It is Indonesia's third largest city and is often considered by tourists as a stopover before taking聽off for more exciting destinations on the island of Sumatra, like Lake Toba (the world's largest聽volcanic lake) or the wild Sumatran jungle, where orangutans can be observed. Medan is home聽to some places where tropical beauty thrives in the form of lush forests, waterfalls, mountains聽and lakes. On the other hand, it is also bustling with signs of civilization where shopping malls,聽restaurants, and many other modern amenities are popping up! In fact, Medan is mainly known聽as the gastronomic capital of the Indonesian archipelago, and while the city abounds in聽excellent places to eat, its streets are full of spicy delicacies.
Such notoriety is namely due to its ethnic diversity, which can be sensed in its flavory mix of聽Minangkabau, Batak, Sundanese and Chinese cuisines. This is why the city is considered one of聽Southeast Asia's greatest gastronomic getaways.
Medan is a multi-cultural city that has grown rapidly over the past two decades. As a city of聽contrasts, Medan is a mix of chic cafes and bars, rundown colonial buildings, and food stalls.聽This city is undoubtedly much more than just a gateway.
Because of its charm and opportunities, Medan is home to many of the approximately 350,000聽expatriates who reside in Indonesia. In addition to the beauty of the surrounding jungles and its聽quality as an exceptional gastronomic destination, the capital of North Sumatra is nowadays聽considered an important economic hub, not only in Indonesia but also in the Southeast Asian聽region. As a result, it is one of the most popular cities for foreign entrepreneurs in Indonesia,聽who are drawn by the numerous financial opportunities it offers.
As such, the job market is booming there, with many opportunities for expatriates who have聽strong professional skills and international experience.
How to write your CV in Medan
If you are looking for a job in Medan, make sure that your CV is up to date, that it highlights聽your main assets, and above all that it is adapted to Indonesian standards. Indeed, as anywhere聽else in the world, CVs in Indonesia must be presented in a strict format in order to be聽acceptable to potential recruiters. Most of the time, r茅sum茅s that are not up to the local聽standards end up directly in the trash.
In Indonesia, a Curriculum Vitae:
- Must be only one page long
- Must include a formal but attractive photo of yourself
- Be concise and provide personal information only if necessary
- Summarize your key strengths
- List your general skills
- Contain your contact information and link to your LinkedIn profile.
While a LinkedIn profile may not seem mandatory to you, be aware that this social network is聽used by most HR professionals in Indonesia. Its popularity is such that almost all recruitments聽are nowadays made through it. Therefore, make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date,聽complete, and that it highlights your professional attributes.
As far as personal information is concerned, avoid going overboard and disclosing everything聽about your life. Mentioning that you are married and have children should be more than聽enough. If you are involved with a charity, you should mention this as well, but there's no need聽to give details about your medals from intercollegiate games or the number of siblings you聽have.
If you have previously worked for a prominent company, try to highlight this information and聽explain how this experience has helped you gain more knowledge in your field of expertise.聽Finally, try to keep it simple and don't use bright colors for your resume paper, as this may be聽considered a sign of superficial vanity in Indonesia.
Medan's labor market
Thanks, in part, to its proximity to Singapore, Medan is a booming economic hub and the聽region's commercial crossroads. The city is primarily known for its palm oil production, with聽nearly 4 million hectares of palm plantations on the island of Sumatra. The region is also聽renowned for its cocoa, rubber and tea.
The province is fertile and rich in raw materials and thus has a strong agricultural sector. For聽example, PP London Sumatra has more than 116,000 hectares of plantations, which can be聽seen from the areas surrounding the new airport in the Delhi Serdang area.
While there are more job opportunities for expatriates in Medan than elsewhere in Indonesia,聽they are still rather limited due to the government's commitment to protecting local聽employment. Indonesian law, indeed, dictates that a company must justify the hiring of a聽foreigner over a local citizen. Therefore, you are more likely to be hired quickly if you work in聽one of the sectors where foreign expertise is sought. But, following the COVID-19 crisis in
Indonesia, the authorities are gradually opening up the local economy to foreign investment,聽which should indirectly increase the chances of employment for expatriates throughout the聽archipelago.
Job opportunities in Medan
Because of its geographical location, Medan has benefited greatly from the multi-billion dollar聽palm oil trade. Despite being controversial, palm oil is currently still in half of the world's聽supermarkets, which means there are many opportunities in the industry.
However, the sector has been slowing down for some time, with the Indonesian government聽deciding to ban palm oil exports in April 2022. The authorities aimed to better control the price聽of oil sold domestically following a surge in costs and a wave of protests by the population. The聽decision had a significant impact on international food prices, as palm oil is used in a wide range聽of food products. Exports resumed as normal on May 23, 2022, and the sector is expected to聽recover quickly.
The populated part of Medan has more than doubled in size, adding about 2.5 million people聽over the past two decades. If you live there, you may have to be patient with the traffic jams.聽Parallelly, condos, hotels and theme parks have sprung up all over the place to support this聽influx, and development has certainly taken precedence over environmental conservation. With聽this, ecological concerns about deforestation have been on the rise, and it is hoped that there聽will be more jobs in the green sector and ecotourism as international pressure intensifies.
English teaching jobs are also available in the city. There are 13 universities in the city and聽teaching as well as lecturing positions can be filled by expatriates with skills and experience in聽international academic educational institutions. The average salary for a teacher in Medan is聽around IDR 6 million per month.
The other promising business sector in Medan is real estate. As we have already explained, the聽city is experiencing a steady development, and several international agencies have set up shop聽here. Whether it is in construction or real estate sales, there are many opportunities in this聽booming economic sector.
The ICT sector has also witnessed a tremendous boost in Medan in recent years. Many startups聽have launched in the city with the goal of offering various innovative digital solutions. In the聽same vein, many digital nomads in Indonesia have chosen to relocate to Medan. As a matter of聽fact, it is always possible to find good management positions in ICT companies or to offer聽programming services as a freelancer or as an employee of an IT company.
Tourism is also an important source of employment in Medan. With the thriving nature around聽the city being a major tourist attraction, there are plenty of opportunities in this sector,聽especially in the hotel industry. Moreover, Medan has several high-class hotels, such as Prime聽Plaza Hotel Kualanamu, Emerald Garden International Hotel, JW Marriott and Four Points by聽Sheraton Medan. The websites of these hotels regularly publish job postings, so it may be聽worth visiting them from time to time if you are a hospitality professional.
The health and medical field generally offer interesting opportunities for health professionals in聽Medan. However, you should be aware that with Indonesia's poor health care system, salaries聽are much better in the private sector. That is why almost all expatriate doctors and other聽foreign healthcare professionals in Indonesia are either self-employed or work for private clinics聽and healthcare facilities. If you have enough qualifications and good experience, you should聽find a job in no time, especially if you are specialized in particular medical fields such as surgery,聽orthodontics, and cardiology, amongst others. There is indeed a high demand for these types of聽professionals due to the lack of medical expertise in Indonesia.
Medan is a major regional trade hub where import-export is another major source of聽employment for expatriates. Most professionals in this sector work for big international聽companies, ranging from shipping companies to logistics and transportation companies to the聽food processing industry. Again, local companies prefer expatriates with attractive r茅sum茅s and聽a good chunk of experience, mainly for managerial positions.
If Medan has won your heart, then you should have no trouble finding a job there, provided聽you have all the necessary qualifications.
How to find a job in Medan?
If you work for an international company that has offices in Medan, why not apply for an聽internal transfer? This would be the easiest way to live and work in the city. Many expatriates in聽Indonesia have been transferred there or got hired before moving there.
One of the best ways to get a job fast in Medan is to use job search websites. The most popular聽and widely used job boards in Medan are Glassdoor, go-work, jobs.goabroad.com, Upwork and聽jobs.citi. Feel free to browse through several of them to increase your chances of finding a聽position that suits you while specifying your salary expectations and your area of residence.
In the city, attend networking events to meet other professionals and seek advice.
Networking in Indonesia is indeed a very effective way to find a job quickly. Don't forget to keep聽a stock of business cards with you and share them systematically with your new contacts.聽Remember to present your cards with your right hand; the left hand is considered impure in聽Indonesia.
Above all, be aware that if you are not respectful of networking etiquette in Indonesia, you may聽severely damage your chances of employment in the city. News travels fast in Indonesian聽business circles, and anyone caught repeatedly breaking local codes is systematically singled聽out. Finally, don't forget. Internet is your friend, so browse through websites and forums to see聽what jobs are available online.
Useful links:
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