How to Get a Job in Singapore From India: EP, COMPASS, Who to Email

Singapore does not let a company hire you just because you are good. The job has to pay above a salary floor, you have to pass a points test, and in most cases the company has to advertise the role to locals first. Any advice on how to get a job in Singapore from India that skips those three facts is not worth much. Here they are, checked on the Ministry of Manpower's own site (mom.gov.sg) in 2026, followed by the part that actually gets you hired: reaching the hiring manager who wants you enough to do the paperwork.

Singapore updates these rules often, and a new salary floor starts in January 2027. Check mom.gov.sg before you act on any number on this page.

What is the Singapore work visa for Indians?

Indians apply for the same work passes as every other foreign professional. For graduate jobs that means the Employment Pass (EP), which MOM describes as being for "foreign professionals, managers and executives with a job offer in Singapore," or the S Pass, for skilled workers (MOM, key facts pages, 2026). So you need a job offer first, and you never apply yourself: "an employer or appointed employment agent must apply" on your behalf (MOM, S Pass key facts, 2026), and the EP works the same way. A first EP is issued for up to two years.

What is the Employment Pass salary in 2026?

The EP minimum qualifying salary in 2026 is S$5,600 a month for candidates aged 23 or below in most sectors, rising with age to S$10,700 at 45 and above. In financial services it starts at S$6,200 and rises to S$11,800 (MOM, EP eligibility page, April 2026). MOM sets it to be comparable to the top one third of local professional salaries.

Pass	Who it is for	2026 minimum, age 23 or below	From 1 January 2027 (new applications)
Employment Pass	Professionals, managers, executives	S$5,600 (S$6,200 in financial services)	S$6,000 (S$6,600 in financial services)
S Pass	Skilled workers	S$3,300 (S$3,800 in financial services)	S$3,600 (S$4,000 in financial services)

Sources: MOM EP eligibility page (April 2026) and S Pass eligibility page (September 2026). These are fixed monthly salaries and the floor rises with age, so a 28 year old needs a higher offer than a 23 year old. The 2027 figures apply to new applications from 1 January 2027 and to renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028. If your offer lands in late 2026, ask the employer which floor they are working to.

The S Pass floor is lower, but employers are subject to a quota and a levy for S Pass staff (MOM, S Pass key facts, March 2026), so it is not a free shortcut.

What is COMPASS, and how does it score you?

COMPASS is the points test a new EP application has to pass after it clears the salary floor. You need 40 points (MOM, EP eligibility page, April 2026). Points come from four criteria, and a low score on one can be made up on another:

Criterion	What it measures	Points
C1 Salary	Your offered salary against local professional salaries in the sector	20 at the 90th percentile or above, 10 from the 65th to below the 90th, 0 below that
C2 Qualifications	Your degree	20 for a top-tier institution, 10 for other degree-equivalent qualifications, 0 for none
C3 Diversity	Your nationality's share of the firm's professional staff	20 under 5%, 10 from 5% to under 25%, 0 at 25% or more
C4 Support for local employment	The firm's share of local professionals against its peers	20 at the 50th percentile or above, 10 from the 20th to below the 50th, 0 below that

Read C3 carefully if you are Indian. If a company's professional staff is already 25% or more Indian, an Indian candidate scores zero on diversity and has to find the 40 points elsewhere. Smaller firms change the maths. MOM gives a firm with fewer than 25 professional staff 10 points on C3 and 10 on C4 by default, which is 20 of the 40 before salary and degree are counted. MOM also offers bonus points, including up to 20 for occupations on its Shortage Occupation List (MOM, 2023). So put smaller Singapore companies and startups on your list, not just the famous names.

Do Singapore jobs have to be advertised on MyCareersFuture first?

Most do. Under the Fair Consideration Framework, employers submitting Employment Pass or S Pass applications must first advertise the job on MyCareersFuture, the government jobs portal, and keep the ad open for at least 14 consecutive days. They should not make a job offer during that window (MOM, Fair Consideration Framework page, August 2025). MOM lists exemptions, including companies with fewer than 10 employees, roles paying a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or more, roles lasting one month or less, and intra-corporate transferees (MOM, EP fair consideration page, January 2026).

In practice: even if a hiring manager loves your email, the company will usually still post the role on MyCareersFuture and consider every applicant fairly before it can file your EP. That is normal, not a brush-off. Apply to the ad when it goes live and keep the conversation with the manager going. A startup with fewer than 10 employees can skip the advertising step entirely.

Why would a Singapore employer sponsor you at all?

Because the specific person in front of them is worth the cost and the wait. MOM says employers are responsible for the levy and the fees for work pass applications and renewals, and may not recover them from you (MOM FAQ, April 2026). Add the 14 day advertising window and the COMPASS check, and hiring from India takes real effort. A manager does that for a person they already want, not for an unknown name in a portal.

Are there Singapore jobs for Indian freshers?

Yes, where the pay clears the floor. At 23 you need an offer of at least S$5,600 a month for an EP in 2026, pegged to the top third of local professional salaries. That rules out many entry-level roles, so aim at roles where your skill is scarce enough to be paid at that level. If an EP is out of reach this year, there are two honest alternatives: an S Pass role, if the employer has quota and accepts the levy, or working for a Singapore company from India. Our report on Singapore remote jobs from India maps where that happens.

How to apply for jobs in Singapore from India?

Apply on MyCareersFuture and the usual portals (LinkedIn, Indeed, company career pages) when a role goes live, but start earlier by emailing the hiring manager directly. The portal pile is brutal. An average opening draws about 242 applications, and a typical online application succeeds roughly 0.1% to 2% of the time (The Interview Guys, April 2026, citing Business Insider data for the first figure). Auto-apply bots do not fix that: recruiters say they catch bot applications by planting odd instructions in job posts and by spotting one person applying to dozens of roles at the same company (NBC News, November 2024). From India, you are also the applicant who needs a work pass, which gives a busy recruiter an easy reason to move on. A hiring manager who already knows your name is different. When the role goes up, your application is the one they are looking for.

How to get a job in Singapore from India: the email that starts it

Here is the method, step by step:

1. Check the maths first. Does the typical salary for this role clear the EP floor for your age? If not, look at the S Pass or remote options.
2. Build a mixed list. Include smaller companies and startups, for the COMPASS and advertising reasons above.
3. Find the hiring manager. The person whose team you would join, not a careers inbox.
4. Write one email for one person. Who you are, one specific thing about their work, one piece of proof with a number.
5. Show you know the process. Say you would need an Employment Pass and will apply through the MyCareersFuture posting.
6. Time it. Singapore is 2 hours 30 minutes ahead of India, so 9 am in Singapore is 6:30 am IST. Schedule the send.
7. Follow up once. One short nudge after about a week, then move on.

Subject: [Role] at [Company], [your field] graduate from India

Hi [Name],

I have been following [Company]'s [one specific thing: a product launch, a new market, a piece of work by their team].

I am a [degree] graduate from [College]. At [Internship company] I [one result you can prove, with a number].

I would like to join your [team] team. I am based in India, so I would need an Employment Pass, and I am happy to apply through your MyCareersFuture posting when it is live.

Could we do a 15 minute call in the next two weeks? My resume is attached.

Thanks,

[Your name]

[Phone with +91] | [LinkedIn URL]

We built Studojo to do exactly this. It finds the person who can actually hire you (the hiring manager or team lead, not a generic HR inbox), verifies their email address, writes a personal email for that one person based on your background and their work, and sends it from your own Gmail. You can email Singapore hiring managers from India with Studojo: setup takes about 2 minutes (you upload your resume), the people come sourced from 20,000+ databases, and it is a one-time payment, not a subscription. So far, 8,500+ students signed up, 4,000+ matched with hiring managers and 28,000+ personal emails sent from students' own Gmail (Studojo's own records, September 2026). Replies are not guaranteed, and no email changes MOM's rules. It changes whether a Singapore manager knows you exist.

How do you avoid Singapore job scams and fee-charging agents?

Do not pay anyone to get you a Singapore job or a work pass. MOM puts the levy and work pass application fees on the employer and says they may not be recovered from you, directly or indirectly (MOM FAQ, April 2026). If an agent wants money from you for "EP processing" or a "guaranteed placement", walk away. Then run these checks:

• Who files the pass. Only the employer or its appointed employment agent applies for an EP or S Pass. You never file it yourself (MOM, 2026).
• Whether the job exists. For most EP and S Pass hires, the role should be on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 consecutive days before the application.
• Whether the salary qualifies. An "EP job" that pays below MOM's qualifying salary for your age cannot get you an EP.

For the picture across countries, read our report on how to get a job abroad from India.

What should you do this week?

Five steps, in this order:

1. Check the EP and S Pass floors for your age on mom.gov.sg.
2. Pick roles whose pay clears the floor, and write down the one result you can prove.
3. List twenty Singapore companies, including smaller ones, and the hiring manager at each.
4. Send five personal emails, scheduled for Singapore's morning.
5. Follow up once, a week later, and apply to the MyCareersFuture ad when it goes up.

Comparing with the Gulf? The UAE works very differently, with an employer-sponsored work permit and a jobseeker visit visa. Read how to get a job in Dubai from India next.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum salary for an Employment Pass in 2026?

S$5,600 a month for candidates aged 23 or below in most sectors, rising with age to S$10,700 at 45 and above, and S$6,200 to S$11,800 in financial services (MOM, April 2026). From 1 January 2027 the starting figure for new applications rises to S$6,000.

What is the S Pass salary in 2026?

S$3,300 a month for most sectors at age 23 or below, rising with age to S$4,800, and S$3,800 in financial services (MOM, September 2026). It rises to S$3,600 for new applications from 1 January 2027, and employers pay a levy and are capped by a quota.

Can I get an Employment Pass without a degree?

It is possible but harder. You score zero on the qualifications criterion, so you need all 40 COMPASS points from salary, diversity, local employment and any bonus criteria (MOM, 2026). You still have to meet the salary floor.

Does every Singapore job have to be posted on MyCareersFuture?

No, but most EP and S Pass roles do, for at least 14 consecutive days. Exemptions include companies with fewer than 10 employees, roles paying S$22,500 a month or more, roles of one month or less, and intra-corporate transferees (MOM, 2025 and 2026).

Should I pay an agent to get a job in Singapore?

No. Employers pay the levy and work pass fees and may not recover them from you (MOM, 2026). Treat any request for money to "process" your pass as a red flag.