I chased a dream and made it reality.

In early 2020, I moved from the US to Singapore and started my new tech job—right before Covid lockdowns.

Here’s a breakdown of the exact steps I took to make this career transition successfully:

Today in 10 minutes or less, you’ll learn:

• 🎯 How to Define Target Role Criteria & Research the Local Market

• 🤝 Get the Latest Intel with 30+ Local Connectors

• 💼 Schedule an Interview Tour & How to Get Comp Data

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🧑‍💻 How I moved from US to Singapore as a tech professional

My timing was lucky.

If I had interviewed just 1 month later, I wouldn’t have been able to interview in-person—nor move to Singapore—due to border restrictions.

It started with a dream.

As a kid growing up in a middle-class immigrant family in Michigan, I had always dreamed of working internationally.

Yet it wasn’t until I had hustled for 7 years in the San Francisco tech industry that I finally found the courage to pull the trigger.

So how did I make this happen?

Here’s the steps I took (and would recommend for any tech worker moving abroad):

Step 1: Decide on your target role, company, and career goals

The first step is developing your initial hypothesis for your job search.

You’ll refine this over time, so it doesn’t need to be 100% correct.

However, you should have a rough sense of your desired role, company, and career goals before executing a search.

How I did this

Here’s the Target Role criteria I considered in my 2019 search:

• Role: Given I was on the product management track in the SF Bay Area and I enjoyed it, I sought Product Lead/Head of Product type roles in Singapore

• Company: I narrowed down company profile based on stage + industry

  • Stage: Early (Seed/Series A), Growth (Series B+), Pre-IPO, Public — I picked Growth Stage because I wanted to contribute as a manager/leader, but didn’t want to work in a fully corporate environment.

  • Industry: Health, Fintech, SaaS — I picked Fintech because I saw this was a rapidly expanding industry and seemed like a unique experience I couldn’t get back in the US (building foundational infrastructure for emerging markets)

• Career Goals: I wanted to gain experience in 3 areas: (1) leadership/managing teams (2) building new products (3) emerging markets

I didn’t arrive at this hypothesis instantly. It took me many hours of reflection.

Step 2: Research the local market

One challenge when you’re applying for overseas roles is being unfamiliar with the local market.

Do your homework, so you sound like a more serious candidate.

How I did this

After I figured out my hypothesis, I did online research on the local fintech markets.

I paid attention to a few elements:

• Trends

• Emerging technologies

• Competitive landscape

• Customer adoption

• Financing/IPOs/M&As

My goal was to know just enough to be deadly in future conversations. I didn’t necessarily need to become an expert.

Step 3: Reach out to 30+ local connectors, setup chats

After online research, then I suggest setting up real conversations with people on the ground in your target market.

How I did this

I started my search via Linkedin and personal network (college alumni, friends of friends).

I looked for the following profiles:

• Profile A: Super connectors (VCs, recruiting agencies)

• Profile B: People who made a transition like me (other US tech professionals who moved to Singapore)

• Profile C: Local product managers (people in my line of work)

Which profile was the most important in my search?

• It depends on the factor

• While I owe the job offer I took to the referral from a Head of Talent at a regional VC firm (Profile A), I I found the most value in speaking with fellow Americans who shared their observations of the Singapore tech market and what to watch out for (Profile B)

• Note: This was in 2019, when the Southeast Asian tech market still felt very opaque. Particularly in terms of company/product culture, compensation, stock option packages, etc.

I sent ~50 cold emails and Linkedin DMs to people across these profiles.

If there was a fit, I also asked for a referral or intro to the hiring manager for open roles.

Out of ~50 messages: