Me, 8 years. I feel that my age is a big big problem plus my gap of unemployment.

The questions you ask, I think it's priorities that you need to ask yourself. So many factors to consider such as old parents, spouse not working, milk powder, tuition, condo, car... Some people it's all of the above. Even 5k hits zero at the end of month. 5k is good money for many people who manage their wealth prudently.

To me the bare mini mum is a job related to my field. I refuse to take a job in nursing when my expertise is in education, unless I'm in the training dept of a hospital then it makes sense. I don't buy into the concept of enjoying the work as work to me it's offering my time n energy in exchange for money. How can someone be excited to fulfill someone else needs? Nowadays bosses love to offer low salary and keep asking candidates what is your passion.... Oh please it's just a job... Dollars n cents rule. Even if I work hard and OT it's just to wayang for promotion.

However it's just my humble opinion. As long I don't dread going to work, it's good enough for me.

Means now till end of May is the best time to get hired?

Generally the first quarter sells the best jobs.
 

Generally..
Around Dec, Jan Feb. Is best for hiring.
People who know they didn't perform great or their company generally is not generous/entitled to PB, people rather jump ship early if they know the next company sure pays good PB/AWS

March April. Government is forced to hire.
Financial year ended, PB paid. The job is good but people seek a jump in salary so they leave for better positions rather than wait to be recognized.

May, June. Leftover jobs generally not attractive package, or people give up due to work mismatch.

People don't resign after August because a final quarter can take bonus already, plus if vacancies appear often people are so pissed off with the politics that they rather be jobless. So any opening after June.. Generally is less than ideal.

Hiring can generally take place anytime, this is a rather traditional perspective.

Me 10 years.
Anyway, this qn is very wide...

First, you need to know what you are leaving for. Is it low pay? Lack of work life balance? Uninspiring job? Bad bosses or colleagues?

Once you identify the key pain point that drives you out from where you are, then that is exactly the area you should avoid when looking for job , and make a trade off via the remaining factors.
If your pain point is low pay, and yet you leave for a even lower pay job, then it defeats the purpose.

Note that there is no perfect job out there. Your dream job might not pay well. A high paying job may have bad bosses. A job with work life balance may not help in career progression.... Etc..

But I feel especially if you are moving within similar line and job level, you shouldn't upfront indicate a drastic paycut. Believe that your company now pays you for what you are worth. If you up front lower the pay expectation, is almost indicating to the potential employer that your actual worth is lower than your actual pay, which may cast an unfavorable impression on your confidence for your own capabilities.

But if you are moving say to your dream job in a completely different industry, and you know that industry doesn't pay as high as your current industry, then do be prepare for a paycut or even a drastic one.

Rightly so, especially in sg, a job is to pay bills. Nearing mid-life, many will start to feel disillusioned.

It is strange when recruiters ask, what do you look for in yr next career or what type of roles are you looking for?
If we have 0 experience in the roles we fancy, the company won’t even bother to interview us.
It always has to be somewhat related to what we did before....it’s difficult to branch out.

Sharing
 

Anyone keen to share how you overcome the feeling of frustration and despair when being"ghosted" by recruiters and/or hiring organisations?

As though your applications have been sent to the Bermuda triangle and disappeared into the unknown dimension, and never be heard there after...

Same person.
I feel that the description written by HR is chronically outdated and up to 50% inaccurate most of the jobs I interviewed. Most bosses CMI at crafting job scope. Sometimes I feel they just want a slave to solve problems, sometimes any problem... Especially in Korean and Japanese companies...

All our ministers are Jack of all trades master of none. They are not master of all trades, they just happen to have a boss who quickly sweep all the dirt under the rug and glorify the end result. Yet if we are not heavily specialized, no interview. I guess this is called 'being groomed' in contrast to 'farmer'. Notice the work adapt grow thing... They didn't say branch out and get good skills to add to your portfolio ... They say switch field means from zero.

Branching out, is often seen as a problem especially deadweight senior HR. If I have 5 years as HR and 5 years as Finance, hiring manager looks at my profile like... "Why u cannot decide... Why u hop here n there... I can only pay u for relevant experience means.... 5 years worth instead of 10" . Severe tunnel vision. Branching is only ideal if u know, your boss likes you and ask you to consider picking relevant skills as a promise for promotion.

I agreed about the JD part. I came across real life examples, that the boss not knowing exactly what he/she wants from a new hire, and the new hire not knowing what exactly the boss wants from him/her, and with the JD not fully explaining the actual tasks they eventually get/want the new hire to do... end up the new hire got frustrated and decided to quit even before passing his/her probation.

Hey buddy, it's more common than you think. My friend in HR even shared with me, that they are encouraged to put up vacancies even if they intend to hire internally, and don't take down too soon. This gives Singaporeans the impression that theres plenty of jobs, just keep trying. Of coz, our media can also report inflated statistics of jobs.

Recruiters are famous for two stunts.. 1. Revert with completely different job hoping you failed to recognize. 2. Sounding overly positive then vanish.

Company HR, generally if you don't hear from them within the week, also means no chance.

How to overcome? Do up resume and cover properly. This unlocks the door to walk in. If one cannot be bothered to advertise, one is not truly desperate. This is a general statement not shooting you. If you can CSI the HR Did even better. This demonstrates resourcefulness.

Commit to set aside 1 hour each day to check all the portals. Sending within 3 days of posting is much better than just before deadline. Managers will call within a week and just delete the rest. They only need 1 person yah.

Pull strings with friends, family, no matter how distant. Everyone was happy to let me reference them as they know how important a job is. Received some sarcasm but... Just swallow pride.

So far these worked for me.

Went for a job interview today and everything seems to go well. Both company and myself thinks it is a good fit until the interviewer shared with me that this role is meant to replace their staff who is underperforming. I.e. once they find someone suitable, they will sack the current staff lor.. i am not very comfortable with this. Although even if i don't take this job, they will be others who will. But I'm not sure if i should proceed. I just don't feel good about it. :(