Singapore or London?

Question

I am a Singaporean student in a target London university. I've seen many favourable comments on Singapore here and it got me wondering whether it is not the best decision to start a consulting career in London and that I should be starting my career directly in Singapore.

My initial plan was to stay in London for 3-5 years and then go home. Should I be planning to start in Singapore directly? What are the differences/ pros & cons?

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

below are my considerations:

Plus of Singapore

Build network earlier on in your target location
Great position for future growth – all the countries in SEA are growing substantially
Higher salary due to lower taxes
Possibly lower competition due to visa requirements for non-PR (however demand and supply fluctuate and are seasonal)

Minus of Singapore

Seems you are looking for an international working experience for some reasons which Singapore won’t offer
May be more challenging to find referrals for your application since there are probably more alumni of your school working in London

I would personally choose Singapore, but I am biased (I chose to relocate here;) ).

Best,
Francesco

Answer 2

Just something I know from the personal experience:

Those of my friends who work in Singapore have clients all over Asia, so it's really opening up a lot of opportunities for you in the region if you want to stay there over long-term.
All of my friends who work in London work almost exclusively with the UK clients, so it's really narrow regional focus as far as I understand.

Answer 3

Hello,

In addition to the point mentioned by other coaches, you should also consider where you have more possibilities to get a referral.
Bear in mind that you will have the chance to change your office once that you enter a firm.

Best,
Luca

Answer 4

Hi,

I think that you are at the point of your life when:

You will be no longer looking for the job using resume / applications. You will be either using referrals or your network / clients will "Pull" you for a job instead
You have to start building your network and stay in one location for as long as possible

From that perspective you should stay in Singapore if that's your long term goal

Best

Answer 5

Hi,
in addition to the point of Francesco, I would say that competition during the application process in the London office is higher than Singapore and one of the 3 most competitive in the world.

Best,
Antonello

Answer 6

Hello!

On top of what other coaches commented, bear in mind taxes!

Singapore office is very very demanded in MBB due to the low taxes paid vs. Europe, which makes the neto much higher!

Best regards,

Clara

Answer 7

Hi there,

Not sure if you have already made up your mind. Just adding 2 points to others.

1) Singapore is a very competitive office too; but as a Singaporean, you have a big advantage (for gov reason we locals know)

2) International experience at the starting of your consulting career is not that important. You would very likely be working in the SEA region rather than just Singapore anyway. If you perform well, you would have multiple chances to go to an international office in other regions for a year or so, during your consulting career.

Best,

Emily