There’s more I want to share but what is niggling in my mind right now is the quality of foreigners that our meritocracy based system is bringing in to replace the “redundant masses”.
I have worked with enough foreigners who claimed to have held Team Leader, Trainer or Manager posts.
Yet they hardly display any of the traits associated with people of that level.
Skill sets were amazingly deficient.
My question is – how are their credentials verified by employers here?
Do they call the employers in their home countries (since most apply here directly while on Social Visit Pass) to do a background check?
But, I feel strongly about this as we are under more scrutiny when applying for jobs which they can easily do it due to the “HR connections”.
T cite a presonal example – shortly before I left my job, I attended a job interview.
I felt that the interviewer (Head of Department) had been convinced of my skills and abilities to the point of using terms like “You will be doing this, you will be doing that” I knew in no absolute terms that a job offer is certain unless I have signed on the dotted line.
She mentioned some concern about my salary expectation but there was no figure being tossed in the air for me to consider.
However, when I did a follow up with their HR 2 weeks after, they were quite vague about the reason I was not chosen.
I was wondering if this was due to the “testimonial” from the company that I was dismissed previously?
The HR repeatedly told me it’s a termination of contract as stated in the employment contract i.e. both parties have a right to do so giving each other one month notice.
I was given a choice to either resign voluntarily on the spot or chose to be terminated.
I gladly took the former and received one month pay in lieu plus company bonus (which was due the month after) and pro-rated AWS.
I believe this would be unheard of for dismissal due to disciplinary action which I was accused of so I felt fortunate in a wry way.
My other colleagues who were targeted for dismissal as well had no such luxury and left on their own accord after being badgered big time.
The irony of it all – I was dismissed on the eve of Labour Day!
Thanks for listening.
Have a great day and weekend ahead
Its the real world, sometimes you need to have a ex colleague to be your “good” reference when you apply for a job. Just go any jobs that match your skills and move on from there (job hopping) until you find the best job for you…..thats life
Never ever say you were terminated from previous job. Just say you were retrenched. In this case is even easier, since your former company was being bought over by another and undergoing re-structuring.
Most local firms don’t really bother to do background checks with previous companies or references.
Anyway for references, you should put people who are prepared & willing to BS about you, say how good you are, how solid your skills, proj mgmt, self-starter, loads of initiative, good business sense, helicopter vision etc etc.
It’s common nowadays to have friends to pretend to be professionals as your references. You think those 2 million foreign talents are all so truthful about their track records and references? Especially in india & philippines, they have entire industries to create a professional background for you, with references and authentic company testimonials with company letterheads and company stamps.
For $5,000 they can create an employment history for you as a senior business analyst working in Mumbai’s Bank of America or Citibank, with 5 years experience, and they have people roleplaying as directors and senior mgmt in the remote event that companies in S’pore actually bother to call them or write to them to check.
That’s true. Alot of 3rd world countries resort to such referees to get a job but when you work with them then you realized that if they can be a manager, you easily can become a CEO lor.
There are a couple of points brought up by the writer James which seem to reflect a very naive view of the working world like a fresh grad in his first month of working. Most of the issues he described as harrowing in his previous company are actually common scenarios that most PMEs would have dealt with in one way or another. Not sure what’s the hooha about.
1. Millions spent on inculcating positive principles – Anyone who has worked around a few big companies know that all this is just a wayang PR / HR show put up by the management. Nobody believes in that shiit and people just turn up for workshop and comms sessions brain dead and treat it as an opportunity to slack and wayang. Not sure why James is so disturbed by this.
2. Company scrutinizing his KPI – Common thing in many big companies, not sure how the fact the company lost money in investments has to do with him being scrutinized on his own KPI. I mean how much money the company lost in some botched investment really has nothing to do with his own KPI right? Is he suggesting that the Company should not scrutinize whether he hit his KPI because somebody else in the company lost big money?
3. Takeover – Most takeovers are followed by an extensive review and reorg after legal completion. This process could take anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. Any company that goes about promising employees their job is secure for sure is plain lying, they have no way of knowing what will happen. Again this sort of thing is very common, not sure why James makes it sound as if the company has let him down greatly by not informing whether his job is secure or not when it is the subject of a takeover bid.
4. Manager / Team Leader no leadership traits – Dude please wake up. These are just business titles gotten from office politics, recruitment negotiations. You work under some manager, happy enough stay, not happy go. What leadership credentials are you looking for? If you are going to have unrealistic expectations like my manager has to display leadership skills, be accredited, people servant, deep professional knowledge I can learn from etc., you are going to suffer from unnecessary anguish and frustration no matter which country/company you go to. Having a good leader as a boss is the exception rather than the norm.
5. Interview example – Theoretically interviewers are supposed to always say “The job requires someone to do this…” or “if you are selected, you will be doing this…” but please understand that a typical interviewer sees like 5-10 candidates for a job, often they just forget and use the short form “you will be doing this…” This is a very common scenario once you have attended enough interviews. Citing this statement as evidence that the HOD has been convinced of your skills and abilities is just lame, then to further come up with conspiracies just because HR does not give you a detailed reason for your rejection (btw they seldom do) is just way over the top.
In summary, while I empathize the rough patch he is going through now, he needs to grow up and adopt a more realistic view of the working world. It is one thing to complain & let off steam about such standard stuff in a social talk cock setting, but to get bogged down to the point of suffering from multiple health problems is very very bad. A bold prediction for James – You will find exactly the same problems you have complained about in your next employer.