How does PES F and having a severe mental illness affect my prospects for employment?

[undecided2012]

Hi All,

I am in my 20s and i would think that
my future is bleak, considering that i
had been given PES F during army and
been diagnosed with a mental illness that
in general would be considered by many in
the medical world to be a debilitating, lifelong,
severe mental illness.

I dropped out of school , junior college to be
precise, and do not have any A level cert.
Now, i find going back to school very difficult,
considering many years of not studying, as well
as me not being able to interact and jell well with
peers a concern. I tried several private schools, private
universities, only to drop out after one day or a few months.

I recently took up a distance learning course
with the university of london. However, it turned out
to be more than i asked for in terms of the academic
difficulty and rigours of studying full time solely by myself
without the support of school teachers and peers.

Already, private universities in singapore are not
particularly well regarded in the eyes of employers.
But for me, as a male, i face the cruel judgement of
PES F on me, which employers are bound to probe
about and judge me negatively regardless of what i say
as well the mental illness that wouldnt be possible to hide
in the future.

My options are kinda limited cause even if i
finish the course and get a degree, i fear this would be
a stumbling block for me.

I was offered a job in a basic admin role by a friend
but i declined because i was still trying to decide
what i should do in the midst of all this.

Any advice?

Take the admin job. Move on from the bad experience in NS (try not to dwell too much on the incident). All the best.

[Sam Adams]

To be honest, given the way you write and your general indecisiveness and lack of accomplishments, I wouldn't hire you.

Good luck.

Cut the TS some slack.

To TS: Hope you can get treatment for your illness or go on medication to keep it under control.

Depending on what your issues are you might wish to consider ITE or Polytechnic, something which is more hands-on given you have stated you cannot cope with the rigours of tertiary education at this time.

There are plenty of jobs (admittedly more menial) that value a Singaporean holding the post than a FT, you just need to face up to doing it, e.g., being a supermarket cashier, customer service, retail sales etc. Think of some of the jobs in Singapore that are done by the more educated like Filipinos, Burmese.

Good luck.

I think blue collar jobs that require skills instead of thought is more suitable for you. Some operator jobs can earn you a decent income (crane, excavator operator, etc) and you may even go on to become a trainer for these machinery. They are also not that particular on your history as long as you can do the job.

[icy water]

Go poly. The pace of life should suit you. Not so demanding whilst gives you an opportunity to "upgrade" from O level cert... which cant allow you to do much other than admin asst (or anything along those line).

[biscuit]

Suggest to take up the admin role, gain formal working experience, learn about the industry and other job roles there... Don't worry about paper qualifications at this point.

The things you mentioned happened in the past, as long as you improve every step of the way in the future it is good enough.

[biscuit]

Suggest to take up the admin role, gain formal working experience, learn about the industry and other job roles there... Don't worry about paper qualifications at this point.

The things you mentioned happened in the past, as long as you improve every step of the way in the future it is good enough.

take that admin job, u have no qualifications and u still hiam, this is the harsh reality

Take it one step at a time and start with the admin job. As you gain experience, you'll slowly be able to move up and upgrade yourself along the way.

Remember that in the long term, experience counts more than paper qualifications. As you gain experience, your mobility increases. You will be surprised how many employers are willing to overlook a PES F status if you have experience.

Take this admin job and stay in it for a minimum of 3 years. It might be a struggle at times, but stick to it and build that experience base.

All the best ts.