I'm in between jobs so thought of doing something fun (and hopefully helpful for the job seekers community).

A little bit about myself:

I have 10 years experience in Recruitment (7 years in a top recruitment firm in Malaysia and 3 years as an internal recruiter in a Tech company). In my career, I've been promoted 5 times and went from a Junior Recruitment Consultant to where I am now as a Recruiting Manager. I absolutely miss my agency days where I was raking $$$ from making placements across Malaysia. Took a (indirect) cut to do internal recruitment in hope to be more involved in recruiting ops and strategy and have never looked back since.

I've spoken to approximately 7000 candidates, placed more than 600 of them in jobs, met with at least 1000 hiring managers throughout my career in Malaysia and Singapore. Having seen the variance between offers, experiences and screening through countless of CVs, I hope I'll be able to answer any questions you may have

I've recruited for a wide range of roles including Finance, Sales & Marketing, Technology (currently) and Strategy related positions. I spend every week talking to candidates, understanding the needs and wants of different hiring managers and companies, prepping candidates to ace interviews and negotiating the best possible offers for them so ask away!



This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 23 2022, 10:02 PM

HIIII

1. Do you see any cultural difference between Msia and SG in terms of employer's preference for candidates (e.g., specific focus on ability to express themselves vs technical capability)

No major difference but I must say it's def more competitive in Singapore than it is in Malaysia. Singapore has better tolerance for expats (the MOM dependency rate is 1 expat to 3 Singaporeans/PR vs 1 to 10 locals in Malaysia) so the market is a lot more competitive as you have talent from everywhere around the world. Candidates really need to stand out to nail an offer whereas in Malaysia the common theme would be the lack of soft skills - candidates not able to express themselves eloquently despite being qualified on paper. I had many candidates that falls under this department; they can do the job but they're terrible in expressing but it's not smt prep can't help. Employers in Malaysia, generally, are still willing to take the bet on people vs in Singapore, employers are expecting both soft skills and technical capabilities and if you only have 1 over the other, I'm afraid you might lose the rat race.

2. Assuming you are represent SG candidates, what are the main differences you see between Msia vs SG candidates.

Candidates in Singapore (not necessarily Singaporeans, there's a good bunch of Malaysians here too) are generally more confident, proactive and aggressive. They drive and lead the interview instead of answering your question 1 by 1 (which is the case for most candidates in Malaysia). I think this stems from the Malaysian education system where we (at least when I was a student back in 2000s) were not encouraged to challenge your teacher/speak up.
Secondly, candidates in Singapore are also more demanding or self aware of their worth so it's harder to influence them compared to influencing a candidate in Malaysia. To that point, I personally feel that candidates in Malaysia are much easier to "manage" and/or please.

3. Is there any quick indicators (based on conversations/interview sessions) that you think a prospective employer / employee is 'good'?
- Recruiters usually are not able to test on technical skills (always during the hiring manager interviews) but experienced recruiters are trained to access communication skills, career trajectory (we love candidates who have been promoted couple of time with their company) and behavior. Behavior based interviews helps - you'll probably hear an interviewer asking you smt along this line "Can you share with me a time when you face any conflict within your team" "What was your biggest accomplishment with Company Y?" They want to hear the RESULTS, not the problem. HOW you achieve it and WHAT's the outcome. Most important of all, the best indicator is passion. I always pass candidates who are passionate about the job their doing - you can always tell from their interest level, body language and the pure enthusiasm/energy when they speak to you. It is contagious!
Likewise, with employer (I assume you mean hiring managers), the best HMs are those who provide feedback consistently so we know if we're aligned on all fronts. Also we appreciate HM that KNOWS what they want as I've come across so many who changes their mind all the time or someone who wants a unicorn. There's no unicorns so they need to prioritise what matters to them and what are some attributes they're happy to train on the job.

1. It is common in Singapore too, in fact some big companies in Singapore hires background check providers to have a deep dive on your history etc. If you want to avoid providing payslips, it's usually the start up companies that do not have proper established processes - some HRs might skip this step, largely based on trust.

2. I can safely tell you 90% of the time, your offer is based on your current salary + a minor increment and NOT the budget. There's only a handful instances in my career where a candidate is on 5K and the budget is 9-12K so the client offer 9K. Almost never happens because all companies have a dedicated compensation and benefit team and the recommended increment is always 10-20% (Malaysia is 15%). They will not do outliers like 40% unless this is a highly niche & critical role (a rubber R&D specialist with experience in nitrile glove). As far as I understand, it is illegal to ask for payslips and their current salary in US so many pay based on expected salary and if the candidate is able to demonstrate all the skills required say, for a L5 SWE role, his offer will fall into the L5 band..unfortunately, this is not practiced in both Malaysia and Singapore. To your question, we do not tend to pay expected as well but try to bridge the gap between our offer and your expectation.

3. Double their salary It was a really niche role.

4. Yes! There are a bunch of start ups, especially, that hires Business Transformation/Strategy & Ops roles and they do hunt for ex-auditors (because honestly Management Consultants are too expensive lol). Maybe you should skill up to increase your chances. Many of my candidates do quick courses on SQL and Python to get into Commercial roles.
OR you can go the Sales/BD route - I have seen many Finance Recruiters and Finance product Sales executives (who are ex auditors).

Not sure if I'm able to provide the best advice as I have not fill many C-level roles.
As far as I understand, when it's C level roles, it's largely leadership skills and charisma (not so on hard skills). Clients tend to hire from the same industry as they have less tolerant for a CEO that has to learn everything from scratch again hence C level searches are very curated and personalised.

They need to see the way you carry yourself in interview - the person will usually be eloquent, confident but at the same time, not arrogant; able to articulate things clearly and concisely, with a a top to bottom approach and lastly super important, industry knowledge -the most prized quality.

At C level, you should know why they're hiring : is it to revamp a business? to grow 5X? or to take over?
Walk into the interview with a short and long term business plan in mind how are you going to achieve that objective without being overbearing (firing everyone or changing every processes). They'd also like to hear your experience in managing an entire business, how to bring them from A to Z.

Also, for every role on top usually you need to have some sort of P&L experience.

hope this helps!

1) Honestly there's no blanket answer to this one. Could be incompetent HR (one that couldn't be bothered/care less of what a candidate is looking for or simply ignorant) or they're just trying their luck. Many times, candidates expected salary could be X but I find more than 50% of the time, they will eventually accept an offer 10% lower for a variety of reasons (scope, promise of career progression, culture, WLB etc).

2) Yes, as in all bigger companies with established HR processes has to stay within a compensation band based on internal and external (eg: Mercer) data. If you receive an offer, they will bench your current salary against that band and offer a % increment, usually 15% but like you say, it could go up to 30% >based on your negotiation skills (usually the higher band are for those who are under the market/underpaid/ has competing offers/niche skills/ role has been open for too long). This is to ensure consistency and to avoid irregularities (imagine HR 1 offer 60% increase and HR 2 offer 20%) this will mess up internal equity.

Yup, similar to my previous post, all companies has SOP and its uncommon for them to go beyond a certain band (>30%) UNLESS they're in dire need of the person. Applies to Singapore as well. Contrary to what other think, usually it's the bigger, more established companies are the ones that offer minimum increment (10%-20%).
There are a handful of companies that do not follow this rule (usually companies without HR processes, you can tell when your hiring manager/agency is the one managing the process and offer).

1. Interesting question!! My company is currently battling with attrition problem due to the intense competition in APAC.
Back in my agency days, we always conduct these type of surveys to see how we can help client retain talent and the baffling discovery is most employee leave not for better salary, they leave for better work culture. Like they say, culture eats strategy for breakfast and culture stems from the top. That's why you see top companies like Google & Meta offer free meals, childcare/barista/gym services/ full flex work arrangement/ 6 months maternity leave just to keep employees happy. You can pay your employee at max range but it won't keep them for long if they're not enjoying what they're doing. Aside from remuneration and job growth (promotion), we also find employees wants to feel belonged so monthly townhalls/all hands are good to keep them engaged. Reward and Recognition are both important. Showcase them if they've done a great job. Some employers also invest in up skilling them (sending them for courses, even overseas short term training and bonding them for 1 year in return).

Lastly, this is uncommon in Malaysia but here many tech companies especially offer equity to employees that is vested across 4 years. Microsoft, Google, Meta, Uber offers a 4 years vesting schedule of 25%/25%/25%/25% after completion of each year on top of equity refreshers yearly to keep them so this could be a new strategy company can adopt to retain their top talent. Some companies like Amazon are even more aggressive with a backload vesting 10/20/30/40% after each year (so they'll very unlikely to leave after 2 years). Oh well in all honestly you'd be lucky to keep a good employee for 3 years these days.


2. You're right! A regular job seeker will be interviewing on average 3-5 companies and a good one will get more than 1 offer so the competition is real. As recruiters, I learned from experience we need to manage expectations from the beginning of the process (not only at offer stage); it's important you know what is the candidate looking for? Is it money? growth? What are his/her short/long term goals and how can you or the company be able to support his/her aspiration/growth?.
I will also always ask if they're interviewing elsewhere and for what roles/industry - even if they refuse the share the companies name, I'd like to know what am I up against so I can do some research and be prepared for my closing before the offer stage.
After every interview stage, I will also do a follow up to get feedback from the candidate or if s/he has any concerns - it it IMPORTANT we address any concerns soon. If it's WLB (I may arrange an informal chat with someone in the team to reassure the cdd), if it's scope, I'll need to get the hiring manager involved; point is the candidate should feel at ease after the entire process. Last but not least, the company PITCH is everything > How are you going to pitch about your company? I'd usually start with our vision and mission before going on to growth plans and culture.
It sounds like you're a hiring manager - if you are, I'd highly recommend you work closely with your recruiter should you identify a good candidate. I'd like to think recruiters are more than gate keeper; they have to be a good sales person, empathetic process owner and a skilled negotiator.

It's all supply and demand. During the oil boom, oil and gas engineers are highly sought after so field engineers raked so much from offshore trips and currently there is a shortage of tech talent, so with higher demand, lower supply, it pushes the overall average compensation upwards.

Haha depends on the role. For non Technical roles ,they're all difficult but if I had to choose, I'd say Uber - most L3 and above roles for Uber has a final case study presentation with a panel; followed by Amazon (they have a 6 panel loop interview + written essay before you get invited for the loop). Similar process for Google, Meta, Microsoft, not 'hard' per se but the bar is extremely high - For Tech roles, go check out Blind.

This....

Candidates that assume they got the job from the first screen. Sometimes recruiters reach out to offer candidate a job opportunity; an open invitation to apply for the role or it could be an exploratory call to share more about the company but it doesn't mean you're hired (yet).
Common questions are " Who will report to me WHEN I join?" "Can I have a free parking WHEN I join" "I want a sign on bonus because..."

not uncommon at all

I'm a strong believer in providing closure to candidates. Even on my busiest weeks, I will make sure I reject them on our ATS (we use Greenhouse) every Friday evening so they can get closure and move on. For some that ghost candidates, maybe their companies do not have a ATS system and they do everything manually so they simply do not have time or just plain laziness.

First question; it's possible but not directly to a IT role, most will transition to a MIS/Data Analytics kind of role first before pivoting further to more Technical roles. I understand most of them will take simple coding classes to transition into full software engineering. Some grey roles are like Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Sales Operations.

Q2
It depends!

For a Recruitment agency, it is a % of the candidate's annual salary. Big firms like Robert Walters, Michael Page charges 20-25% of the candidates annual salary, out of which the Consultant takes a 10% cut on top of a pretty good monthly base (RM4.5K-10K) . Smaller recruiting agencies charges clients anything from 8% - 18%, out of which 30-50% goes to the Consultant as commission however small agencies tend to pay low base salaries (RM3K -5K).

For in house recruiters from clients (IBM, Accenture, Nestle, Mondelez etc), they get a fixed monthly salary (anything from RM3K to RM20K) and the usual annual bonus just like everyone else (so they're less aggressive compared to agency recruiters as they're not incentivised to close candidates monthly).

Absolutely no incentive for the recruiter to low ball you of course but most of the time, they have to work within a budget.

I've moved from an agency (7 years to an in-house role now, 3years and counting)

This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 22 2022, 09:15 PM

As honest as I can. The reason why I need to know is so we won't waste each other's time and in order for me to manage (my clients's) expectation better. Also, I'd want to know if the candidate's legit. Based on 10 years of speaking to candidates, most legit candidates often do not have problem sharing their current pay. Those who refused to share are usually those who are expecting to get an instant jump of 40-100% of their current pay which is totally not doable or those who're unemployed.

Sorry yes, it's company policy. I can't act based on trust alone, not in this current world

you have no idea how many inconsistencies I've come across over the years from what they claim vs what's on paper.

This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 22 2022, 09:24 PM

I'm sorry I could be wrong. 25% of people leave for more money and 75% is a combination of everything else (progression, benefits, learning opportunities, flexibility, international opportunities which are all related to culture in a way). My company does pay top of range so the most common reason for leaving I hear (during exit interviews) > culture & work life balance. Or maybe it takes alot to admit you're simply leaving for more money.

Free food etc stems from the culture itself to remind employees that the company got their back. It's nice to know that your company is invested in your well-being work aside. Do you think these perks come cheap? Why don't they give employees the monetary value on top of their base salary instead? Simply because people are generally more appreciative of little touches like this vs just cold cash and word of mouth has a strong ripple effect.

Pay audit - We just did! they've decided a company wide salary adjustment due to the soaring inflation.

It's an estimation - I speak to an average of 15-20 candidates a week over the last 10 years minus some holidays. In agency I close about 50 roles a year, internal I do 70 a year so about there. I move 50% of the candidates I spoke with into the funnel so about 3500, of which 600 got hired. Only 17% made it through the funnel, not the best stats for a recruiter honestly lol tho I have much better success rate internally. A lot of wild goose chases during my agency days.

The scenario sounds really familiar - is this an agency recruiter?
Most agencies have big databases and work with a number of clients; when they get a new role they contact their top 10 candidates in mind/from the database, they pitch the role to them and sends their CVs to the clients, should the client reject these profiles, some recruiter couldn't be bothered to end the loop by providing an update to the candidate. This is not the worst yet; I know explicitly a handful of agency recruiters who share CVs to clients without the consent/first speaking to the candidates. If the client reject, the candidates wouldn't know anything anyway; the recruiter will only call the candidate and start pitching the role if they client wants to meet for an interview. PDPA is not a big thing in Malaysia so many opt for short cuts to make commission, should this happens in Europe, the recruiter can be fired.

For your case, if this is an agency recruiter > work with another agency or give feedback hoping they'll improve

This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 23 2022, 09:02 AM

Unfortunately yes. The market is hot and competitive so it's pretty rare to see underpaid employees but sometimes these candidates are GOLD.
Negotiation is key - while most of the time, it's 20% max, I'd suggest you provide data to justify the steeper hike (Company leaned on higher bonus, lower base? Took a pay cut before to join start up? Company isn't doing well so did not get any increment for 2-3 years? You haven't moved for 5 years? Provide any new training/learning certifications to justify why you should be raised to a new bar. Be kind to the recruiter/HR person because they're your gate keeper to get the additional layer of approvals for you > global C&B team, HRD. Usually we are authorised to offer up to a certain band (anything beyond that will need additional approvals from global).

Should all these fail, don't give up just yet - ask for a sign on bonus or a pay raise upon confirmation. Never accept the offer the first time it's delivered to you (a smart recruiter will always allow room for negotiation). Jual mahal, ask for time to sit on it. Don't let them trick you " If you don't take this by tomorrow, the deal is off the table" - it's a LIE. No way they want to start the search all over again unless they have a strong second after you.

One final tip that works 90% of the time, have a competing offer/or simply let them know you're at final stage with 3 other companies - We freak out when candidates have multiple offers and most of the time, we will match whatever you have in the market (without bother checking your other offer letter).

This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 23 2022, 09:06 AM

No blanket answer to this honestly. Imagine the havoc if everyone does that. How do corporates ensure proper governance and accountability?
Recruiters can't have the power to offer anything the candidate wants.

I can provide an example of a company that try to mitigate bias and avoid underpaying candidates.

Meta -
For any roles Meta hire into, all interviewers do not have visibility to the candidate's current package. Candidates will be sent for screening and after the loop interview, Recruiter will organise a debrief where the interviewers will level the candidate based on interview feedback collectively.
If they find candidate to be within Level 4 for example, recruiter will obtain candidate's current salary information and make offers based on a range for Level 4 for that job family in that particular country. If the candidate's current is way below the range, the offer will still be the MIN of the range even if that means a 50% increase for him. If the candidate's salary is over the range, the recruiter will also offer the candidate the MAX of the range which could mean a potential cut for the candidate (this mean the candidate is overpaid for his experience. If the candidate's current is at the median of the range, they will offer a nice 15% increment. Fair?

This post has been edited by mimikw: Feb 23 2022, 04:29 PM

Hello (I am she btw lol)

Probably a good move honestly!
Tip: Ask her to furnish up her CV and message any Recruiter from Hays/Robert Walters/Michael Page/Barrington James that does Healthcare & Lifesciences (Search Consultant/Senior Consultant - Healthcare/ Life Science). Many of the pharmaceutical companies tend to hire ex-pharmacist as Pharmacovigilance Specialist (God I couldn't spell it right - thanks Google) or Medical Affairs Managers, provided she has good inter-personal/communication skills. BJ is a good place to start as they only specialises in Healthcare roles.

I wouldn't go Jobstreet honestly - JS is generally better for lower level positions.