Anyone jobless for a long time before?

Originally Posted by 1drowssap

Referring to post #1781, the strangest part about your story that I can't find believable, is that given your background, you should be able to get quite a few job offers.

I really don't think race is the most important factor when not hiring you. It probably is due to things like lack of relevant job experience. The reason being is a lot of people in your profile, i.e. local grad, near to 1st class hons, would easily be able to get a job a few months before graduation.

A little bit about me, I am a prospective student for a private uni(i.e. I will already be in a much worse position compared to you). If you can't get a job, then I can't either by your logic. After trawling through so many posts, I have learnt two things that are very important in the work place for a fresh grad.

1. Your uni prestige
2. Your degree classification

You have both. So it really seems like a mystery to me that you can't get a job, let alone a good job.

So this only leads to a few conclusions.

One. You are aiming way to high. I can't really expand more since I am quite new to this. This probably could mean working in a Front Office of a foreign bank or something. Or maybe working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or some other prestigious ministry like MOF. Anyone reading, correct me if I make any mistakes.

Two. You don't have the relevant skills or job experience. From what I hear, many students get opportunities to do placements and things like that at NUS. So this means that either you didn't take your placements seriously, or had a change of heart and wanted to pursue some other career option that you had no chance to gain experience in at your placement.

I can't see any other real reasons for them to reject you.
Either ways, more work experience can't hinder you. If you can tolerate it financially, be an unpaid intern at your dream job or something. It is better than just randomly applying for jobs.

I acknowledge some of the things you mentioned... Anyway the point I made to the other poster was that race may be a factor due to 'cultural fit' especially for smaller departments with no minorities (even for public service and MNCs which have branches here) - not the most important factor but a factor nonetheless, thus we have to try that little bit harder than the rest.

But I agree the two points you mentioned are important to keep in mind for fresh grads when applying for jobs... I stayed quite close to these pointers when applying for jobs as well, so have been applying for jobs which align with my internship experiences and to not be too ambitious/exclusively applying for very apparently tough roles to get.

Anyways, even for local uni graduates (I am from NTU), competition is tough. Applied for a public service job, got invited for interview, and there were two other mid-career candidates with more working experience, along with other fresh grads. Within the local unis themselves, there are maybe thousands of 2nd upper grads graduating each year too.. Not to mention 1st class.

I myself am considering applying for another internship (have already done 3 already while in uni, but about two in public sector, which was a mistake). Have been applying for jobs since March this year (so perhaps to some still relatively recent). So I have close to 1st class from NTU, have done about 3 internships, did community volunteering for three years, got finalist for a national case competition (and a part-time job in uni) - and still no job. I have to add, a major downside for me is that I have a BA degree, however there are also thousands of local uni BA grads... thus my perhaps unnecessary fixation on race.

Anyway, it is hard even for local uni grads in this day and age (of course not comparing between local uni and private uni) - see this article:

s://.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/degrees-of-underemployment-fresh-grads-stuck-in-a-bind

Personally considering everything, it is a numbers game for everyone, both local and private uni grads - but of course I admit it may be tougher for private grads. Anyway I hope that we can all persevere and with a bit more diligence in applying consistently and improving our resumes in the meantime (e.g. get more online certs/internships/etc.) we will all very soon or in the near future 'graduate' from this thread.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My current employer is closing down end of this year. I am 42 years old and no phone call from recruiters for the last two months after sending out 25 job applications.

How is the employment markets now ?

Please advise

Regards,

Ben Chan

Are you in Finance?

The key thing is the market is still bad, everyone with local deg (including experienced people) are also turning to 'civil sector', and that makes a fresh grad harder to compete.

Imagine a fresh grad vs an experienced hire, who will HR hire? If based on experience, definitely the experienced hire. Which company wants to go through the process to re-train someone?

Then off course, the salary aspect comes in. Is the fresh grad asking too high of a salary to drive the HR to hire the experienced prospect? Maybe.

But the fact that local grads with good honours finding it hard to secure job is legitimately true in the last few years. It also depends on the degree earned. As of now, it seems like SMU graduates are actually earning much more compared to the other unis.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The key thing is the market is still bad, everyone with local deg (including experienced people) are also turning to 'civil sector', and that makes a fresh grad harder to compete.

Imagine a fresh grad vs an experienced hire, who will HR hire? If based on experience, definitely the experienced hire. Which company wants to go through the process to re-train someone?

Then off course, the salary aspect comes in. Is the fresh grad asking too high of a salary to drive the HR to hire the experienced prospect? Maybe.

But the fact that local grads with good honours finding it hard to secure job is legitimately true in the last few years. It also depends on the degree earned. As of now, it seems like SMU graduates are actually earning much more compared to the other unis.

This is especially true if your degree is niche. Local U degree still have a chance of getting a job if they want to.

Originally Posted by JoblessGrad

Hi all. I am currently actively seeking for jobs for close to 3 months. I have a private degree from sim rmit. The jobs out there are very disappointing in the logistics and supply chain industry. There are few jobs out there for a uni grad, most of it dont require much experience, at most a diploma will do. I am very disheartened and I am at a loss. Anyone in the same shoes as me?

What kind of jobs in logistics? Freight forwarders and express companies are not bad places to start off. Not very glam and ordinary salaries but suggest you don't be picky in this current market situation.

[JoblessGrad]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What kind of jobs in logistics? Freight forwarders and express companies are not bad places to start off. Not very glam and ordinary salaries but suggest you don't be picky in this current market situation.

I've applied for freight forwarder such as bollore, went for interview but wasn't chosen. DHl, Schenker, fedex all these application rejected straight. Now i widen my search to DXO, civil service positions. If worse come to worse I will get in with my local diploma. Sigh.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

As of now, it seems like SMU graduates are actually earning much more compared to the other unis.

Speaking of SMU grads, one common trait I've observed in these millennials are that they love to talk until got dragon got phoenix, but shrink away the moment it is time to step up.

Eg my deputy manager who works for me (I am a SIM-UOL grad). Usual aggressive big ego talk but totally balls shrink the moment I put her up to lead as GM for one of our overseas businesses. What a disappointment and in the end she only agreed to go if one of our 60 yo engineers took up the GM position with her as the deputy.

Walk the talk please.

Originally Posted by JoblessGrad

I've applied for freight forwarder such as bollore, went for interview but wasn't chosen. DHl, Schenker, fedex all these application rejected straight. Now i widen my search to DXO, civil service positions. If worse come to worse I will get in with my local diploma. Sigh.

What kind of roles? They are always looking for sales people but require experience. FedEx is one of the only companies that regularly take in fresh grads or transfers from other industries with no experience and they have the best and structured trainee programs (1 week in Guangzhou in the 1st year and 2 weeks in Shanghai in the 2nd year). The pay however is not fantastic and the sales force is usually poached by DHL and the other freight forwarders after 2 or 3 years.

I was in FedEx for 2 years but I left because I didn't enjoy doing direct sales.

[JoblessGrad]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What kind of roles? They are always looking for sales people but require experience. FedEx is one of the only companies that regularly take in fresh grads or transfers from other industries with no experience and they have the best and structured trainee programs (1 week in Guangzhou in the 1st year and 2 weeks in Shanghai in the 2nd year). The pay however is not fantastic and the sales force is usually poached by DHL and the other freight forwarders after 2 or 3 years.

I was in FedEx for 2 years but I left because I didn't enjoy doing direct sales.

Supply chain executive, analyst, procurement roles. Btw, I might have an interview coming up for buyer role. The company is ASM, its semi conductor industry, the one in yishun. Is it something worth pursuing? Because a simple search in linkedin I see people working as a buyer for 7 years same role, like no progression.

In general, fresh graduates feel that they are entitled to high starting salary and this is the norm.