Ambition Tech Blog | Singapore – IT careers, job market updates, news and events

The classic perception of a typical IT career is dramatically changing in Singapore. As the Technology sector matures and diversifies, there are many new job scopes and designations that are creating momentum in the market. The defining theme seems to be that business and technology are far less mutually exclusive than before. Looking back 20 years and a typical Computer Science graduate would see his or her career in IT as following a fairly typical and predictable career progression:

Developer > Senior Developer > Team Leader > Program Manager > CIO                 
Developer > Senior Developer > Architect > Development Manager > CTO

Granted this may be a massive simplification, but essentially, this is the classic roadmap and any deviation is just renaming the standard designation.

However, as the Technology sector widens in scope and as end user businesses align their IT departments more with the user audience, the job landscape has been broadening proportionally. This is a worldwide phenomenon that is seen in the more mature MNC populated markets; Singapore is now firmly in this category. Granted we may already be familiar with the term ‘business technologist’. This refers to combined skill set of understanding both IT and business skillsets  with a view to bridging IT and business functions. Without stating the obvious, around 20 years ago, this gave rise to job titles such as Business / Systems analyst or Project Manager.

To this extent it is quite common to see career business analysts who major in a specific business domain such as front office investment banking or telecoms billing, and to this extent the direction their career would take would be as much dictated by their business knowledge as their appreciation for technology (if not more).

My point is that this category of employment is widening dramatically. Someone from a background discipline in Computer Science who wants to further immerse himself or herself  in the world of business could end up doing any one of the following:

• Business Process Optimisation (BPO/BPM): This is a fast growing area of demand and is concerned with aligning an organisation’s business processes with user requirements. The overall objective is an improvement in business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology. One difference with the classic BA role is that this role is not linked to specific solutions implementations. Instead BPMs attempt to improve processes continuously. One very well recognised skill set in the area is Six Sigma, which is increasingly becoming an industry standard in business optimisation.
• Project Management Office (PMO): Often confused with Project Management, this is a further significant growth area for Singapore within the MNC community. In short it is to be distinguished from project management as being the group or department within a business that defines and maintains standards for project management, so it is essentially a supporting, behind-the-scenes function. The PMO is typically the source of documentation and metrics to facilitate the PM execution and is all there to facilitate the scaling of projects through the creation of a template model which can more easily be replicated.
• IT Security, Audit and Compliance: Traditionally within an MNC (especially banking), you would have departments dedicated to Governance, Risk Management and Compliance and this would cover exclusively business/operational matter such as  Basel II compliance. Then you would have a completely separate team covering IT specific security taking ownership for the implementation and support of technology platforms to safeguard information risks such as viruses, hacking etc.  But the separation between these 2 areas has become significantly less clear cut. Take as an example the CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor). This is a job designation that is wholly rooted in the world of IT in terms of domain but is also solely concerned with safeguarding against regulatory breaches in a business operations context, eg information leakage.

So in highlighting these new, exciting and emerging domains that have leapt onto the Singapore technology job landscape in  the last few years (and are noticeably accelerating in very recent times), what are the ramifications from a recruitment perspective. In my mind, I have made the following observations:

Computer Science is a great qualification to have from a vocational point of view and has a clear career path connected to it, but the opportunities have widened significantly;
Computer Science graduates should no longer be tagged as the geek squad who are only comfortable handling code or eliciting software requirements. Coming from a technical background provides an excellent appreciation of the systems underpinning global corporations, but for those capable, it is very possible to break into the business side of the fence.

This ambiguity puts greater pressure on recruiters and HR teams to better understand the inner working of their clients / stakeholders. Reviewing a job spec is increasingly inadequate when it comes to understanding the full gist of a line manager’s requirements. For instance, a spec may be for an IT security, governance and audit specialist, but only by asking the question and probing will we understand that the line manager is really seeking someone with Computer Science DNA, since this may suit the culture of the business.

There is undeniably a positive upshot to all of this however since the very basis of making these observations is that MNCs are locating their core commercial IT functions here in Singapore which is giving rise to significant levels of diversification in relation to the above. Also whilst budding Computer Science graduates should not look to specialise too early, it is important to be aware that there may be other options down the line other than becoming a program manager or CIO as an ultimate career goal!

A year can pass very quickly for an expat in Singapore – in fact 2012 has been more of a blur, which has been quite tricky to navigate and not the easiest to rationalize looking back. The fact is, coming out of the end and heading into 2013, I have 2 over-riding sentiments:

2012 was still fairly bouyant for the IT job market in Singapore – at least significantly more so than other primary sectors.

There is also quite a bit of optimism heading into 2013 – in fact, if general sentiment holds strong, we can expect it realistically to be better than 2012.

At no point when I write these blogs do I wish to sound like I have the business insight of an economist or the technical appreciation of an actual IT professional, but one thing us recruiters do know about is ‘sentiment’. Often I get the impression our clients recognize the quid pro quo of meeting with us is that  they will be able to obtain such market insights from us.

Whilst there are obviously many macro-economic factors that can and will have a significant impact on job prospects for Singapore such as trading conditions in China, the European debt crisis or the US fiscal cliff, these are conditions that are out of our control. However, sentiment (another phrase for this  could be “general confidence in the market”) is something that is very real and present in our day to day working lives and something we can pick up on and control (and actually understand!)

Looking back at 2012, the sentiment factor was extremely variable across the year. Talking to businesses and stakeholders as candidates and clients alike across banking, telecoms and niche sectors such as software vendors and on-line businesses, there was evidence of  general concern around the future. The net result of course was that recruitment only occurred on a needs must basis.

My feeling in Singapore is that most businesses want to grow – they see South East Asia as a big opportunity and they will need to invest to secure the returns. So there are underlying momentum fuelling opportunities in the job market, but there are macro economic factors that nobody really understands that is putting the brakes on things. If it weren’t for this, the Singapore job market (especially for Technology) would be super buoyant. So many of the stakeholders we are dealing with are talking of having to run operations without the full compliment of staff they need and if they had the budget they would push headcount by 10% or so. So these teams are busy, which means they have workflow, which means their customer are placing demands on them, which they are presumably invoicing for …am I right?!

In spite of all the uncertainty, a lot of people were recruited into new technology roles in 2012. It was actually still a pretty strong year and if you were a top draw IT professional with a core skill set like Java, SAP or cloud infrastructure or had great Project Management skills with a PMP, and were on the job market, you would have had rich pickings. As a business, we can safely say we had a reasonable year in relation to placing such candidates. Another market that I have to say saw steady growth, seemingly unphased by what was going on in the world was the on-line sector. Ultimately, the combined effect of changing consumer habits on a global, macro scale and the extent to which Singapore is increasingly perceived as the best place to position an Asia on-line development hub drove some fantastic opportunities to recruit.

Where things fell flat was at the real senior end, which highlights the extent to which all the action was at the needs must end, i.e. if a business needs a Java developer, it probably means they will fail unless they get that person on board. Our hope is that  in 2013, the senior, strategic end of the market will open up again as the fog begins to fade around the economic uncertainties that pervaded 2012.

So to summarize, 2012 was a year Singapore braved pretty well if we are to assess through job market opportunity. It got through despite everything and was fuelled on a needs must basis. I am definitely seeing a lift in sentiment across different industries right now as we assess hiring plans for 2013 and whether this is because corporations feel we are out of the woods or now have a better understanding of the macroeconomic factors I have alluded to; I really don’t know. My belief though is that companies are really keen now to execute their strategy for Asia and not hold back any longer as this is bad for business. Plus furthermore we expect (and hope) that we will see the portfolio opening up for the senior professional as companies look beyond their immediate plans and start planning ahead more for future growth to 2015.

The topic of salary in the Singapore Technology market is a source of constant debate and evaluation, notably because it is such a fast moving sector which has changed dramatically in the last 2 years. As recruiters, we are regularly being asked ‘what is the market rate for X or Y?’ by candidates and clients alike. Whilst some clients may approach 3^rd party consultancies for specially formulated data, I do genuinely believe a good recruitment agency is able to offer a reasonably accurate price guide if they are in tune with their market.

The fact is, in Singapore, offering an accurate answer seems no longer to be a science but an art. Due to the many layers that now exist within the technology landscape, it is a completely subjective process. Take the example of a mid level Java developer. It is largely the bread and butter of recruiters’ requirement portfolio; it tends to be a fairly definable and predictable set of requirements and a good recruiter should be able to write the CV of typically suitable candidate, eg:

Computer Science Degree
5yrs+ structured OO development
Core Java / J2EE skills
Full SDLC exposure
Database skills
(One would hope good communication skills…)

But what happens to the salary benchmarking process now? Singapore is increasingly becoming Asia’s epicenter for on-line services development and many investment banks are building specialist development teams locally to provide globally distributed platforms. Will the average candidate who meet the criteria above squarely be the perfect fit? Absolutely not! Singapore is becoming more and more a haven for the rock star quality developer with salaries to match. To put this in context, I would say a typical salary benchmark for a Java developer would be $6-8K/month (which many may say is very competitive looking at Technology professionals generally). But in very recent times, we have seen your top quality talent being offered as much as $12-14K/month. This is an upper quartile salary by any standard, let alone for a hands-on developer. But the fact is, in terms of global significance, top developers should be offered this type of bounty salary. They are extremely talented individuals who are helping to shape and evolve the on-line products and services we use daily, increasing our quality of life and in the case of the banks, your top developers are helping to safeguard against a repeat of the GFC of 2008.

Put this also in context of Silicon Valley (or even Bangalore), where your rockstar developer could be offered a salary in the millions quite literally. If Singapore is to stand a chance of becoming a genuine hub for innovation, it has to be on par in terms of salaries to attract and retain talent.

But in spite of all this (and perhaps to the relief of HR and line managers who have their eye on rapidly evaporating budgets), as recruiters we need to be mindful of the inflationary effect of the themes above. There does seem to have crept into the psychology of the Technology jobseeker a magic ‘20%’, ie the de facto increment that any job seeker should look to achieve. I have to say, I contest this strongly. Again, the reason for moving job is completely subjective and appropriate pay increases should really be evaluated on a case by case basis. Granted, some candidates may well warrant a 20% pay increase (and in some cases more), but what about those who have moved jobs only 6 months prior and achieved the same lift? Really – where does it all end?! Just because someone has been made redundant or has fallen foul of some internal restructuring, it does not mean they are eligible for a pay increase in the next role they find.

I’m am certainly not saying all candidates are like this, but we do have to combat irrational inflationary psychologies when considering appropriate salary expectations and focus more on the facts of the particular scenario. This has to be measured also against choosing the right employer in terms of opportunities, culture, learning and development potential, stability etc.

But one thing is for sure: The neat and tidy benchmarking of 5 years ago has definitely been blown out of the water by the innovation trend in Singapore. So whilst I side with the employer when it comes to unfounded salary expectations, if companies do want the best of the best, such talent will (and should) come at a price.

We hear regularly about the extent to which the ASEAN region has the most impressive statistics when it comes to internet usage from a consumer perspective, but where does all te technology driving these platforms come from. If this region has the highest volume growth in Internet usage globally, then what about Singapore as a hub for on-line innovation? Until the last 3 years, heavy reliance was always placed on the usual suspects when it came to new platforms and services such as California’s Silicon Valley and the epicentre of Indian software excellence that is Bangalore. Such places have massive pull when it comes to attracting the greatest software engineers globally to earn such accolades as ‘rockstar’ and earning the kind of salary to match.

But given the trends in internet usage and mobile enablement (80% of the population in ASEAN have internet access through some kind of smart device), surely there is a strong basis for challenging the current state of play.

Suffice to say, we are observing increasing numbers of US (typically NASDAQ listed or with a California HQ) and European on-line businesses looking to establish presence in ASEAN and Singapore specifically. This simply goes back to the fact that Singapore is an extremely attractive location for an operations and innovation hub plus the Singapore Economic Development Board is pushing the attraction of such businesses to the region as a top agenda. Typically, we are seeing the growth sectors as on-line shopping, travel, on-line content and brand marketing, digital publishing and general consumer services like banking. To name a few, in the last 3 years the following household names have established a development HQ here in the region: TUI, Sabre, Expedia, AirAsia, Paypal, Vistaprint and Agoda – all of which are premiership household brands which we all regularly rely on.

There is one obvious challenge however – the on-line industry really is a distinct domain in itself, so when it comes to finding the right kind of developer, unless the candidate has worked on systems handling the same volume and scale as a typical public facing internet service, the they just won’t cut the mustard. Typically developers from the Singapore market would develop in house applications or off the shelf products meant for few hundred. The new advent of B2C services need to be fit for user audiences in the 1 million+ territory with zero downtime. So if so many businesses are moving here at once and there was no real evidence of this type of project load previously, then where is your source of talent?

To emphasis the capability gap, we have identified very strong candidates who will interview through us for top tier investment banks as well as companies that are part of this new on-line influx. More often than not, they will be offered by the bank but will be rejected by the on-line company. In other words, capital markets are typically associated with best of breed but sometimes the bar is even higher within on-line.

Such factors can only place extra pressure on limited local talent and create a big push for external.

Often, CTO of heads of engineering are pulled in from abroad from competitor companies, which is an understandable trend if new businesses in new industries are setting up in region. But for many practical reasons, you simply cannot populate your whole floor space with foreign talent and there has to be something in it for the Singaporean developer community. This is where thinking outside the box comes in. One string to Singapore’s bow is it’s excellent standards when it comes to Computer Science educational standards, especially when considering world class institutions such as NUS and NTU. This gives rise to an ever-renewing pool of super talented junior prospects that may as yet be undiscovered, are working in other sectors, but are keen to make the switch or those that are in advanced study or have just completed their PhD. Looking at other industries, assuming you are looking at the right areas, investment banking or capital markets can give rise to suitable talent, especially those handling high volume, realtime, or transactional platforms. It’s worth noting that salaries on offer for best of breed in on-line are at least as good as banking, which will come as a surprise to some. For a Senior level Java developer, salaries for a top tier on-line business can be as much as S$150k+.

The dynamics of this are likely to change very quickly as things do in Singapore, once the playing field gets more set and local skills get tuned up, ie it will become a battle between on-line firms on the ground competing for ‘rock-star’ talent. With the number of on-line firms now on the ground and with the volume of hiring (typical development hubs are 20+ developers) there will be a talent pool of several hundred of these very high calibre software engineers in Singapore being competed over. This is likely to have an inflatory impact on salary and create an aggressive, ‘head-hunt’ market. It will also put pressure on firms to create ‘high retention’ working cultures as much as possible.

In terms of the technology trends themselves, such firms are typically resorting to open source platforms, (75% of the cut) and the rest Microsoft. This places demand on the side of core Java, J2EE, but emergence of new skill sets such as PHP, Perl, Ruby (on Rails) and MySQL, underpinned with very strong knowledge of Linux platforms which seems to be the direction things are heading. Skills wise, we are seeing greater distinction between front, middle and back end developers. Typically, the best developers will have a combination of these skills, but most on-line developers will major in one or the other which is a reflection of how development teams are broken down, ie there will always be a team dedicated to look and feel (CSS, Ajax And Web 2.0 skills); then there will be the more engineering component, dedicated to business logic, availability and scalability etc. There are also many new terms to be found in a typical spec which are related to Cloud, such as Azure and Amazon EC2. This is since many on-line services are leveraged through some kind of back end cloud infrastructure, which is really is a sign of a changing landscape, as such terms were rarely ever seen or discussed with recruiters pre 2010 in Singapore. These distinctions are a sign of the evolving Singapore market and a great development in terms of expanding scope and volume of options to the budding developer.

Moreover all the above trends combined can only be healthy in terms of the typical pay packet a Singapore based developer can enjoy in this sector. I have already alluded to comparisons with the banking sector, but if you consider the ‘bounty’ earning enjoyed by your best developers in innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley or even Banglore in India, this should come as no surprise.  After all, such levels of innovation are changing global consumer habits as we know it at an incredible pace and scale. What will be interesting will be whether Singapore can set itself up as a world leader for innovation and be used to drive global development initiatives, rather than regional support and customization which is realistically where Singapore currently sits. This will be driven by the success of on-line services business in region, but more importantly by the level of innovation that can be leveraged here – so the challenge is set for the Singapore development community to match the salaries of the Silicon Valley Rock stars, but this may take some time to achieve.

There has been a fairly constant barrage of negative publicity surrounding the state of the banking industry for a sustained period now; the latest barrage coming from the direction of tier 1 investment banking institutions and allegations of excessive risk taking leading to black holes and rate rigging. These have all led to a spate of resignations at the highest level. This certainly isn’t good news for the job market within banking as any experienced recruiter will know. Such incidents can lead to knee jerk reactions based around hiring confidence across all disciplines. This is further compounded by the impact such incidents can have on share price. In simple terms as share prices fall, banks are under increasing pressure to shore up costs; it’s incredible how quickly this can lead to budget freezes and retractions on hiring across the board. However, despite all this negative publicity around banking at the moment, I would like to draw attention to a far happier narrative within the banking technology world. Whilst the typical preserves of front office trading technology opportunities have seen a slow down, there are hiring themes within banking technology which are actually in growth mode based on our first hand experience – interestingly these observations are fairly unique to the South East Asia market, so the most likely readers of the blog should read on!

Tier 2 Investment banks:

It seems to be show time for the smaller banking institutions. As larger banks seem to be thinking of ways of cutting costs through offshoring or simply cutting the fat out of their operating costs, many smaller, lesser known banking institutions are expanding in the region. The significance for Technology professionals is that there is a trend within such institutions of setting up local specialist IT operations in the region rather than relying on remote support from HQ. As such we are seeing many greenfield development and support units being set up on a boutique scale to provide such local support.

Hedge funds, trading houses and buy side institutions:

Despite a dose of negatively publicity in the wake of the global financial crisis surrounding practices such as short-selling, institutions falling into the category seem to have remained fairly inconspicuous. Furthermore, we are seeing a raft of technology requirements arising in this field. Whilst the scale of such environments is much smaller, they tend to be run in very slick fashion and consist of the very best (and highly remunerated) professionals available on the market. So whilst the hiring process can be quite rigorous, if you are a premiership developer or network / platform specialist with the intellect and stomach for very high volume (24 by 7, realtime environments, and demanding user base) this could be an avenue worth investigating even if you do not come for a banking background. These types of institution place a lot of emphasis on the very best computer science capabilities.

Middle office, regulatory and risk platforms:

Post GFC, there have been notable increases in demand for highly skilled business technologists across application support / development, business analysis and projects, who have a real grasp of the principles underpinning risk, regulatory reporting, and enterprise data management. Since many leading institutions got caught out back in 2008, it led to the realisation that investment in such areas is essential to mitigate such risks in future and the way to do this is through automation frameworks based on best of breed technology platforms. The exciting thing for the technology professional is that much of this work is completely greenfield and much of it seems to be hubbed in South East Asia. The types of role we have seen include demand for best in class software engineers in primary platforms such as Java and Oracle to drive application build from scratch. We have also seen an increase in demand for Project Managers and Business Analysts who have a profound understanding of risk and regulator frameworks as well as other middle office functions such as cash management.

Shared services:

It’s worth mentioning the explosive growth in the Shared Services function in South East Asia. Whilst this may not be centred upon Singapore specifically, there have been significant developments in Malaysia, which is now positioned as the 3^rd largest outsourcing market after China and India. Kuala Lumpur is seen strategically as a very attractive half way house between Singapore and India in terms of cost of labour, versus quality of headcount. Malaysia harbours significant technical clout, but the salary demands are typically 60% of the salary of the same employee based in Singapore. But as the opportunities are so varied in areas such as Java and Network / Server support and given the increasing appeal of KL as an ex-pat enclave, it may lead to a growing interest from Singaporeans (especially those of Malaysian heritage) who may be experiencing a slightly tighter market at the moment. Add to this the fact that living costs are c 50% that in Singapore then it starts to become a viable option.

In summary, the banking industry has taken a hit, but we should really be sensible in terms of how we perceive this in terms of impact on the job market. Whilst we really never can tell what the future holds, there are fresh and exciting horizons afoot for technologists in the south east Asia market. The general theme is that many tier 1 institutions are re-hubbing their IT operations which is leading to more IT being based in Singapore and the immediate surrounding regions. Furthermore, the attitude of many of the banks is that globally, they wish to hire less people overall, but more people in region, of a higher quality with the acceptance they may be on a higher salary – in other words quality over quantity to maximise ROI. So the upshot is that financial institutions are hiring with more rigour, the dreaded interview process will get longer rather than shorter, but there is always space for the killer candidate who can go the distance.

Contracting is more the norm than the alternative in many of the mature IT labour markets globally. In the UK, 70% of IT staff are employed on a contract basis and the figures are similar across western Europe and Australia. Since working in Singapore, I have heard continued reports of the contractor market gaining traction and how it’s becoming a more accepted model for employment – whilst there may be examples here and there, I have yet to feel that contracting has really bedded in.

The obstacles seem to be 3 fold: The attitude of employers; the attitude of the candidate market itself; and difficulties around securing employment passes on an interim basis.

To tackle any discussion around contracting, I do feel it’s necessary to address semantics – contracting in the real sense refers to a situation whereby an employee does not work according to the “employers’” contract. Instead he or she is employed through a 3rd party (typically an agency), almost like a freelancer and is paid monthly through this 3rd party. Essentially this contractual relationship goes to the core of the beauty of this set up – it allows flexibility.

I have heard the term ‘contractor’ applied on many occasions in the Singapore market applied to situations where the employee is employed on a ‘fixed term’, typically 6 or 12 months, at the end of which the employee is let go as per the contract or is reemployed on another fixed term or permanent basis. The critical difference here is that the employee is employed on the employers’ own contract, so neither party enjoys any of the flexibility of the previously described arrangement.

So what I’m interested in is why Singapore is so late on the uptake of contract employment in the real sense, when the market is so ripe for it and the benefits so manifest. In case you weren’t aware – clear and apparent benefits are as follows:

For the employer:

• Contractors are not fixed costs. If work needs doing, contractors can be employed to get the job done in a way that does not affect the P&L so directly; It’s therefore an effective bypass to the dreaded blanket headcount freeze when there’s still work to be done.
• Most work in the world of IT is project based, i.e. there’s a definable body of work with an end point – what do you do with your permanent staff when the project is delivered – it’s a recurrent HR headache.
• Also resource can be brought in on the basis of the specific skills that are required for a fixed period rather than having to train up existing staff, which can be unpredictable and costly.

All in all, the benefits point in one direction – the ability to manage cost and resources more effectively.

For the contractor:

• For the skilled contractor, the over-riding benefit is flexibility – provided there is enough work about, the individual can work almost freelance from contract to contract without the need to become entrenched in each company environment either culturally or contractually. This could afford an ideal set up for the working mother or father who could work from home provided the job gets done.

The inhibitors:

The way I see it, the primary obstacle to the emergence of a viable contract market is very much like the chicken and egg analogy. In western and Australia markets, the emergence of the contract market as we know it came about as a result of the demand for highly specialist skill sets that were very much in demand in environments that were definably project based with an end point. An example of this may be the implementation of a specialist SAP module in an end user environment (SAP is primarily a contract based industry from a labour point of view). The contractor would be highly paid on an hourly or daily rate that would be, pro rata, significantly more than a permanent equivalent. The contractor would also be sourced from anywhere globally and be hired primarily on technical rather than any kind of cultural fit. The skill capability of the contractor would warrant the higher rate and simultaneously mitigate the contractor’s risk in taking work that is not guaranteed for anything more than 6 months (the duration of a typical contract).

Whilst the outlay for the employer may be high, they are able to get the best man for the job in skill terms and manage the cost more effectively as there is no need to retain the resource once the job is done. This set up really only works in situations where the skill set is ‘speciality’ and where the employer can be introduced to a certain candidate audience that excel in this area above and beyond their permanent counterparts, where you may find skills are more diluted and generalist.

The chicken and egg scenario for Singapore is that until employees get to experience the tangible benefits of tapping into this speciality audience, then the upfront costs are going to be difficult to justify (a good contractor may have a going rate double that of a permanent equivalent on a pro rata basis). The problem with this is twofold:

• These speciality audiences are very rare in Singapore – it’s a relatively small market plus it seems there is a certain cultural aversion to setting oneself up as a contractor (discussed in a moment).
• If an employer is to get the best from outside Singapore it is almost impossible to get past the EP regulations in place. If someone from the UK wanted to come and work as a contractor here in Singapore for 6 months through a 3rd party contract, it would almost certainly not get past the MOM. The only alternative would be to look at those on a PEP, a PR or Singaporean national – needless to say this closes off the candidate audience dramatically.

So if finding foreign talent on an interim basis is virtually out of the question, this leaves the local candidate market. The issue here is that Singapore IT labour market is relatively new – it would be unrealistic is expect an IT professional to silo their skills to such an extent that they specialise in a small handful of SAP modules to the Nth degree. As the market is so ‘perm’ dominated, it will always be more sensible to be a ‘jack of many trades’ rather than a ‘master of one’!

From a cultural point, I think it would be fair to say that there is a certain sanctity around one’s employment status in Singapore that may even go to the root of family interests. To set oneself up as a contractor or freelancer is perceived as a secondary status that puts you on the fringes of your employer and has a high risk component that is not desirable. Furthermore as the contract market has not really evolved, there is no real kick back in terms of up front earning potential.

There may be trends within the IT labour market in Singapore that suggest certain changes afoot, but at present, contract recruitment is little more than a ‘try before you buy principle’. Until some of the points above are untangled, I don’t really see contract recruitment becoming a viable employment model in Singapore – looking at some of the challenges employers face currently to the ongoing speciality talent shortage in IT, this does pose a challenge for the sustained economic growth in the region.

At a consumer level, Mobile applications or “apps” are already very much embedded in the public perception – this is in no small part down Apple’s involvement in making them as accessible and ‘cool’ as is humanly possible. However, the same cannot necessarily be said of B2B mobility, which essentially leverages the same technology platforms – however as is common in the world of IT, there is a significant gulf between perception and reality, especially if we consider recent growth trends and projections over the next 5 years.

The basic facts around mobility versus desk bound platforms as an access to web speak for themselves. In fact according to Gartner, By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. Furthermore in Asia, it is predicted that 20% of a consumer’s first ever access to the web will be via some kind of smart device. Whilst much of the B2C apps market is awash with rather frivolous tools that aren’t necessarily going to transform the economic landscape as we know it, things get a little more interesting when we think about mobile as a means to transact or indeed bring products to the attention of a certain user audience. By 2014, over 3 billion of the world’s adult population will be able to transact electronically via mobile, including mobile payment, commerce and banking – this fact alone puts an entirely different spin on the real significance of smartphone adoption at a consumer and B2B level.

Looking more closely at the B2B market, consider the example of a major train operator employing 1,300 train conductors who had limited access to real-time information and paper-based business processes. They wanted to improve the quality of information and service their conductors were providing to their 270,000 daily passengers. As such, they completely overhauled the way in which they worked with the introduction of Blackberrys to all conductors, enabling super quick on the spot ticketing plus real time service updates through mobile email as distinct from unreliable SMS. The upshot is a significantly improved customer experience and a resulting ROI, which is ultimately why any investment in a new IT solution is made. Another rapidly accelerating trend is the uptake of ERP solutions through mobile – recently a major prestige vehicle brand with an ASEAN HQ here in Singapore undertook a major hiring spree for Solutions Architects with strong experience of Android and Handel C to help transition their existing web browser ERP to mobile tablet form. This enabled their 400 employees within sales, distribution and finance to carry out they day to day workload on the move. Typically you would only have seen such technical requirements within quirky start up design agencies.

Other common application areas we are seeing include:

• Process automation – Apps that automate specific client solutions, eg that lets customers browse your stock, place orders and check order status;
• Event or product-launch updates – Apps for an upcoming conferences that might help attendees plan their schedules or connect with others ahead of time through social media or that announces upcoming product innovations that keep clients ahead of the field and boost their engagement
• Manufacturing – Apps to enable efficient equipment reliability and maintenance, eg the use of a mobile application that would allow a machine operator to connect to the equipment manufacturer for troubleshooting.
• Food and pharmaceutical – As these are such regulated industries, mobile apps help streamline regulatory compliance or avoid non-compliance for processes such as commissioning and qualification, hazmat handling, etc.?
• Geo- Location-based services – Enhance productivity by optimizing support resources and improving customer response time.
• Calculators and reference tools – increasingly popular, especially for the technical audience. Whether it’s ROI, popular engineering formulae or productivity/efficiency calculations.

In terms of platforms, in the world of B2C. the Apple iPhone is one of the most popular destinations for apps . However Google’s Android OS is quickly gaining popularity along with Blackberry and other devices within the B2B market. Though other devices such as iPads and Windows Mobile OS devices do exist, they are so new that the uptake on the enterprise market is difficult to judge – certainly, for the time being , Blackberry and Android are leading the chase. The broader point is that now such mobile platforms are forming a significant part of the recruitment wish list – it goes beyond saying that for the budding software engineer, gaining experience in 1 or 2 of the above would be a very smart move.

So it would seem, mobile apps are no longer the preserve of the gadget addict at a consumer level – on a B2B level, the uptake of mobile apps seems to be all about  servicing customers anytime and anywhere; the possibilities are phenomenal as are the implications for the technology job market.

The shift Singapore has made to becoming a regional hub for so many MNCs is already well documented as are the implications of this in terms of the job market. However, the dialogue around how to bridge the gap between demand and supply of speciality IT staff seems to continually go round in circles especially in relation to the matter of local versus imported talent. This is only exacerbated when you are dealing with specialist positions where there are both business domain and technical requirements to fulfill.

Examples of this could be a bank looking to hire application development staff with domain knowledge in a specific area / process within the bank (e.g. FX, or an area as specific as cash management for wholesale banking), or it could be a digital design agency that are looking for testing staff that also have an understanding and interest in the creative process of the websites or products that they are required to test.

What options do these companies have to identify the required talent and how can they attract talent into what is globally one of the most exciting and active markets?

Some companies look to bring staff in from overseas. While this can offer up a solution it is often expensive to relocate staff. There is also always a risk when relocating employees that they will not settle into their new environment which can lead to an even more difficult situation of having someone in post for a few months who then resigns, putting the company back at square one. Also, when working in Asia it certainly helps to have an understanding of the culture and nuances of doing business in the region.  From a long term sustainability perspective, relocating staff globally, may not always be in the best interest of the local business.

As a recruiter, one of the biggest challenges we face in identifying high caliber talent is when companies will rigidly stick to a specific job description offering no flexibility around the criteria, which can often lead to having an empty desk for months resulting in projects running behind or getting cancelled negatively impacting revenue streams.

One of the more enlightened ways that companies deal with this problem is to become more creative with their hiring. Clearly, if you have a project running that requires an application to be developer in Java, then there is no point bringing on someone with a .Net background. However if you cannot find both the Technical and domain knowledge there are other factors that could be used in shortlisting candidates.

In this instance companies can look at criteria such as: Does the person fit the company culture? Do they have very strong technical skills? Are they a self-starter? Have they proven track record in picking up a new domain previously? Do they have a skill set that will lend itself to the requirements of the job? Are they able to train up in a specific skill set relevant to the job? If so, it can be a better investment in the long run for companies to bring onboard an employee that fits the company, shows relevant interest and has the potential to do the job, and then spend a few months training them up. It is relatively easy to teach domain, it is not easy (impossible?) to teach talent, common sense or competency. This is especially the case when you are dealing with candidates who have a strong understanding of Computer Science fundamentals such as C++, Java, OO development, design patterns, multithreading etc.

Further to the point, according to the statistics some 44% of Singapore residents are Degree holders. There are close to 45,000 students graduating each year, c10,000 of which in IT related qualifications (Source: MoE 2009 Education Statistics Digest). This gives prospective employers a large pool to source well educated candidates from. So one solution to fill that ongoing vacancy can be to open up the job specification and consider those who have the potential to shine with the right level of investment – this in turn will lead to upskilling the local population and provide longer term stability in the function.

From a common sense point of view, it’s the best solution for Singapore and requires only a small leap of faith on the part of the employer community.

As we enter the Year of the Dragon here in Singapore, many of you will have your eye on exploring the job market once the New Year celebrations subside. This could be for any number of push or pull factors or you may simply feel like benchmarking your current status. For many of you however, this will be based on the yearly bonus cycle that we are all familiar with – the job market always warms significantly around March as so many employees shore up their search until bonuses have been received to evaluate next steps…

As agents the best thing we can do is embrace this yearly migration, so with this in mind I offer a set of key things to consider when re-entering the job market – all are common sense and possibly obvious, but it’s amazing how many high skilled and capable candidates fall foul.

Retool your cv.
It is not effective to submit the same  CV for 50 different job applications. It is a good idea to research the specific role you are applying for and tailor accordingly – of course you MUST always ensure the information on the CV is accurate, but these days, as job specs have so many facets and there are so many permetations of the same job type, it’s almost impossible to be all things to all men based on 1 CV – especially in Technology..

Prepare
Good preparation will help you exude confidence and confidence is the first step to success. Firstly, It is essential to know key details about the prospective employer (domain, years established, USPs, scale, recent business developments) and the spec you are applying for (always ask for a job spec and review in advance of the interview – linking your background to the key competencies). On a more personal level, many questions you will encounter these days in an interview are designed to challenge and are often open in nature. No-one should sound scripted but continued self evaluation will ensure finger tip, concise and meaningful answers that you can justify – we explore these themes further below.

First Impressions Count:
There is a difference in opinion about how many seconds it takes for an interviewer to form first impressions but it ranges from 30 to 60 seconds, with some saying that it is formed within the first 5 seconds when you extend your hand to the interviewer.

• Dress professionally.
• Offer a smile and a firm handshake.
• Introduce Yourself!

What are your drivers?
Following from the theme above, it is essential to have a clear grasp of your reasons for making a move – furthermore it is very important you are able to articulate these concisely. Below I explore some regular questions that arise and some suggested approaches – once again, good answers will stem from strong self awareness and personal evaluation:

• Why are you looking to move on?
  Be careful not to criticize people at your current employer and stay away from “higher salary, better benefits, better leave, overtime” etc. Also show that you want to add more value, obtain greater challenges in your work and stretch yourself.
• Strengths and “Weaknesses”
  Prepare a short list of your strengths AND one or two “weaknesses” (which you should portray as areas you are working on to improve into strengths). Be careful with anything too inflammatory, eg I struggle with taking orders from my manager!
• Know Your Achievements
  Know your achievements; how you achieved them and the benefits they resulted in for your employer.
• How do You Overcome Challenges
  Prepare a few examples of how you overcame challenges, problems, issues, at your earlier jobs and current job. What were they? How did you resolve them? What were the outcomes? Would you do it differently “next time” (i.e. did you learn from any negative outcomes)?
• Why Join Us?
  “Why would you like to join us”? Prepare yourself well for this question, especially around the role, the organization and what you can bring to the role. Always do research on the company and the role. The internet may yield a treasure trove of information, which will not only make you look informed but also make you look pro-active. Maybe mention some extra information that you have encountered during your research of the company on the internet.
• Have you ever faced conflict at work from clients/stakeholders?
  How did you handle it? Obviously your answer should be more than just a short “very well”. You will have to think deeper. One great answer I encountered was “I listen actively to try and diffuse any possible anger, then address the issue with facts and invite the other party to discuss the matter logically based on the facts”.
• How do you manage stakeholders (this is an obvious question for people in the IT industry)
  Ensure that you are familiar with what and who stakeholders are.
• How do you measure your own performance?
  As an example, I could offer the following answer provided by an excellent candidate who was successful in securing a role through us: “against key performance indicators which I agree with my manager, or in the absence of that, key performance indicators as per my job description”.
• What are your short, medium and longer term goals?
  Again, it’s important to stay away from anything too fiscal; always strive to provide answers based on personal career ambitions, acquisition of new skills and the opportunity to experience new skills and challenges.
• How do you work under pressure?
  Let’s face it, we all have to deal with targets and deadlines, so always examples ready that show that you are up to the challenge
• What kind of people do you like to work with and why?
  This comes down to cultural alignment and is especially relevant in Singapore given the level of diversity. An ability to gel effectively with colleagues from all backgrounds is all important – again it’s a good idea to provide pertinent examples here.

And …What inspires you and why? Surely there has to be more to going to work than paying the bills?.

The recurrent theme above is that all your assertions should be backed up with well chosen examples that illustrate the point you are making or the competency you are trying to demonstrate. Current interview practice is very much based on this and without examples, employers simply will not be convinced. Furthermore, always be aware that, ultimately, employers are looking for a return on their investment in you as an asset to their team and the business as a whole – so the underlying message should be – ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THE VALUE YOU CAN ADD.

Diversity in the workplace is attracting significant attention within HR circles at the moment for many good reasons. When looking at the proportion of female to male professionals at executive of board level, the net result of discrimination either consciously or unconsciously is as plain as day. However, lack of diversity can be seen on a grand scale when considering the IT space. Tiscali U.K. chief executive Mary Turner highlighted  the disparities in a recent high profile interview when she stated how IT is just part of a bigger picture: “It’s not just women in technology. It’s women in management and women in boardrooms.” But Turner was hopeful that change is on the horizon. “Technology is seen as a geeky male arena but we are seeing more women coming into it and I think it will be exponential. As with everything in life, you need the first cluster to come in and spread the word and encourage”.

From the early 90s, looking at the foremost academic institutions globally, including in Asia, certain statistics  suggested the tide is turning for women as a growing proportion enroll in university degrees which would set someone up well for a career in technology.  Women made up 42 percent of students enrolled in graduate courses in science and engineering in 1993, and  50% in 2006. In the late 1990s, 36 percent of master’s degree holders in science and engineering were women. That went up to 46 % by 2007. However, the reality is counter to what one would expect as  t he proportion of women with bachelors’ degrees working in the computer field fell from 35 percent in the early to mid-’70s to 27 percent between 2000 and 2005.

There is a popular school of thought that the low proportion of women entering the industry is really for social reasons. It is certainly not based on ability as many of the early computer pioneers were female. Indeed, Ada Lovelace  created the  first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine and  as such she is sometimes considered the “World’s First Computer Programmer”.  It is far more likely that during a child’s education, very early on, gender stereotyping often kicks in to the extent that girls are turned off the more masculine disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Since children’s beliefs about their abilities help determine their interest and performance in various subjects of study, girls are often, in effect, conditioned to avoid maths or science disciplines.

When you consider Asia specifically, however, there are pockets where the story is far more positive. In Malaysia and India , the IT population is  very close to a 50 / 50 split between females and males and it is suggested that this may be due to the fact that in both countries, women view careers in IT as a means of employment rather than a status symbol. A job in the Computing industry also implies a safe work environment and better than many of the alternatives, such as working a busy factory floor. Another factor in both countries is the popularity of software engineering, which can actually be done from home and allow women to carry out maternal duties simultaneously.

The story overall does not just rely on these isolated examples of equality, and as Mary Turner points out there are plenty of great case studies of women not just entering but succeeding in  the world of IT.  Some great examples  include CEOs like Meg Whitman, who headed eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and grew it into an enormous business; Patricia Gallup, CEO of PC Connection; and Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox (NYSE: XRX). So perhaps these female pioneers represent part of the cluster that can inspire and buck the trend that is necessary to promote proper diversity. But there is without doubt a long way to go and it is up to employers as much as shifting social perceptions to make this happen.