If you listed the most popular countries for a holiday destination, Thailand would be, without a doubt, in the top five (regardless of budget and taste for tourism) perhaps because of the famous Bangkok Nightlife. But, what if you want to stay and make your living there?
Being a newly industrialized country, Thailand may not have as many highly paid jobs as some western countries. A couple ways to find a job in Thailand is through job websites or contacting recruitment agencies like JOB Worker Service in Bangkok.
If you are a foreigner, your chances of getting a job there depend on a number of aspects; so let’s dig into it and get you a job in Thailand!
Where are You Applying From
You don’t need to be in Thailand to apply for a job; however, it completely depends on:
1. Type of the job
2. The urgency of the employer
For high salary jobs, employers would preferably want to consider applications from job seekers worldwide to find a better option. Finding a job for less money from another country isn’t a common practice, but possible.
If the job needs to be filled up urgently, the employer may go for a quicker procedure and hire someone from within the country. If that’s the case, you may consider applying from Thailand to ensure your availability.
Usually, when a job circulation is posted on platforms like Linkedin or such, that is open for all nationalities, is a telltale sign of a vacancy that even foreigners can apply for. You may expect to be asked your reason behind moving to Thailand during your interview.
In such a case, interviews are held via skype if they like an application and later call for a face-to-face interview if the candidate is shortlisted. However, with better luck one can even get the job straight from a skype interview and get paid to fly to Thailand.
Educational Background
Candidates with a degree in technology, engineering, or math, have more chances to get a job in Thailand.
However, if you’re from other fields like business studies, you can also hope to get a job, but with some restrictions.
Such as doctors from other countries are only permitted to do research in Thailand. Also, lawyers from outside cannot join the bar; whilst, they may get hired as a consultant by some law farms.
In many countries, university degrees are a must for a modest job, but not in Thailand. You can easily get a job in sectors like tech, media,and NGO, if you have enough skill. Sometimes even schools recruit employees based only on their skill.
However, getting a work permit becomes much easier if you have a university degree.
Experience
As stated earlier, skill plays a vital role to get a job in Thailand. So, if you have a great work profile and do amazingly well in the interview, you can easily manage to get a job. In most cases, it requires previous job experiences to get a job in Thailand.
Therefore, if you have never worked in Thailand before, you need to prove your skill first instead of trying to impress the interviewers with your fascination towards the beauty of the country.
Cultural Adaptability
When living and working in a foreign land, cultural adaptability is something you must achieve to get yourself going smoothly. You need to learn it if you are not already familiar with it. It’s important to keep in mind since culture varies from country to country.
Adopting Thai culture, especially at work should be one of your primary goals since it may play a big role in your probation period and convince the authority to hire you permanently. You must understand that a few experiences in previous holiday trips may not be of great help.
Geographical flexibility
It’s not always easy to get comfortable in a new geographical environment. Some people even choose to quit a job for lack of physical or mental comfort; and cases like that are not uncommon in Thailand.
That’s why it is easier to get the second job in Thailand than the first one. So, don’t reject your first job offer since it will help you to get better jobs in the future. Also, if you are a passionate traveler, and love adventure, mentioning those in your resume may prove to be helpful.
Work Permit and Visa
Working without a work permit in Thailand is illegal. So, if you get a job with your tourist visa, you must not do it since it can get you into serious trouble. So if you want to work in Thailand, as a freelancer or an executive, get your business visa or work permit done first.
Medical Certification
Medical certification is a must if you want to get a work permit for Thailand. It’s an easy and cheap health check-up that can be done from any clinic or hospital in Thailand. But it is always better to get it done from a well-reputed one.
Language
Learning a new language can be fun and very helpful for your living in a new country. However, working in Thailand doesn’t require you to know the Thai language. Knowing English should be enough to get you a job there. However, a moderate skill in Thai will be counted as a plus point.
Conclusion
Regardless of your nationality, you can apply for a job in Thailand if you meet their requirements. But you must remember, for foreigners, there are a number of restrictions that may come in our way of desired professional practice. Take care of those while you approach them.
Also there can be some restrictions from your respective country too. Make sure you are fully aware of all legal issues before making the move.
