Job hunting in Singapore as a foreigner: where to look, what the advertising rule means, and the scams to avoid

Searching for a job from outside Singapore, or on a pass that cannot be switched to another employer without a fresh application, is a different exercise from searching at home. Two things shape it more than anything else: a rule that makes locals the first audience for most jobs, and a government job portal that you will find on every list and cannot use.

Both are easy to learn about too late, so they come first.

Before you read. This is personal experience and opinion, not employment or immigration advice. Rules change; the links at the end go to the official pages, and the “last checked” date is at the top.

The short version

• Most Employment Pass and S Pass jobs were advertised to Singaporeans first, for at least 14 days, on the government portal MyCareersFuture.
• You can browse MyCareersFuture. By its own FAQ, applying through it is only for citizens and PRs.
• So a foreigner searches elsewhere: LinkedIn, JobStreet, Indeed, company career pages, and recruiters.
• Your offer is not final until the employer’s pass application is approved. Do not resign anything before that.
• Job scams here target people who are new and hopeful. Never give anyone your Singpass login or change your Singpass phone or email for a job.

The rule that shapes the market

Under the Fair Consideration Framework, an employer applying for an Employment Pass or an S Pass must first advertise the job on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 consecutive days, and consider all candidates fairly. MOM says it will reject applications linked to advertisements that are discriminatory or do not represent the job accurately.

There are exemptions, and they tell you where the rule does not apply. An employer does not need to advertise if any one of these holds:

Neither MOM page I read mentions the Work Permit under this rule. If you are looking for a Work Permit job, the advertising requirement is not what you will run into.

Three practical consequences for you:

1. You are competing with locals, by design. An advertised EP or S Pass vacancy has been open to Singaporeans for two weeks before anyone files for you. That is not a reason to give up. It is a reason to be specific about why you fit.
2. Ads carry real information. MOM says the maximum salary in an advertised range cannot exceed twice the minimum, and an advertisement more than three months old cannot be used for an EP application. A fresh listing with a sensible range is a better sign than a vague one.
3. Small and very senior employers are the exceptions. If you are going to a company of under ten people, or a role at S$22,500 a month and up, the job may never have appeared on the portal at all.

The portal you can read but not use

MyCareersFuture is run by the Government Technology Agency and describes itself as aimed at Singaporean job seekers. Its FAQ says that applying for jobs requires a Singpass login, and that this is only available to Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The same FAQ says browsing does not need a login.

Read that as a research tool, not a search tool. You cannot apply there, but you can still:

• See what an employer is paying for a comparable role, since salary ranges are shown.
• Find the name of the company advertising, then apply through its own website or a recruiter.
• Check whether a role you were told about was actually advertised.

I would not rely on the FAQ’s silence about foreigners creating profiles. It does not say either way. Browsing is enough for what I have described.

Where to actually look

A note on that table: I confirmed Indeed and Glassdoor load as job and salary sites. JobStreet blocks automated readers and LinkedIn disallows them, so I link both from my own use of them rather than from checking them for this guide.

My own habit, for what it is worth: use the big boards to find companies, then go to the company’s own site. Roles on a career page tend to be current, and applying directly means no agency sits between you and the person hiring.

How your pass type changes the search

Employment Pass level. Know the salary floor before you apply, because an employer cannot sponsor you below it however much they like you. The renewal guide has the current figures. COMPASS also scores the company, so a firm that has hired many people of one nationality may be a harder yes than the same job elsewhere. You can ask, politely, whether they have sponsored passes before.

S Pass level. Add quota to the list. An employer needs room under their sector quota, and it is a company-level constraint. The question “do you currently have S Pass quota?” is a normal one to ask at offer stage.

Work Permit level. These jobs more often come through an employer or an agency directly than through the big boards. There is no salary floor, which is what makes the route workable for diploma holders. See working after graduation for the full picture.

On a graduate Long-Term Visit Pass. You can stay and search, but you cannot work until a work pass is issued. Do not start “trial days” or unpaid trial work before then.

Making sponsorship an easy yes

Employers hiring a foreigner take on paperwork that a local hire does not. You can lower that friction before anyone asks:

• Say early that you will need sponsorship, rather than hoping it does not come up.
• Know your pass type and whether you clear its floor.
• If you are already on a pass, know when it expires and whether the move would be a fresh application. The changing jobs guide covers the sequence.
• Do not resign until the new employer’s application is approved.

Scams, and how to spot them

Job scams are among the most common here, and the people they hurt are often new arrivals who do not yet know what normal looks like. ScamShield lists the warning signs: a demand for payment before you start, being asked to spend your own money to complete tasks, being asked to use your own bank account as part of the job, and requests for your Singpass credentials or QR codes. It also notes that scammers often advertise simple home-based work paid by commission, such as liking posts, writing reviews or completing surveys.

The most recent police advisory I read, from May 2026, describes a version aimed at job seekers directly. Scammers posed as recruitment agencies and advertised fake roles on social media, using real agency licence numbers to look credible. Victims were asked for personal details and then told to change the email and phone number on their Singpass account to ones the scammers controlled. That gives the scammer control of the account, which they then use to open financial accounts in the victim’s name. The police advice includes not trusting an agency licence number on its own.

What I would do with that:

• Never share your Singpass login, and never change your Singpass phone or email for an employer or recruiter. A real employer does not need this.
• Treat a licence number as a claim to check, not proof. Find the agency’s own website and contact them through it, rather than through the number or chat link you were given.
• A job that pays for simple online tasks is not a job. This is the single most common pattern.
• Any fee should come after a real job, be in writing, and be checked. MOM’s employment agency factsheet sets a cap on what an agency may charge a worker for foreign workers, expressed as a month’s salary per year of the permit or contract, with a maximum of two months. That factsheet is older, and I could not confirm the figure against a current MOM page, so check the present rule with MOM before paying anything. Employers must not recover the costs of work pass applications and renewals from their foreign employees.
• Doubt it? Call 1799, the ScamShield helpline, before you reply.

A rough plan

1. Fix your target: pass type, salary band, two or three sectors.
2. Build the LinkedIn profile and a short CV a Singapore employer can read in a minute.
3. Use the big boards to make a list of companies, then follow each company’s own openings.
4. Use MyCareersFuture to check salary ranges for the roles you want.
5. Ask the sponsorship and quota questions at offer stage, not before.
6. Wait for the approval before resigning, moving or signing a lease.

Read next

• Working after graduation — the Student’s Pass to work pass path, including the one-year LTVP.
• Changing jobs without losing your pass — what to do once you have an offer.
• What your work pass actually permits — before you fill a gap with freelancing.
• Employment Pass vs S Pass vs Student’s Pass — which salary floor applies to you.