY Pillay makes it a point to take the latest recruits to lunch as a way of keeping his pulse on the organisation, he said. The financial services industry continues to be highly attractive in Singapore, hiring almost 170,000 people, said Ong Chong Tee, Monetary Authority of Singapore deputy managing director. 'According to the Hudson's Employment Outlook Survey for Q2 2010, Singapore's financial sector currently has the highest hiring expectations,' said Mr Ong in a keynote address at the conference. 'Already, Singapore's financial sector employment level at almost 170,000 has exceeded pre-crisis highs and 1Q this year continued to see strong employment growth.'

Hmmm just wondering what is a job of a para legal ? Been planning to take up some part time studies to beef up myself while i'm still young, dunno is there a good career prospect for this? Can anyone advise? Thanks

Sorry posted in wrong forum...

TRAVELLERS can look forward to more low fares when the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur market is throw open to competition in December. In the lead-up to total liberalisaton, Tiger Airways announced on Thursday that it has received the all-clear to operate five daily flights between the two cities. To celebrate, the low-cost carrier which now has just one daily flight, is offering 50,000 free seats. Travellers will still have to pay taxes and other surcharges that come to about $120 for a round trip. Bookings start on Monday. Jetstar Asia which also operates a daily Singapore-KL flight and Malaysia's AirAsia which has two flights a day are also expected to announce capacity increases soon. The opening of the market follows years of domination by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines on the route. In February, governments on both sides decided to allow low-cost carriers to operate the route but with restrictions on capacity. The deal then, was that the market would be fully liberalised in December. Tiger's managing director in Singapore Rosalynn Tay said of the full market opening: 'This is a huge milestone in Asian low fare aviation. 'I would like to congratulate the forward thinking of the Singapore and Malaysian governments and aviation authorities in their progression of a liberalisation agenda that benefits both economies.....The customer is the big winner here.' The opening of the Singapore-KL market is part of a bigger plan for liberalisation of Asean skies. Also from December, carriers from the 10 Asean member countries will be free to operate as many flights as they wish from their capital cities to any other capital city within the grouping. The long-term agenda is for a Single Aviation Market by 2015 which will allow carriers to criss-cross the region without any restrictions on where they can land and take-off, and how many people they can carry. Ladies & Gentlemen, get yr fingers ready on 29/9/08.

why ? let crack our head ! ---------------------------------------------- SINGAPORE: The government has decided to postpone an additional S$1.7 billion worth of public sector projects to further ease pressure on construction resources in Singapore. The government had earlier announced that it would postpone about S$3 billion worth of public sector projects to after 2009. With this, the government is deferring a total of about S$4.7 billion worth of public sector construction projects to 2010 and beyond. The construction of the main building of the proposed Jurong General Hospital will be deferred to 2010, although the hospital will still be completed and open as scheduled by 2015. Other deferred projects include less urgent improvement works which will not compromise Singapore

Despite freeze, HDB residents still unhappy over S&C charges They feel rates are too high compared with charges for condo residents By Mavis Toh THE 14 town councils under the People's Action Party are all freezing their service and conservancy (S&C) rates, but some HDB residents still feel the charges are too high. Mr Richard Lim, 42, lives in a five-room flat in Pasir Ris, but pays more for parking and maintenance charges than some condominium residents. The accountant pays $163.50 a month: $90 for parking and $73.50 in S&C fees. A check with 10 condominiums found what residents in private estates pay can go as low as $150. Mr Lim said: 'My friend who lives in a similar-size unit in a Bishan condo pays $200 and he gets so many more facilities.' Writing to The Straits Times Forum recently, he asked why, despite fewer perks, HDB residents pay more than some condo residents: 'Are they overcharging residents or are they not giving enough value for the amount we pay?' His letter ignited discussions in at least three online forums, with many asking why S&C charges in HDB flats were only a little lower than those in private estates. In Parliament last month, Dr Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman of the PAP town councils, announced there will be no hike in their S&C charges this year. The move is in response to Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's call recently for them to follow the Government's lead in freezing fees for its services. S&C rates for Singaporeans living in public housing can range from $18.50 for a one-room HDB flat to $61.50 for a five-room unit to $102 for an HUDC unit. Non-Singaporeans pay up to $30 more. S&C charges in HDB estates are collected by the town councils and go towards cleaning, grass cutting, lift maintenance and upkeep of common areas. Costs for cyclical work such as re-painting are also taken from this kitty. A public housing resident who owns a car has to pay between $65 and $90 for a parking spot. This, according to HDB residents, is what causes the overall charge to rocket. Parking charges are collected by the HDB which maintains the carparks. In a Forum letter replying to Mr Lim, the HDB explained that, unlike private property, HDB parking spaces are not included in the selling price of the flat. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...ory_217385.html

From http://www.salary.sg How often do you hear of people getting bonuses of 6 years? Well, a bumper year for Singapore

looks like quite a few here doing v well in IT sector, so hopefully a few k give me some really gd advice... am gg to grad in about 8mths time(NTU computer eng)...so feeling the heat liao have dilemma, dunno whether to go engineering firm and do "really" IT stuff or join bank become backend technology... really v confused, cause i dun think i'm suitable to be "pure" engineer (dunno hw to xplain) plus IT firms increment and starting pay like nt very attractive(correct me if i wrong) as compared to bank (although backend)... but worry is if i go bank do IT i scared become 2nd class citizen...cause i heard b4 some bank the big big head for IT can even be ppl doing finance one, so it looks like they dun value IT ppl v well...anyone here doing Tech stuff in bank?? if its project and development of SW for some banking needs then nt so bad, but if ask me go service computer and troubleshoot then nt my cup of tea(no offence to those bros doing this,but i really dun like)...but when i see bank offering starting pay for back-end technology to be 3k+, sometimes i tink 3rd class citizen oso nvm... also i scared go bank technology cannot learn much, am i correct? another option which i was wondering is what the Big4 audits are offering...i tink its quite a new field, something like IT risk management, u go client place, audit, see their needs then deploy...i went for their talks, sounds super interesting and most impt k learn a lot...BUT as u know big4 like kiam ka nah...starting pay 2.4k...nt tat i asking for sky, but market rate for com eng easily above tat...those ppl doing accounting still ok since 3yr course...kns i study 4 yr then make me do one super xiong FYP then same pay...like a bit sian...think they do something like accenture but more focused on security side... was thinking also do pre-sales, cause i really like the idea of prsale and most imply i like to do presentations and meet ppl, but heard tat its quite impossible for fresh grad to become one in an MNC, is it true? also heard pre-sales ppl k be easily replaced... thanks for the long read...ur comments much appreciated...

Civil servants shd have better work-life balance since usual working hrs is from 9 am to 5 pm? so is this still required ? By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 July 2007 1723 hrs Photos 1 of 1 SINGAPORE: Civil servants can look forward to a better work-life balance. An advocate and ambassador will be appointed in every public sector agency to help find the middle ground between the two worlds. The "happy worker is a good worker" mantra is now being fully embraced by the government. And it is going beyond its five-day work week policy introduced three years ago. Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister and Minister In Charge of Civil Service, said: "The Work-life Advocate will by its very name be a champion for work-life and pro-family measures. "He will take steps to ensure that work-life policies are in place, and more importantly that these policies work for the employees as well as the organisation. "To signal the government's commitment, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry will be the Work-Life Advocate." Said Sim Gim Guan, Work-Life Advocate, Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, "There are many aspects, depending on which stage they're in, especially for the new grads who are joining us. "One of the things that we want to look at is providing opportunities for them to socialise, within the ministry as well as the rest of the stat boards." International human resource experts say there are several emerging trends when it comes to work-life balance. The first is the aging workforce. This is a global trend, not unique to just Singapore. Here, Singapore scores well for its policies in hiring older workers. The second is the increasing role of women in the workplace. The Employer Alliance, a network of companies committed to enhancing work-life integration, notes more businesses have taken the lead to make the work environment more pro-family. Men are now also demanding such policies. Having these policies means a more competitive edge. Said Claire Chiang, Chairperson, Employer Alliance, "As a parent, they are worried. So they would like, maybe, a work design, where they can have some hours at work, some hours at home, or they can work at home. "This way, they can give the best to both and it is possible with enabling technology. Companies have shown such examples. They have not had a drop in productivity, but have in fact shown overall enhancement of work performance." "One thing that Singapore can learn... look at the European Union, the US experience, other countries and look at what is the relationship between individual businesses and what the government can set the pace for," said Arlene Johnson, Vice President, WFD Consulting. HR experts say there are 25 years worth of research in work-life balance that Singapore can tap into, when implementing the many options available. - CNA/yy