Not trying to be a party-pooper or sour grapes, but those seriously considering joining SQ and required to enter into a training bond, at least consider my warnings in a separate post. Knowledge is everything.
The very FIRST thing you do in the first 5 minutes of entering the office when joining SQ is to sign the training bond. It's not till after, that you start seeing some of the fine print.
eg... the advert on their site says once a year free home base travel. Be advised, it's not really free. You have to pay the departure/airport taxes, which from SIN to the either Europe/USA is about $60 per ticket. But, that's not the real hit. On top of that, they add the FULL non-discounted value of the travel on to your taxable compensation. You will pay 10% in taxes on that. So my home base travel ends of costing me close to $300 per family member. Free? I don't think so. Also, the ticket is only valid to the city that you designate when joining as your "entry city" so to speak. Can never be changed over the duration of your contract.
advert also says: "free generous medical coverage" actually, not really free. again, the premiums the company pays are added to your taxable compensation. AND, (a big and), the coverage offered for your dependents is laughable. Basically covers very minor issues with lots of exclusions, up to a maximum of S$8,000/year. I can not sleep at night knowing that, so I purchase addtional insurance. another net reduction in compensation you had not counted on.
All these things whittle away at the annual package they advertise. And you don't learn about these things until after you have signed a S$142,000 training bond, brought S$56,000 in cash to SIN, not to mention the cost of moving yourself/family there. The S$5,000 they provide for moving expenses will cover the average bachelor. Not a married man, especially with children.
There is lots of other "fine print" that you can't/won't read until after signing the bond agreement.
caveat emptor!
PQ