M’sian Making S$12,000/Month As Engineering Manager In S’pore Claims He Has ‘No Clue’ About His Job

Malaysian Reportedly Earning S$12,000 Monthly As Engineering Manager In Singapore Claims He Knows Nothing

Imposter syndrome is very common among professionals from all walks of life, especially for those climbing the career ladder.

While some may feel held back by this, others have found a way to use it to their advantage.

That appears to be the case for one Malaysian man, who purportedly earns S$12,000 a month working as an engineering manager in Singapore.

Despite his lofty position and pay, he claimed that he does not have a clue on how to do his job.

Rather, he admitted that he has been masquerading as an expert all this while.

Engineering manager started out earning RM3,000 in Malaysia before working in Singapore

The OP shared his story via Malaysian Pay Gap, an Instagram page that serves to highlight the pay and working experiences of Malaysians across various sectors.

The 31-year-old man said that in his 10 years of working experience, he has grown his salary from a mere RM3,000 (S$870) to S$12,000.

He also receives an additional two to four months’ worth of salary in bonuses. As such, he can earn as much as RM600,000 (S$175,000) in a lucrative year, before tax deductions.

It is worth noting that Malaysian Pay Gap has a practice of verifying posters’ pay slips before sharing their stories.

In regard to his job scope, the OP said he manages a team of senior engineers and managers. Interestingly, many of them are older than him, with the average age being 50 years old.

Due to their mature age, some of them have daughters that are the same age as the OP, and he found it “weird” that he has to manage people who are almost twice his age.

Engineering manager attributes success to ability to act like ‘expert’

One would expect someone commanding such high pay to be extremely knowledgeable in his field.

However, the OP readily admitted that he does not have a “single clue” about his job.

He claimed that he does not know how to code and has only a “basic understanding” of the skills that are required in his industry.

To make it this far, he alleged that he has a knack for convincing others that he is an expert despite his lack of knowledge.

He listed some of the ways he has successfully deceived his associates, such as planning out a roadmap that “never works”, convincing people that he knows what they’re talking about, and exaggerating the value of small achievements to his boss.

To sum it all up, the OP deemed himself a “con man”.

OP shares how he gets work done without actually working

Delving further into his career secrets, the OP shared that one of his methods is to make a project sound complicated to execute.

From there, he can secure a budget to outsource the project to an actual expert and pay them 20% to 30% more to get the job done.

This allows him to get credit for the project. It has also reportedly helped him climb the corporate ladder without having technical knowledge.

Additionally, he said that the key is to know how to manage his subordinates and superiors.

Ways to do so, according to him, include building rapport and trust with the right people, using jargon, and making them feel important.

He also pointed out that one should play into the fact that key management figures do not care about how things get done, but simply what gets done and what it is for.

On top of that, he shared that one can outsource technical work to countries with lower costs of labour, such as India and Sri Lanka.

As long as one can get their manager’s boss or the company’s business department to trust them, no one will question what they do on a day-to-day basis, the OP said.

Personally, he claimed that he only works 10 hours a week, and the remaining time is spent simply on building rapport and pretending to look busy.

Nonetheless, the OP admitted that he does not get much satisfaction from his job and is unsure how long he can keep up with what he is doing.

Netizens divided over OP’s career advice

The OP’s brutally honest submission left the page’s followers divided, with some in full support of his ways and others less enthusiastic about them.

One commenter found the story to be an “interesting” Monday morning read, saying it left them doubtful about their bosses’ true capabilities.

Another felt that the OP came across as boastful and said that it was “disempowering” that someone could command such a high salary despite a lack of skills.

They then suggested that Malaysian Pay Gap look into curating content with “actual quality”.

Others, like this commenter, were full of praise for the OP and felt that he was underselling his skills.

They then launched into a lengthy explanation of the actual skills it takes for someone to be good at this type of job, implying that he is not as incapable as he makes himself out to be.

Another came up with an interesting metaphor for the OP and his technically skilled associates, saying that he is good at “surfing the waves” alongside “sharks, dolphins, and mermaids”.

What are your thoughts on the OP’s story and his advice? Let us know in the comments.

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Featured image adapted from Phyo Min on Unsplash and Instagram.