Getting A Job (planning)

[jstrike]

I'm currently planning to go to thailand in januari or februari of next year. I want to do as much planning as possible to increase my chances of getting a job when i get there. I'm probably going with a friend of mine, the latter will need to get a working visa so information on that will be appreciated as well

I have a MSc in computer science (5 year study) and a BSc in Biological Psychology (read Neuroscience). Furthermore i have a between 3 to 5 years of working experience (at a small and large companies). I'm 27 and just finished studying and am basicly seeking more work experience internationally (which is among the reasons i'm abroad)

My friend has the same qualifications but not the BSc in biological psychology, and perhaps a little less experience.

Now what would be the best approach to ensure the highest rate of getting a job? I've been looking around and i'm nearlly at the point that i'm going to write emails, but it will be quite likely they want to set up a interview, which ofcourse would be problematic because i would be several thousands of miles away

any tips would be much appreciated.

(btw i've also contemplated doing my PhD in Thailand, perhaps that couls solve some things)

[nowork114]

Doing a PHD solves your visa problem, but for a "normal" job I'd say you're overqualified ...

[jstrike]

Doing a PHD solves your visa problem, but for a "normal" job I'd say you're overqualified ...

I will not have any visa problems... But what do you mean by "overqualified"? And what in your mind does a "normal" job entail?

Edited September 9, 2009 by jstrike

[MJo]

You might get more specific advice if you could tell us what kind of jobs or companies you are targetting.

Then 99% of jobs require you to speak, read and write thai. If you do, you propably can find something fairly easy if not then it will be tough.

[jstrike]

You might get more specific advice if you could tell us what kind of jobs or companies you are targetting.

Then 99% of jobs require you to speak, read and write thai. If you do, you propably can find something fairly easy if not then it will be tough.

something in IT. Could be on corporate level. I know that some companies have english as main language. I'm open to suggestions though, i'm also somewhat more flexible then my friend, as he only has a degree in IT.

i'm learning thai at the moment.... but i'm nowhere near sufficient at writing and reading thai as an inlander.

Edited September 9, 2009 by jstrike

[chiangmaibruce]

... i'm nearlly at the point that i'm going to write emails, but it will be quite likely they want to set up a interview ...

Hate to rain on the parade but what is "quite likely" is that you will never get a response to your email (unless your original one bounces back as "undeliverable at this address" or weeks later you get an automated message saying "your email was deleted unopened"). This goes even when applying for advertised positions.

Scroll through previous threads in thaivisa from people seeking employment here (usually one or two a week & many of them looking for "something in IT") to get a feel for the general advice provided and some of the personal accounts ppl provide here. Also study up on threads re: work permits which will also help you see things from the potential employers perspective. You will also find threads on recruitment firms/head hunters/employment agencies here in Thailand (not particularly effective by most accounts). Language will be a big issue, you are just too limited for most firms if you can only communicate in English (bearing in mind they will be probably paying you more than their Thai employees due to work permit requirements).

In a relatively narrow technical/professional field your best bet might be to approach via relevant professional bodies, e.g. post notes in their web boards.

[lazygourmet]

You might get more specific advice if you could tell us what kind of jobs or companies you are targetting.

Then 99% of jobs require you to speak, read and write thai. If you do, you propably can find something fairly easy if not then it will be tough.

If you are really qualified, within your field and ready to work in Thailand, HR "headhunters" should already targeted you.

Otherwise, good luck... maybe try PRTR

[Soutpeel]

Doing a PHD solves your visa problem, but for a "normal" job I'd say you're overqualified ...

I will not have any visa problems... But what do you mean by "overqualified"? And what in your mind does a "normal" job entail?

Hate to p*ss on your parade....but your chances in Thailand are minimal, expect if you aspire to becoming an English teacher...the trick to working internationally is contacts..contacts...contacts, if you have no contacts in Thailand who can help you out, sending emails to Thai companies will generally get you nowhere

As to "nowork114's" comment.....how does a Phd solve your visa problem anyway....to work in Thailand you need a work permit, to get a work permit, you need a job...even if you have a Phd and no job, no work permit...

[nowork114]

Doing a PHD solves your visa problem, but for a "normal" job I'd say you're overqualified ...

I will not have any visa problems... But what do you mean by "overqualified"? And what in your mind does a "normal" job entail?

Hate to p*ss on your parade....but your chances in Thailand are minimal, expect if you aspire to becoming an English teacher...the trick to working internationally is contacts..contacts...contacts, if you have no contacts in Thailand who can help you out, sending emails to Thai companies will generally get you nowhere

As to "nowork114's" comment.....how does a Phd solve your visa problem anyway....to work in Thailand you need a work permit, to get a work permit, you need a job...even if you have a Phd and no job, no work permit...

95% of foreigners work without WP coz. for small/medium companies it's difficult and costly to obtain them, but definitely agree on the contacts - it took me 1 year teaching and working on connections before I could move to a decent job.

[jstrike]

My main hurdle is the inability to speak thai.

I have gotten some specific contacts for a international company. So i'm going to email that person personally. I have some contacts but I haven't tried them yet. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

I studied software engineering and parallel and distributed computing. My main focus would be the larger coorporate environments rather then the small companies. I'll read trough some of the threads here.

Edited September 10, 2009 by jstrike

[Soutpeel]

95% of foreigners work without WP coz. for small/medium companies it's difficult and costly to obtain them, but definitely agree on the contacts - it took me 1 year teaching and working on connections before I could move to a decent job.

95%...and your source of this information ??.....in the work enviroment I am in, dont know of any farangs working without a WP......

[Soutpeel]

My main hurdle is the inability to speak thai.

I have gotten some specific contacts for a international company. So i'm going to email that person personally. I have some contacts but I haven't tried them yet. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

I studied software engineering and parallel and distributed computing. My main focus would be the larger coorporate environments rather then the small companies. I'll read trough some of the threads here.

I have been working here for nearly 8 years and my Thai is the equivelant of a 2 year old.....the inability to speak Thai is not a hinderance in most cases when it comes to finding a job in Thailand....

[jstrike]

My main hurdle is the inability to speak thai.

I have gotten some specific contacts for a international company. So i'm going to email that person personally. I have some contacts but I haven't tried them yet. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

I studied software engineering and parallel and distributed computing. My main focus would be the larger coorporate environments rather then the small companies. I'll read trough some of the threads here.

I have been working here for nearly 8 years and my Thai is the equivelant of a 2 year old.....the inability to speak Thai is not a hinderance in most cases when it comes to finding a job in Thailand....

what's your field of work? I'm glad to hear that my inability to speak thai is not a hindrance

[Soutpeel]

what's your field of work? I'm glad to hear that my inability to speak thai is not a hindrance

Oil & Gas

If you are being employed in Thailand, your skills, knowlege, experience are the reasons you are being employed, not the ability to speak Thai.

[nowork114]

95% of foreigners work without WP coz. for small/medium companies it's difficult and costly to obtain them, but definitely agree on the contacts - it took me 1 year teaching and working on connections before I could move to a decent job.

95%...and your source of this information ??.....in the work enviroment I am in, dont know of any farangs working without a WP......

I used to work as a teacher before moving to a job of my experience and there I met plenty of "would-be" teachers without WP ... of course since I moved and work in a large office building I meet fewer foreigners and all with WP ...

[Time Traveller]

My main hurdle is the inability to speak thai.

I have gotten some specific contacts for a international company. So i'm going to email that person personally. I have some contacts but I haven't tried them yet. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

I studied software engineering and parallel and distributed computing. My main focus would be the larger coorporate environments rather then the small companies. I'll read trough some of the threads here.

I have been working here for nearly 8 years and my Thai is the equivelant of a 2 year old.....the inability to speak Thai is not a hinderance in most cases when it comes to finding a job in Thailand....

Agreed, a foreigner will never be hired on the basis of their Thai language ability - unless it's as a novelty on a tv show - and if you could speak fluently the preference would still be for Thai candidates. You would be hired instead because you can do something that Thais can not do. As you seem to be in a very specialised field, I wonder why you'd want to work in Thailand instead of more advanced countries such as US/Japan/Europe ?? Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

[Soutpeel]

Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

Yeah right....my salary in Thailand is nearly 3 times what I was earning in both UK & US and a very agreeable tax structure as well.

Maybe you should have added the word "generally" in your post

[thaihome]

Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

Yeah right....my salary in Thailand is nearly 3 times what I was earning in both UK & US and a very agreeable tax structure as well.

Maybe you should have added the word "generally" in your post

Don't forget the 120k a month housing allowance, business class air fare home once year for entire family, golf club membership, and the car and driver.

TH

[raro]

Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

Yeah right....my salary in Thailand is nearly 3 times what I was earning in both UK & US and a very agreeable tax structure as well.

Maybe you should have added the word "generally" in your post

Don't forget the 120k a month housing allowance, business class air fare home once year for entire family, golf club membership, and the car and driver.

TH

if you hear of a job opening with such perks, drop me a PM

[mac1970]

My main hurdle is the inability to speak thai.

I have gotten some specific contacts for a international company. So i'm going to email that person personally. I have some contacts but I haven't tried them yet. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

I studied software engineering and parallel and distributed computing. My main focus would be the larger coorporate environments rather then the small companies. I'll read trough some of the threads here.

I have been working here for nearly 8 years and my Thai is the equivelant of a 2 year old.....the inability to speak Thai is not a hinderance in most cases when it comes to finding a job in Thailand....

Agreed, a foreigner will never be hired on the basis of their Thai language ability - unless it's as a novelty on a tv show - and if you could speak fluently the preference would still be for Thai candidates. You would be hired instead because you can do something that Thais can not do. As you seem to be in a very specialised field, I wonder why you'd want to work in Thailand instead of more advanced countries such as US/Japan/Europe ?? Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

That's the truth. Anyway it's the same thing everywhere. Show that you're the best talent to the position and understand local cultural things and you get it. There is no many chances for sure, but sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. Hey anyway, there is always new sunrise coming, so keep trying and build the network. Maybe it's THE day...today.

I did not manage to find anything in Thailand(not desperate to find whatever), but few thousands miles north anyway. International company, all my guys are local and I don't speak native language. Just hit my head to the wall long enough to get it. So almost 5 years here and never feeling that it's a wrong choise...and hey, anyway it's just a short flight to Thailand where I need to visit for family reasons. Many times you just cannot get all in the one package, then it just depends how you deal it. So otherwords keep your mind open and look for all possible chances...

And then you might get that Bt100k housing allowance, driver, trip back home once a year and atleast some cheap golf clubs if not any membership

By the way, forget that US/Europe/Japan thing, if you want that a bank balance is showing some decent numbers after all taxes....

[kurnell]

There's a lot of unqualified, utter nonsense in this thread. ..."99% of jobs require you to speak, read and write thai"??? Then I must be part of and assosciate exclusively with the other 1% cos I don't really know anyone tht uses Thai at work.

Like Soutpeel my salary in Thailand is triple what I was earning back in Australia, I have no degree and when I arrived I had zero relevant experience in the line of work that I am currently in. Smoke and mirrors and a few pork pies on my CV and I was off and running.

Thailand is no different than any other country when looking for a job, you just gotta get out there and meet lots of people. In fact, I would be more confident of finding a job in Thailand if I ever lose my current position, than if I returned to Oz.

[jstrike]

There's a lot of unqualified, utter nonsense in this thread. ..."99% of jobs require you to speak, read and write thai"??? Then I must be part of and assosciate exclusively with the other 1% cos I don't really know anyone tht uses Thai at work.

Like Soutpeel my salary in Thailand is triple what I was earning back in Australia, I have no degree and when I arrived I had zero relevant experience in the line of work that I am currently in. Smoke and mirrors and a few pork pies on my CV and I was off and running.

Thailand is no different than any other country when looking for a job, you just gotta get out there and meet lots of people. In fact, I would be more confident of finding a job in Thailand if I ever lose my current position, than if I returned to Oz.

well i think the percentage might be right... but then again,. 99% of the people are Thai. I really don't want to apply for a waiter function or something like that.

As for money, i'm not really going to thailand for the money (but it's a big plus if i do get the money). I'm aiming at a corporate function, they seem to use english as working language, so we'll see how it will go

Anythips are still appreciated, even negative tips. However, I do want some more then a comment like "it's impossible" it realy doesn't help me much more then to emphasize that it will be hard. I'm going to write an application. Any tips on how to better my chances?

[richard_smith237]

Having learnt the Thai Language while you are here will certainly make your life easier, but I can't see that it would make much difference in a international company.

IF you taking an expat role - you will be employed in a position that cannot be filled by a Thai (according to work permit regulations) as such, in the majority of cases if speaking Thai was a priority then that job would simply go to a well educated Thai. You will be chosen for your skills and qualifications. In an international company, you will speak English.

There are agencies that should cater to candidates such as yourself, I'd suggest doing a google search and getting your CV out to as many companies and regional agents as possible. Specify your experience and tailor your CV to each company. Come out here on holiday and try and meet as many companies as possible. If you are not worried about receiving an 'Expat package' then being out here certainly can't harm your chances.

[Soutpeel]

Anythips are still appreciated, even negative tips. However, I do want some more then a comment like "it's impossible" it realy doesn't help me much more then to emphasize that it will be hard. I'm going to write an application. Any tips on how to better my chances?

Dont think anyone has said its impossible, but rest assured it will be very difficult...

The best advice I can give you is you need to be in Thailand to build your contact base.

Writing applications will generally get you nowhere, as most people who live in Thailand will tell you, send an email to a Thai company and chances are you will not get an answer or even an acknowlegement

Bodyshops in Thailand for the most part are a waste of time

[Geekfreaklover]

Send an email with a CV attachment direct to a foreign (high up) worker to a number of companies that interest you. Explain in your email that you would like to take a few minutes of their time to introduce yourself. Hopefully they will admire your forwardness and whether they have a job or not might take the time to speak with you.

I have to agree with the other posters that it is tough to find a well paid non-teaching job here. A lot tougher than any other country I've worked in.

The key is to keep plugging away.

One simple bit of advice is to have a colour photograph of yourself, wearing a suit, on your CV.

Good luck

[Time Traveller]

Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

Yeah right....my salary in Thailand is nearly 3 times what I was earning in both UK & US and a very agreeable tax structure as well.

Maybe you should have added the word "generally" in your post

Perhaps, but I've never heard of the same job being paid 3 times more in Thailand compared with US or UK. I'll take your bait and ask, what do you do?

[Soutpeel]

Certainly any international experience probably doesn't gather the same respect coming from work in Thailand and certainly your salary is going to be a lot less.

Yeah right....my salary in Thailand is nearly 3 times what I was earning in both UK & US and a very agreeable tax structure as well.

Maybe you should have added the word "generally" in your post

Perhaps, but I've never heard of the same job being paid 3 times more in Thailand compared with US or UK. I'll take your bait and ask, what do you do?

Answered in post #14....Oil & Gas...