‘They ask how many people, whether they have to cook’: Employer surprised by questions asked by domestic helpers during interviews

SINGAPORE: An employer has drawn criticism online after complaining that domestic helpers these days ask so many questions during interviews that it feels like the roles have been reversed.

Posting in the SINGAPORE TRANSFER (No Fees/SD), DIRECT HIRE & NEW HELPER Facebook group on Wednesday (June 24), the employer said she had interviewed several prospective helpers over WhatsApp and was surprised that each of them came prepared with what she felt was a long list of questions before deciding whether to accept the job.

According to her, the helpers wanted to know everything from how many people lived in the household and whether cooking was part of the job, to whether there was another helper in the home and what the overall workload would be like.

She also questioned why some experienced helpers expected significantly higher salaries after completing several contracts.

“I don’t understand why some helpers ask for a massive salary increase by finishing every contract. Why do we need to spend thousands to get a helper? Like they’d finish a 4-year contract now, and they ask for S$750 basic, etc. 10 years later, they want S$850.”

“Hello, what’s the big deal if you finish a 4-year contract? It’s not like after 4 years, your cooking standard keeps improving till it tastes like a Michelin 1-star or your cleaning standard can beat Sentosa Hotel. Even I feel like those experienced ones might not work harder than the fresh ones, even with a high salary requested. I think Singapore spoiled helpers too much.”

“You’re the one who sounds spoiled”

In the comments, many netizens said the questions she complained about were perfectly reasonable

One told her that she sounded like an “entitled” employer, adding, “You’re paying someone to work in your home, not buying a robot with zero rights to ask questions. Of course, helpers will ask how many people, whether they need to cook, or if there are other helpers — that’s called understanding the job before committing, something any normal worker does.”

Another said the helpers were simply protecting themselves because not every employer is upfront about the workload.

They wrote, “You can’t blame the helper. The employer will say 4 people are in the house…but actually in reality it’s 8 people! Employers can be scammers too.”

A third pointed out, “Omg! Being a helper is a career for others; they need income increases too. For example, you offer S$800 and you have 3 children; another employer offers S$800 and has only one child. Do you think the helper will choose you first? No, unless you offer more.”

A fourth user commented, “So when you go for a job interview, you don’t ask about the job? You’re the one who sounds spoiled. Foreign workers are human too. They have a right to ask questions about the job and reject if they don’t think it’s a good fit for them. Get off YOUR high horse before judging them.”

In other news, a fresh university graduate in Singapore has found themselves caught between practicality and ambition after receiving a job offer paying S$3,000 a month —a salary they admitted feels difficult to accept, yet equally difficult to walk away from.

Compared with recent graduate salary figures, which place median starting pay anywhere from S$3,840 for ‘Arts, Design and Media’ graduates to around S$5,500 for those in ‘Information and Digital Technologies,’ the offer struck them as rather low.

Read more: ‘If desperate, just take liao’ — Singaporeans weigh in after fresh grad receives S$3K job offer