Originally Posted by Unregistered
(Post 10692)
No problem! Glad to help. I apologize for the confusion - I grew up in the US and now starting work locally in Singapore.
The US is a big place, so let me narrow it down to what I can directly comment on. I grew up in southern California and went to university in northern California by San Francisco / Bay Area. In short, life there is great - the weather, laid back environment, very cheap housing/cars, good pay, etc. The sole reason I came back (at the time) was to serve my National Service obligations (my parents had found a loophole to allow me to attend and complete my education first), and I had every intention of going back to the US after getting through the obstacle that is NS. However I decided to stay in Singapore due to many factors: my family (nuclear & extended) is here; tax here is uber low (also no capital gains!); my friends are great and the nightlife is fantastic; and I figured I'd try something new (most people stereotype Americans as only knowing America with no international exposure). On top of that, I saw opportunity in Singapore. In terms of pure career / earning potential, I feel that at the end-game, Singapore can match or even beat the US (tax is only a small factor in this belief). The opportunities are there, but most people aren't willing to go after it -- more on this later.
Again, I can only speak from my personal experience, which is limited to growing up in southern California and working in the San Francisco / Bay Area. Some other areas (e.g. deep south) can be very different (e.g. much more racist). For me, I didn't find being an asian any hinderance at all to my social or work life. Americans seem to discriminate on anything as long as they have something to discriminate against, mostly if you are different or an outsider. If you are fat, they'll make fun of your weight; if you are ugly, they'll make fun of your looks; if you have no social skills, they'll call you a loser. It's not really based on race, but if people are targeting you due to other reasons, your race will become a factor. Up to high school, this will be the case. But in university the people are smarter, more accepting, and more exposed to international talent. I'll have to admit that this is purely my own personal view - some of my older siblings that were raised in Singapore felt there was discrimination; perhaps I had different experiences since I was raised in the US. Regardless, I've seen people of every race achieve tremendous social success, and even as an Asian I had no problem doing the same.
As for work, it was really too easy to find a job. I have to qualify myself here - I studied Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at a top engineering school located right in/next to Silicon Valley (the tech hub of the world, basically) so it was pretty ideal (this is in no way a coincidence - research your combination of school / major / location). Though I never applied to any jobs, senior year I literally had companies calling/emailing/Facebooking me multiple times a month and sometimes week, and all of my friends who wanted to find jobs were able to - there are plenty of opportunities to network, go to career fairs, join clubs and/or resume books, etc at any school you go to.
I'll end with an explanation of my earlier claim that SG can easily rival/beat the US in terms of job prospects and opportunities, but many locals aren't willing to go for it. In the US my starting pay was $100,000 (USD) per year as a fresh-grad working at a tech startup at which I was an early employee (my best friend and colleague had a matching offer at another big established tech firm, though he decided to join with me). I came back to Singapore to do NS (and was really upset over it at first) but as I mentioned, decided to stay and work in Singapore. I've been on the job hunt for 3 months since ORD and have gotten 4 offers at various financial institutes, all of which had increased in pay -- the first was $1.5k (plus profit share, as a prop trader), second was $3k (plus commission, sales position), third was an analyst position at $4k at a major global bank. I was really on the verge of accepting but decided to decline to pursue another position at a different global financial institute that I felt was more attractive -- it was ridiculously risky as I had only gone through the first (of 7) interviews at the time I had to decide. I got my offer yesterday at $6k + performance bonus (much more than I was prepared to accept. Comparable to US $100k after taxes + CPF etc) and signed the contracts today. I cite this example because I feel that most of the people I meet here have a strong sense of what they are entitled to, and many times that actually limits them (e.g. most people wouldn't dare to turn down the concrete offer of $4k as a fresh grad that recently ORD, or try for a $6k starting salary). My opinion is, if you are confident in your abilities and can take the risk, go for what you feel you are truly worth. I really feel bad for my friends that I meet in army that feel they can only get a certain salary/job/etc because they only went to some poly/jc/uni. Don't feel too limited or tied down by your current qualifications or past!
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