About a year ago, I went to Singapore (Baidu -> Tik Tok) to start my overseas coding journey

This article focuses on the similarities and differences between writing code in Singapore and in China. The content mainly includes:

  1. Pace of work: Is overseas really very free?
  2. Salary & Life: You earn more and spend more, so you don’t earn much?
  3. Technology related: Higher quality overseas code?
  4. Process related: How did you go?

background

Coordinates Beijing west two flags, I was in Baidu to write code to write well, suddenly due to a variety of reasons did not promote, I was angry, so left

Then I began to look for a job. I made 42 interviews and got 5 offers, including one from Tik Tok of Base Singapore. So I went to Singapore alone

See “This is the methodology I got after 42 meetings!”

Disclaimer: I have only been to Baidu in Beijing and Tik Tok in Singapore, so I can only provide a real perspective. The following is my personal experience, but I really can’t represent all of them

The currency in this article has been converted into RMB

Pace of work: Is overseas really very free?

As it is, it is. Overseas contrast domestic simply too idle

I think there are two main reasons. On the one hand, business is not so rushed

In Baidu, our demand scheduling is basically accurate to the morning/afternoon. Let’s say Wednesday morning. At Tik Tok in Singapore, it feels like no one has any special concept of scheduling

My part-time job in Baidu rhythm in Beijing is 10-8-5, and my weekly job is basically 10-10-5. Singapore’s Tik Tok is probably 10-6-5

After six o ‘clock in the evening, there are almost no messages to read or respond to, and after eight o ‘clock, the message group is basically quiet

(Screenshot of work group at 9pm, no one talks after 8pm)

One-sided personal experience: The average overseas work 2 hours less than domestic daily

On the other hand, because people come from different backgrounds, there are more choices, so it’s not too much

In Singapore, even if you work in a convenience store, you can earn 9K yuan a month, so there is no need to go to ICU 996 for a single job

At the same time, we come from all over the world, we need to respect the culture and background of each country, and it is not easy to push too hard…

Salary & Life: You earn more and spend more, so you don’t earn much?

First of all, As the second largest Internet country in the world, wages offered by bat-like factories in China are also competitive in the world

Sure, but considering the cost of living, there is actually a base salary increase for people from China to Singapore. The basic increase here is to point to: if you are working in Baidu, transfer post to go to Hangzhou from Beijing, so your salary should fall, because price of both sides city is different. And vice versa

The basic increase from Beijing to Singapore is 20%

This means that you jump to Singapore completely flat (i.e., within a month of changing your job and then changing it immediately). You will get a raise of at least 20%

Meanwhile, as taxes in Singapore are different from those in China, take-home income will also change due to taxes

Taxes are very low in Singapore. The strategy is

  1. The first 37w will be taxed at 4.2%
  2. The rest is taxed at 11.5%

That is to say, if your annual salary is 50W, you need to pay:

37 * 0.042 + (50-37) * 0.115 ~= 3.05Copy the code

Therefore, in Singapore, an annual salary of 50 million yuan is about 30 million yuan in tax, and the tax rate is about 6%

The annual salary of 50 million yuan in China is about 80 million yuan, and the tax rate is about 16%

So, from home to Singapore, you will pay about 10% less tax

Generally speaking, when we change jobs, we will get a promotion of professional title and a raise of salary, about 30% on average. Then the final increase of our job-hopping to Singapore is:

Current salary x 120%(base increase) x 110%(less tax) x 130%(jump) = 71% increaseCopy the code

That’s roughly how much I actually jumped from “Baidu in Beijing” to “Tik Tok in Singapore.

consumption

Damn, Singapore is expensive

Let’s start with renting: double the rent under the same conditions

I rent a 50-square-meter apartment with one room and one living room at 5.1K/month in Beijing West Erqi. I also rented a 50-square-meter apartment with one bedroom and one living room near Fort Caning in Singapore for 9.8K a month. The conditions and location are almost the same

Then there’s the cost of living

Rough estimate, overall price is about average 1.5 ~ 2.5 times

The following are the prices of Yoshinoya and KFC products

product The domestic price Singapore price % increase
KFC Finger Lickin ‘Bad Chicken RMB 11 RMB 18 (S $3.9) + 36%
Yoshinoya beef rice $26 RMB 42 (S $9) + 61%

Meanwhile, delivery costs around 23 RMB

Generally speaking, things that require manual labor are more expensive

Technology related

As I said before, China is the second largest Internet country in the world. Therefore, as the world’s second largest Internet country, our level of development will not be too poor

According to my observation, the technical level of domestic programmers is actually higher than overseas. I think there may be the following:

  1. Domestic too volume, everyone is trying to learn to volume. The front end is not a GC memory collection principle are embarrassed interview
  2. China has very good Internet soil
    1. For example, Taobao has the world’s largest online shopping platform traffic, which will naturally be accompanied by the birth of world-class concurrent processing technology, front-end speed optimization, etc
    2. There are many Internet giants in China and a large number of engineers, so they will also be equipped with a very standardized engineering process
  3. I just feel the Chinese are smarter

When I interviewed Singapore Byte, all the interviewers told me that I should lower the standard than the domestic standard, otherwise I would not be able to recruit people

Actually, my colleagues from China are better at Singapore technology

But because the country is really too busy, in most cases, the business pressure of domestic programmers is very, very big, most of the business code is under the “shit mountain effect” — as long as it can run, can not move. However, compared with China, Singapore is really too idle. Every bi-monthly planning has 1/3 of the time for technical iteration…

On the other hand, the big Internet companies in China also belong to the “big factory” in the world, so the “big factory effect” will still exist – whether it is technology or resume, the big factory programmers will have more advantages

So in general: domestic big factory programmers, technology in the world is also very competitive. Even slightly ahead of the average

Process related: How did you go?

Simply put, there is an extra step in the process of applying for a work visa.

How to find a job overseas

How to find a job overseas? There are probably the following methods:

  1. Find a friend in an international factory to help you push. Like Byte, Microsoft
  2. Fill in the information on the job search platform, change the status to “looking for a job” and select “overseas” for your region. Such as affectionately
  3. Unsolicited delivery (highly not recommended!)

The Offer of Singapore Tik Tok was recommended by a byte friend

Specific work way analysis, can move to the author of the super detailed face classics – “this is the methodology I met 42!”

According to Singapore policy, the company has a limit on the number of visas issued, and needs to keep the number of Singaporeans and employees on work visas equal. It’s a way for the local government to protect its own citizens, and I’m sure other countries have policies to protect their own citizens

As a result, more experienced programmers who work for big companies will find it easier to get job offers and visas overseas

About the visa

Other countries don’t know, but Singapore has three tiers of work visas, presumably based on salary

The highest level of work visa in Singapore is called Employment Pass, or EP. EP has many advantages over the other two lower levels:

  1. A person who is eligible to apply for Permanent residency is also known as a PR Resident.
  2. Qualified to bring a dependant
  3. The company does not have to pay the Singapore government every month for your visa
  4. And so on…

As a high-paying profession, we programmers generally can directly get the highest EP

overseas

In fact, and the normal job search almost the same, the differences probably have such points:

  1. Language: If you are going to an English-speaking country, prepare your resume in English and interview in English
  2. Visa: Apply for a work visa after receiving the Offer

There is nothing to say about language. When you go to a country with a different language, you should use the language of the other country. Here’s how I went to Singapore:

  1. Pass the interview and get the Offer
  2. Communicate with HR about work visa
  3. HR transferred me to my classmate (an outsourcing company) who was in charge of the work visa, and I provided various materials as required
  4. In about 2 weeks, the visa application was approved. Specific performance: several PDF documents from the Singapore government

  1. Buy the ticket
  2. The relevant materials are presented at the Chinese customs and the passport is stamped with an exit stamp
  3. Flight to Singapore, Singapore customs passport stamped with entry stamp

(Singapore entry stamp on passport)

  1. After arriving in Singapore, go to a government agency in Singapore and exchange a card for a work visa. It is equivalent to an ID card in Korea

To tell the truth when I officially leave some regrets, related regrets estimate you also don’t like, so I just put it in my blog “2021 summary | echoes the horse, and stories”

Afterword.

One year in Singapore, in addition to what is commonly said to broaden my horizon and broaden my horizon, I also experienced an unexpected change…

That is…

. Become more patriotic

I didn’t know I was so patriotic that I even went to Haidilao for a small cake to celebrate the National Day

I actually want to analyze and talk, but I’m afraid the article is gone… So I would like to just say a toast at that time:

May our great motherland prosper!

Written in Singapore in early 2022