Expats in Asia?

[norm4n]

Hi
I'd like to ask if there are any expats, working in Asia (China/Thailand/India) here. How did you accomplished your goal?
I don't want to live in this country no more and every cell of my body screams Asia. I'm a professional in information technologies, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a job. Do you have any tips for me?
How high is the cost of living, living a "normal" live. Not eating at a western restaurant twice a day, etc. I've googled and I found people saying, that they need more than $1000. In Cambodia? Seriously? I'm living of 200-300 Euros a month, without rent. With rent it would be 500-600.
So how much is it, not having a hooker, drinking gallons of beer, eating New York Rib steaks, every day?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Asia is an awful big and varied place that's hard to generalize about. This includes costs of living, salaries, and job availability. I recommend you start by reading and talking with people in your industry about going abroad for jobs in general, and see if any of the gigs people talk about doing sound like experiences you'd enjoy in places you'd be interested in living. I think that might be easier than targeting a place and seeing what jobs are there.

Another thing to keep in mind is how hard it is for people of your citizenship to get a work visa (or get away with working illegally, if that's your cup of joe). Most countries, rightfully so IME, give their own citizens first crack at local jobs, and are more apt to give a work visa to a non-citizen when there aren't enough locals willing or able to do a certain job. Keep in mind that most parts of Asia are not exactly low on people, including many who are well educated in science and technology, and speak English lots better than you'll likely ever speak their local language. That said, this is a part of the world where connections truly are everything, so if you have an 'in' somewhere, you'll be surprised what doors might open up.

 

[miscbrahh]

if you're looking for IT jobs, i think singapore is the way to go

your english skills will go a long way there, as it's a big part of the business world. it'll help to learn some mandarin though to converse with a greater % of locals

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Singapore#English

you'll have to give up the drugs (and gum-chewing) there though lol. 0 tolerance policy on that stuff, which is a bit of a shame imo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_(Singapore)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore

 

[Dark Horse]

Norm4n. there is a mountain of info on the internet. That's a bit general for sure, but if you start searches with terms like... expat jobs....Singapore....Hong Kong....Japan....IT....stuff will come up quite quickly.

Try Asiaxpat. It covers a lot of things for people living in HK and Singapore and I don't know how many other places, including job ideas, housing, kids schooling.

I've been working in Asia for 20 years. I came at a time when it was pretty easy to get a job. If you're an IT guy and you have something to offer then it might be a case of finding out which place makes it easy for you to work, which places needs what you have to offer, and which place you're interested in.

I'm in HK, and I've seen all sorts of people come here and do amazing things with their career. Don't get too hung up on the money. If you work hard and have something to offer, that will take care of itself, especially in places like HK or Singapore, where there IS money. You might not find as much in Thailand.

When I decided to go for it, I just bought a ticket and came out, albeit with some connections already in place and into a situation where it was dead easy to get a job. Part of your advantage would be that you would actually leave wherever you are to go across the world to work. A lot of people won't do that.