人資主管訪談(Singapore): IPIB X Sital,英國人對新加坡工作的觀察 (Part 1)

新加坡工作觀察訪談

1. Could you introduce yourself – your background and your current job?

I’ve been based in Singapore for the last 2 years where I work in the Talent Acquisition team of a large global technology firm. So my role is a mixture of recruiting for open vacancies plus talent planning and pipelining building for future hiring needs.

Before that I spent my whole career in London. After graduating, my first role was with a well known UK retailer. After working through various management roles, I made a career change into London’s financial district to work as a recruitment consultant within the banking sector with a specialist boutique firm.

I then transitioned to work inside the recruitment teams of global financial services firms as an interim consultant. More recently in London, I worked as a career coach helping professionals make career transitions during the financial crisis and recession.

2. What made you move to Singapore?

I suppose there were 4 keys reasons for moving to Asia:

a) Gain international experience (which is important in my profession)
b) Get exposure to Asia (where much of future growth will be)
c) To travel and see this part of the world
d) Gut instinct (I’ve been instinctively drawn to Asia for the last few years)

I was advised that Singapore or Hong Kong would be the best places for a first move to Asia given that English is the main business language and both have a similar working cultures to the UK. So I traveled to both locations as part of my search, was offered a role in Singapore – and hence the move here.

3. From your experience and observation, is there any difference in the definition of “career success” between Europe and Asia, (or Britain and Singapore)?

I won’t generalise on the differences between Europe and Asia as the cultures are so different from country to country – Taiwan is very different to Indonesia. And the UK is very different to Portugal.

Also, it depends on the type of firm you work for – whether a local firm or a multi-national company

So based on my personal experience, here are some key differences I’ve seen between Singapore and the UK – some of which may also translate as broad differences between Asia and Europe.

a) Same same, but different

I think there are more areas of similarity than there are differences between Singapore and the UK – particularly if you work for a multi-national firm. In many ways, I suspect that’s the same when you compare Taiwan or other Asian countries to the UK and Europe.

b) Work ethic and focus

Overall there is a slightly stronger work ethic in Singapore.
Don’t get me wrong, people in the UK work hard. But I do sense an in-built focus on working hard in Singaporean people and culture.

c) Influence of family and society

In Singapore (and many other Asians). I see career choices heavily influenced by what their family and society think – particularly young people.
Coming from Indian origin, I understand this.
But I see some westerners surprised by it as many people in the UK and Europe would be less influenced by what others think when making career choices.

d) External Vs Internal success

There appears to be a greater emphasis on job titles and prestige in Singapore. People are deemed to be successful based around their titles, the prestige of their profession or brand of their employer.

In the UK/Europe people seem to have developed a more internalised definition of career success – ‘Do I enjoy what I do? Am I tapping into my strengths? Is my career in tune with my desired lifestyle?’

Of course, people in the UK are similarly driven by external motivators. And people in Singapore are driven by these internal measures of success. But there is a stronger emphasis on external motivators here in Asia.

 

感謝我們的朋友 Sital, 分享他的觀點給我們,歡迎參觀Sital’s website,下星期一將會有Part 2分享給您,不要錯過喔。

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