All about Singapore’s Work Holiday Pass (WHP) — from an Indonesian’s perspective

One of the “easiest” ways to get a working experience in SG is through WHP. Here I will share what WHP is, some caveats, and my own experience.

A bit about my background when I was applying for my visa

• I am an Indonesian citizen and hold Indonesian passport
• Studied in the UK for five years (undergraduate with placement + master)
• Have had previous internships and year-long placement experience in the UK
• Applied 2 weeks before my master’s graduation

WHP as a way to get a job in SG?

• WHP = Work Holiday Pass
• As the name suggests, it’s quite temporary. Permits you to work (or just holidaying) in Singapore for 6 months
• I applied by myself, and solely referred to the website https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-holiday-programme. There are two “work holiday” programmes, one is specific for Australians — make sure you’re accessing the right one that’s open for students in select countries
• Check your eligibility first, it’s quite simple but can be limiting (e.g., it’s not for those who already study in SG, or ASEAN countries, age limit, etc.)
• *Not* for full-time, permanent jobs, but it can be an opening (will explain on “My Strategy”)

This was my first day of internship in Singapore with the WHP last September!

How easy is it to get?

• I said “easiest” *way*, because the application is very simple and requires very little documentation (most you’ll already have like a transcript, and/or a current student visa in the country you are studying in) compared to even applying for a tourist visa for some countries lol
• On the website, they mentioned it takes about 3 weeks, but in my case, it was more of a 1.5 months wait (submitted my application on 8 July 2022, got it approved on 23 Aug 2022, started my internship with my WHP on 23 Sept 2022)
• You don’t have to have a job offer to be able to apply. Actually, I even applied for WHP before I applied for the jobs
• You must be a student in select countries such as Australia, France, Germany, HK, Japan, Netherlands, NZ, Switzerland, UK and the US (you don’t have to be a citizen, as long as you study there, more elaborated in the link below)
• For full eligibility refer to their website >> https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-holiday-programme/eligibility

Things to take note of:

• Unlike the UK (where I used to study), SG’s recruitment cycle is a bit different. They have summer internships which is quite standard, but also end-of-year/early-in-the-year “winter” internships, as well as “off-cycle” internships → knowing these terms can be useful when you’re searching for openings, and when to apply
• On finding job opportunities, friends have told me to use JobStreet, but personally, I have only used LinkedIn and just asked around my network

I’d have to say the MoM was very efficient in the whole process of issuing my pass. Amazing experience

My strategy:

• I applied for this post-master-graduation. With only 6 months of eligibility, naturally, my options were limited to internships — so I applied for intern roles, mainly in startups.
• I found startups to be more open for applicants with WHP. Many of my friends who got internships in big multinationals/corps are actually studying in the top 3 unis in SG (NTU, NUS, SMU). Not claiming a direct correlation there (I am not fully aware of the local education/job market so don’t quote me on this!). In my simple logic: this is all due to the pool of applicants they get — big-name corps get a lot more I would assume so they can be pickier.
• I think I was quite lucky because I got a semi-consulting role in which they preferred (I think) someone with a master's (I’m pretty sure I butchered my case interview because my manager at the time, who was my interviewer, told me how off my calculations and estimations were lol). My role was in Strategy and Planning for a rising fintech in SG. Fun fact: I applied to the same role in two rival companies and didn’t even get interviewed for one of them hahaha so I guess luck plays a role here too.
• I targeted internships in hopes that eventually when I have proven my skills and quality of work for ~6 months, I (or my manager hopefully) can “make a case” for my full-time employment (in a way to give the company more reason to hire me rather than someone fresh they never worked with). With my company at the time, I didn’t finish my entire internship schedule as I got a full-time offer elsewhere, so I never got to test this hypothesis.
• HOWEVER, a friend of mine got her full-time role from her internship. So it seems to work, but honestly, I haven’t seen many of such cases.
• For internship purposes, I always put in my Cover Letter and/or CV that I have a work visa that would cover the duration of my internship.
• I was also taking this WHP because (1) I don’t wanna laze around and by that time it had been 3 months since I was unemployed after uni, and (2) I wanted to get a job in SG and was in the process of interviewing for a full-time job (where I work now) and I think it’d be better if I can do my interviews in person.

If by now you are convinced to apply for the WHP, here are some tips:

• As you can actually apply before graduation, I’d recommend getting it as a way to land an internship in SG during your course of study (not post-graduation).
• Most of the openings also look for second-year or penultimate-year students, so more opportunities (rather than for a master's graduate) for you.
• Housing will definitely be tricky. Some friends told me there’s a rule that the minimum rent in SG is 1 year (proven to be the case when I did a million viewings and all of them required me to sign a 1-year contract at the minimum).
• Internship pay isn’t the most glamorous, I was living “kepepet” (this is an Indonesian word that perfectly explains my situation hahaha) aka just enough to get by (literally). You may need family support when it comes to sustaining those few months in SG. (Shoutout to my sis who was working in Singapore as well at the time, for paying for a big chunk of our food and outings before I got to pay her back after my first ~real~ paycheck!!)

I just had to include one of our pics together — she’s *the* sister and my rock during the reaaally difficult time of applying for jobs!

So, in a nutshell…

If your end goal is to get an internship and convert to a full-time, I’d say take this strategy with a pinch of salt. You may get disappointed (from many I’ve spoken to)

You are better off finding a role that has an element which you are strongly suited for, e.g., a specific *combination* of skills, past experience that is similar and valuable and transferable, language skills (I do think my Indonesian language skill comes in handy in SG esp if the company had many Indo clients or counterparts, it’s really a currency).

Looking back, I can honestly say, that working in SG is not at all a product of my strategy, just a stubborn belief that I will somehow make it, and God will provide.

One of the most magical moments I had here in Singapore that made me realise all those efforts were totally, totally worth it.

Best of luck, people.