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 Story of an Indonesian Expatriate,
Working as Auditor in Singapore
By: Gunawan Haryanto
This is another story of an Indonesia expatriate. Gunawan used to work in one of the big 4 at Jakarta, and finally decided to pursue his auditing career in our neighbor, Singapore. This article will reveal how he did get the job in Singapore, way to adapt and survive there. At the end, we believed, this will be another inspiration for another Indonesian young auditors to find another place to work at, quest for a new life adventure and pursue better quality of life in overall.
Tell us about your work and career progress? And how did you get the job in SG?
I have been working as external auditor since I graduated from university. I was a senior auditor after working for about 3 years in one of the big 4 audit firms in Jakarta when I bumped into a vacancy in a website. It was a position for senior auditor in one of audit firms in Singapore. I was excited when I got the job as I wanted to have exposure to work abroad. My career objective here is to gain as much knowledge as I can with regards to accounting and financial reporting standards in Singapore, government regulations, tax regulations etc. For me, having experience in Singapore and acquiring the aforementioned knowledge will boost my career as I stood to gain a solid and variable exposure as an auditor/accountant.
Thankfully, I have an advancing and progressing career since I came here in term of higher level of responsibilities.
As you used to work at Jakarta, so how do you compare the working atmosphere at Jakarta and Singapore?
I was working in one of big 4 audit firm in Jakarta and the size is bigger than any of the firms I worked here. But, the pressure of the work is harder here in Singapore. I think it is due to the number of the clients assigned to me. Let's compare it this way. My very last job in Jakarta was an audit for a group of pump manufacturer from Japan. They had 3 companies in their group to be audited at that time. The audit team consisted of 1 junior, 1 semi senior, 1 senior (that is me) and 1 manager. We worked for about 3 to 4 months to complete the audit. Now, let's compare to my portfolio in my first job here. I had to complete audit work for about 10 small to medium companies in one month. The audit team consisted only of myself and my manager. So, there is more pressure here as we have to work on more assignments with lesser number of people in the team. It's like working like a conveyor belt, to work continuously, stay focused and complete the work on time. Work dedication is important to handle this kind of pressure. I have seen many auditors who could not handle the pressure and just quit the job here. And, some even had gone back to their own country silently.
How did you adapt yourself to SG environment when you arrived there?
Fortunately, I had a very good manager who guided me in my first job. She is Indonesian and she was also from one of the big 4 audit firms in Jakarta. And, I also had 5 other colleagues from Indonesia who worked in that office. We helped each other to adapt with the new environment here. We are still friends until now.
Do you believe Indonesian expatriates are quite competitive compared to locals and other nationalities?
I believe so. We are competitive in terms of knowledge and work dedication. I realized that our education system have prepared us enough in our chosen fields. But perhaps, people should first get some work experience in Jakarta before coming to Singapore. Most of the time, employers here expect that you are equipped with enough experience when you land the job. English proficiency is also important.
How do you see the prospect of auditing profession in SG? And how are the chances for young Indonesians to work as auditor in SG?
We have a lot of Indonesians working as auditor here. I have 5 colleagues from Indonesia in my current office. So, the chance is big.
Do you believe working at SG will bring better overall quality of life for talents personally? Do you recommend young Indonesians to move and work at SG?
Quality of life depends on how the talent perceives his own quality of life. The infrastructures are very good here compared to our country, with their MRT system and all. But, the culture is very different with so many people with so many different nationalities here. And, there are things that are not common in Indonesia (i.e.: casinos, bars are everywhere, etc.). Just be careful that we do not let ourselves drown into it. I think the talents must have their priority clear and that is they came here to work.
As for auditor, it is a good opportunity to work here as you will have exposure to international reporting and auditing standards. Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS) and Singapore Standards on Auditing (SSA) are adopted from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA), respectively. The government here put much effort to make sure that every audit firm follows those standards. So, you will gain the exposure even if you work in a very small audit firm here.
Gunawan Haryanto is an Indonesian expatriate, working as auditor in Singapore (currently hold Assistant Manager – Audit position)
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