Singapore offers a brilliant job market when it comes to seeking employment options. To add on to it, applicants with specialized skills, especially in the field of IT as well as the occupations linked with software engineering are in high demand in Singapore. But it is essential that the applicant should fulfill all the mandates and qualifications linked with acquiring an employment in respective field in Singapore. Here are some of the aspects which overseas citizens require to keep in mind while applying for a job in Singapore:

• It is essential for the overseas applicants to have a secured job offer prior to their filling forms to get work permit in the country.
• To enhance the chances of getting employment, applicants are advised to file their applications for an Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC). This will allow the applicant to get a Social Visit Pass (SVP) valid of one year when the job seekers can search for employment.
• Mandates linked with language requirement: English is the vital language for commerce and trade. Also, languages such as Chinese Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are widely spoken.
• Options to Work: The job market is attired with various industries like banking, commerce, biomedical, engineering, IT, media to name a few.
• Some of the highly reputed and major firms are CapitaLand, Singapore Press, Fraser & Neave, Golden Agri-Resources, OCBCBank, Kompass Singapore, SembCorp Industries, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Telecom, United Overseas etc.
• Normal working hours in Singapore are five days in a week, the timings would start from 9.00 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon and 2.00in the afternoon till to 5 in the evening Saturdays normally remain closed. The salary may range from S$2,453 to S$2,700 (it is applied for one working month) for freshers and may go higher, depending upon the qualification.

For more info, hire an Immigration and Visa expert (www.abhinav.com)

While applying for any post, one of the most basic requirements which are demanded in your personality by any company is that you must possess good and effective communication skills. The key to achieve great success in your professional life is to have good communication skills which also include good command over language. Your ideas will have no value if you can not communicate them to others in an effective and convincing way.

To run an organization, team members have to communicate with each other constantly and hence it becomes very important that one must have basic skills to be able to communicate with each other in an effective way and with clarity. Of course in some professions such as in sales and marketing or public relations, one must have to have excellent communication skills but in other professions as well, one should be communicative by nature.

Some people are gifted and communication is never a problem for them because they have a natural talent within them but for some, it does not come easy and with time, they need to develop this skill within themselves. But there is no need to worry if you feel shy or hesitant while communicating with your office colleagues because this skill can also be developed with practice. Some ways of developing good communication skills are the following:

1. Before becoming a good speaker, one must become a good listener first. This is because the key to become an excellent speaker lies in becoming a good listener. Try and observe those people at your work place who are good in communication skills. You don’t have to imitate them but you can learn from them. It is not just about speaking effectively but it is more about speaking sensibly and wisely. An intelligent and wise speaker is always preferred over someone who speaks just for grabbing the attention of people around him.
2. Do not always be serious while talking as it tense the environment. Even while discussing some serious issues, if you add little humor in your conversation, then it lightens the mood of everyone. But you must make sure that you do not hurt the sentiments of anyone.
3. Language plays the most important role in having effective communication skills. It is very important for you to be comfortable with the language you use to communicate. Today mostly it is English which is used as an official language, so you must strive to improve your English language skills. While making presentations, if your language is not correct, then it can leave a bad impression on others.
4. Explore different things like you can develop a habit of reading some novels or magazines. This would sharpen your mind and can also give you topics to discuss upon with your office colleagues.
5. Your body language is another medium for you to communicate with others. A smiling face is always more appealing to others.
6. Last but not the least; do not think too much about what to say or what not to. Be natural and remember that everyone deserves respect on this earth like you. And it is equally important to respect yourself for what you are even if there are certain things which you are not good at.

There are many more ways to improve your communication skills other than these points which are discussed in this article. Ineffective and unclear communication skills could lead to misunderstandings between office colleagues which can be an obstacle in their performance level. So it becomes very important to develop this skill within you and with practice everything is possible. All the best!

Indians are known for their rich culture and traditions. I don’t think so that there is any other country which has such rich variety or festivals, religions, language, culture and tradition. And the richness of Indian culture is best reflected in our festivals and marriages.

Marriage plays a very significant role in an individual’s life but in India marriage is an occasion which is special not only for the wedding couples but for their families, friends and well-wishers as well. It is celebrated with lavishness with the involvement of everyone to make the occasion special.

In fact marriage is not considered to be merely an institution of which two individuals had to be a part of but it is taken as a lifetime commitment which extends up to seven births of the couple. Families from both the sides of the couple unite with each other, thus forming a larger family. The beautiful union of two families reflects that we Indians give much importance to relationships in our lives. Indians have an image of being an emotional people and this is because relationships occupy the top position in our priority list.

Every religion has its own different way of celebrating marriage but one thing is common amongst all of them and that is that every religion celebrates it in an extravagant way with music, dance, traditional food and clothes. The celebration of wedding starts almost week before the wedding day with various customs and rituals. One of the most significant customs is ‘sagai’ in which bride and groom exchange rings followed by ‘ladies sangeet’. Ladies sangeet is the most exciting part of wedding celebration in which girls express their joy through dance. It is usually celebrated a night before the wedding day. Then we have another ritual called ‘baraat’ in which groom and his family along with friends arrive at the wedding venue while dancing on the streets with musical bands and lights.

In India, weddings are celebrated like some festival only. There is no denial that with time, things have changed and certain changes have modified the wedding ceremonies and rituals. But some rituals have stood by these changing times and they are still practiced today with same vigor and joy. One of those rituals is applying heena on hands and feet of the bride to enhance her beauty. Even bride’s female friends and sister also apply heena on their hands. Applying heena is a great form of art for which Indians are very popular in world. Indian artists are extremely proficient and talented to make beautiful designs with lot of intricacies and details.

The celebration continues after wedding also for week long days as well. Along with pre wedding celebrations, there are post wedding celebrations as well which doubles the joy of occasion. In Hindu religion in ‘pag phera’ bride comes back to her home on the next day of the wedding with her father and brother for one day.

In comparison to before, many customs and rituals are not celebrated owing to the deficiency of time and lack of complete knowledge about them. But that does not reduce the charm of Indian weddings at all. The zeal to celebrate the occasion is still alive in the hearts of Indian people which makes it possible that our Indian weddings still reflects the culture of India.

When it comes to the application process for immigration to any nation, the procedure is carried out strictly as per the rules and regulations stated by the government of the particular nation. This process is started aptly with the submission of an immigration form.

In the past when compared, this procedure was much more complicated from what it is now. With the advancement in technology, the process has been eased out. Today, these forms could be filled up online itself which leads to the submission with the click of a button.

Keeping the laws for immigration in mind, these forms are prepared accordingly. This form caters to all the information that is required for the process to be started. This includes detailed questions about the applicant and his dependents. The other aspects include questions pertaining to the moral conduct of the applicant. This form helps in deciding the visa officials regarding the eligibility of an applicant for immigration to that particular country.

An immigration form consists of a series of forms. These forms cater to each and every aspect of the individual in detail. Some of the forms include the following:

• Affidavit
• Change of address
• Biographic information

The entire series is number for easy handling during processing as there are so many of them and might get misplaced otherwise. These forms can be obtained in different languages such as English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and even Vietnamese. These immigration forms have to be filled completely and filed along with the relevant application fee.

These forms could be obtained either directly from the immigration office or the local council or even via mail. They are also sent as per the request via the toll free numbers. The easiest of the option is to download it from the internet.

However, before downloading a particular form, ensure that you are downloading from a credible site. The site in question should be a reliable one and providing the right form as such forms are revised very frequently.

Every person would want that whichever country he visits or immigrates to; he must be able to really enjoy the beauty of that country. But sometimes language becomes a barrier for the person to really get to know about the country.

To break this barrier of language, the provincial government of Canada has introduced a new way that is by creating an online guidebook in different languages which would help the people to acquaint themselves with various places in the country. This move by Canadian government is a step towards reaching out to new Canadians.

In a statement, Cindy Andy, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Minister said that this new service will help the newly arrived Canadians to locate various recreational places such as parks in their region quite easily.

An individual can make the use of the new service by accessing a forty five page online guidebook which would be available in different languages including Punjabi, French, Spanish, simplified Chinese, Arabic, English and Tagalog (Filipino). Those newly arrived people from other countries in Canada do not have camping facilities in their homelands. For such people, this online guidebook can make it easier for them to locate provisional parks in the country where they can pursue their camping activities.

The official website of the guidebook is www.albertparks.ca/naturellanguage.com, which can guide them on their road journey in Canada. Canada is a beautiful country with breathtaking natural landscapes and it is famous for its hospitality and hygiene. And language must not become the barrier for the people to explore its scenic beauty.

English language schools in Britain have finally got the response in their favor from the court over opposing the UK government’s stricter visa regulations for international students which require them to have a good standard of English before entering the UK. In other words, the UK’s Labor government (previous) has set the regulation that overseas students who want to take up English language courses in Britain are required to have a standard proficiency of the language before they enter the nation for the courses. This is the rule opposed by many English language education providers, who think the rule is absurd and it is a threat to the businesses.

The UK’s language teaching association, English UK took the initiative to challenge the new rule, on a legal field, which is believed to have tightened by then Home Secretary Alan Johnson as part of the plan to discourage illegal immigration. But, the English UK opposed the rule, saying that the decision to have such a regulation is wrong on the part of government without mentioning it in the Parliament.

Finally the High Court Judge declared that the Labor Home Secretary should not have introduced the regulations that prevent the foreign aspirants from entering the UK for their English courses study. The English UK group is quite satisfied about the Judge’s decision.

English UK is constituted of 440 language schools across the United Kingdom. They found it very ridiculous that government wanted overseas students to have minimum of GCSE level of English proficiency before they enter the nation to study ‘English’. The association believes the Judge’s decision will help businesses as well as the UK economy to evolve, keeping the fact in mind that English language sector accounts for almost 1.5 billion euro of the foreign earnings per year.

In a fast paced world today one can not take out hours of time for a friend or loved one to express one’s feelings and emotions. Our ways of connecting with people have also changed with time. Now most of us prefer to remain connected with our friends through internet social websites like Face book or Orkut.

So to remain connected, we prefer using short and fast ways of communication. In fact this can also be observed in our style of language as well. In radio stations, I am sure we all must have observed one common thing amongst all the radio jockeys that they all speak at super fast speed. This has nothing to do with some genetic change in us but rather a way to be with running time.

In such situation, simple and sweet gestures come in handy to express ourselves to our loved ones. Like text messaging a friend on his birthday that may not be very close to you but you feel like being in touch with him. A simple hug can help you to patch up after your break up or it can also be your first step towards building a stronger relation with some one. A sorry card to your mother before leaving for your college at her bed side because you had a fight with her can express your apology.

Isn’t it amazing to know that how simple gestures like complimenting your office colleague for his new hairstyle, a pat on your junior for his good work or a phone call to an old friend can revive your relations?

Small gestures can do wonders and this is the mantra of our generation to express our feelings. One can not expect to spend good amount of time with a girl friend giving her explanations, so in this case, one can use e-mail or text message to sort things out between them. In fact if I would say that Face book and Orkut has actually become the most popular ways to be in touch with your friends and cousins. Personally speaking, most of my cousins are settled abroad so face book for me, serves a great medium to remain updated about their lives. And this way they do not sound like strangers to me when we meet because various social sites have been an aid to remain updated

We all are living in a social world and isolation is never preferable, but who has the time today to express one’s emotions in an extravagant way. Let’s put it like that today I don’t think so that there will be any Shah Jahan today who built Taj Mahal for his beloved but does that mean that love does not exist anymore, I really don’t think so. The only difference is that Shah Jahan built the great monument in actual, we would design it in our text message. May be it is sounding funny but that true and I hope you do agree with me.

If you are planning to migrate to Canada and really don’t know that which province you must select for settlement, then you must definitely check out Alberta for your settlement. Alberta is a beautiful place with wide open space, mountainous region, lakes and churches.

Alberta is the province of Canada with highest population and fastest growth of economy. It covers a large area, as large as France and Texas with a population of about 3.7 million people in the year 2009. English is the language most spoken by its native people making it as Alberta‘s mother tongue followed by Chinese language.

The beautiful and diverse climate of this place is another big reason for tourists and immigrants attraction. The sun shine is in abundance throughout the year whether in chilly winters or warm summers adding an extra beauty to its vast mountainous region. Presence of Rocky Mountains and warm air coming from Pacific Ocean serves as a great medium of causing heavy rain showers in Alberta. Some dry winds also blow in Alberta from time to time giving a relief to the residents from chilly winters.

Alberta is quite strong economically with no hassles of provincial sales tax, quality education system and excellent hospitality. Alberta’s economy is strongest amongst all the provinces of Canada because of its oil reserves scaling petroleum industry, agriculture industry and access to latest scientific technology. The population of Alberta includes majority of highly educated and qualified citizens who have contributed in making Alberta as one of the sought after province.

The education sector of Alberta is nice and there are facilities of educational loans and scholarships from government and educational institution. The culture and festivals of Alberta are also diverse in nature making it a traditionally rich province.

With so many facilities comforts and hygiene, Alberta is surely an ideal place for anybody to fulfill his dream of making a home in paradise.

Famous for its extremely neat and clean streets, Singapore provides relaxed immigration laws and visa application process to the foreigners making it easy for them to settle there. With its 4.9 million populations, around one fourth of its populations are non residents of Singapore.  Singapore has acted quite intelligently by investing to a large extent in the industries such as research and development and information technology which need highly efficient workers.

Through this, Singapore has managed to recruit many talented foreign employees which have strengthened its workforce. One of the primary reason that why so many foreigners are getting attracted towards Singapore is its simple and uncomplicated immigration laws and policies. In fact, the visa application process takes around three to six months only which is quite less in comparison to other countries. Efficient workers who are graduates or have trained in some field can live in Singapore along with their families. And if your income is more than S$1,800, then you can become the permanent resident of Singapore once you have worked for six months there. All these facilities have made very easy and comfortable for outsiders to come and settle here.

There are many other factors that make Singapore one of the priorities for foreigners to choose Singapore as their destination. Availability of various medical facilities, fast and safe mode of public transport, access to government authorized houses , low cost of living etc are one the benefits one can enjoy. The language used as the medium of education is English which is another chief reason for foreigner to move in here . It is easy for foreigner to adopt the new culture and new people as one of the official languages is English only.  Singapore has also invested a lot in education sector to recruit the talented students in their universities. With so many facilities and comforts along with beautiful landscape, Singapore is definitely a destination for everyone to settle here.

English is today recognized as a global language. When it comes to India, English has definitely become the language of the masses rather than being aloof with the classes. The Queen’s language is definitely a feather on the cap for all the Indians working in the private sector.

With organizations seeking those candidates who have good and effective communication skills, learning English is definitely on the to-do list for all those who want to make it big in the corporate world.

Apart from this, many Indians go abroad to study and for employment opportunities which requires them to prove their proficiency in English language. Based on the country they choose to migrate, they would either have to appear for an IELTS or a TOEFL examination. And with majority of urban Indians who are academically qualified tend to travel abroad; it makes sense to have a local testing authority as well.

Thus, India has come up with its own English language test which has been developed similar to those of TOEFL and IELTS. The test has been formulated by the English and Foreign Language University which is established in Hyderabad. This University has formed the All India English Language Testing Authority which would be responsible for conducting the first standardized test. This test is scheduled to be held on 30th May.

Despite the fact that TOEFL and IELTS are mandatory, there are only a few who take the exam to prove their abilities in the Indian scenario or those who would want a certification to prove their skills in the Indian market.

This test would have three levels and the test takers would obtain a certificate of proficiency. The three levels are Class tenth, Graduation and Post Graduation. As of now, the agency is in the stage of discussion with the Central Board of Secondary Education or the CBSE to conduct these tests for the tenth grade graduates. This is because the students of tenth grade would no longer have to appear for a board exam starting this year. Talks are also on with the University of Cambridge which conducts similar test for assessments across the globe.

The test costs only Rs. 1500 which is not that expensive especially when compared to its other counterparts which charge as high as Rs. 8000 per test. The contents of the test would involve reading, writing, listening as well as speaking skills.

Thus, it can now be said that India is finally waking to walk with the rest of the world. It surely would give an edge to all the Indian professionals seeking great career opportunities locally.