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. :(

Are you able to keep up?
 

Are you prepared to perform exceedingly well? It sounds like a highly pragmatic environment. Also, knowing what they did may keep you stressed up all year.

This is so true! I have many yrs of finance experience and abt 4 yrs HR experience in my last role cuz my ex-boss asked me to handle manpower related tasks. Then now recruiters feel i am not specialised and keep changing sides. if i want to continue HR jobs, not enough experience. If i want go back finance, there is a break and they will discount my experience in the last few yrs!

But this is so unfair and silly! Aren't we supposed to learn as much as possible in work and not draw lines? Isn't it better to hire someone who has knowledge outside their usual domain?!

End of Friday... Another work week ended quietly with no phone call and email.

To similar folks in here, let us all pray for better outcome next week.

Hello, when you mention no phone calls nor email, i assume you only applied to perm jobs? What about contract roles? do you consider those? or is the market that bad

Yep, market is pretty soft
 

Not the same person, for me my field (education) the job market is really soft for office jobs. Most people don't really apply selectively for contract or perm jobs. Jobs are mostly applied for based on interest or location. Most Singaporeans know the terms of employment only when we meet a human. We don't really mind because the benefits are likely the same, minus some security.

Therefore please don't believe all the nonsense spouted by our mass media. Specialization is crucial in the eyes of industry.

But on the flipside, in my industry I am paid for my ability to execute and problem solve, but I am respected for my other knowing of related areas (can't smoke me), so... Not everything can be monetised but it makes my life easier.

With specialization comes money. But with competencies comes respect. If you are a managerial position, respect is pretty important.

The same person you replied to.

Therefore please don't believe all the nonsense spouted by our mass media. Specialization is crucial in the eyes of industry.

on the flipside, in my industry I am paid for my ability to execute and problem solve, but I am respected for my other knowing of related areas (can't smoke me), so... Not everything can be monetised but it makes my life easier.

With specialization comes money. But with competencies comes respect. If you are a managerial position, respect is pretty important.

Hello, same person.
Most of the contract roles in my industry are either not in my line of experience or I'm over qualified.
Actually left my previous job last time for further studies.
But now after completing studies, really stressed by the state of the employment market.
Sometime I wondered if the media did mislead people to think there is better futures and hopes if they upskill. As what I'm experiencing now is the complete opposite.
Now can only be positive, continue to search and pray for miracles.

I think that it is very field specific.

Retail, hospitality, construction is desperate for help, and they pay decently for people with some experience. My friend in construction probation 3.6, upon confirmation 4k. Pte company. He shared his experience saying, a degree is enough, nobody pays for Masters. But they want professional engineer and other specialist cert like project management.

friends in Education, shared that education is flooded with MOE teachers either moonlighting or left service for shorter hours. However MOE seems to be the only employer who employs for office hours and pays well. If one still wants to work office hours, impossibly difficult to find work outside of MOE at their given salary. (think 5 - 6k) The problem is made worse if the Educator completed a higher degree and wants to be paid for it. It seems rarely in education beyond MOE is willing to pay in consideration of a higher degree. However due to industry requirement professional certs like Dace is sought after.

When I was looking for work, many friends who saw that I had a lot of trouble finding work suggested that I hide my Masters. My friends are doing well in private without any higher degree suggest that nobody outside of public service pays people for studying. People are only paid for specialized experience.

I think that our gahmen is panicking as industry 4.0 hit so much faster than anticipated. The only solution which is the problematic solution is to change field. My friends in education visited a career coach, and were advised to take up a job in kindergarten, salary from 5k drop to 2k. Salary aside, all the career coach knows is, it's still education, you should be grateful. Heck, even the career coach all are retirees desperate for a paycheck.

IMHO specialized skills is the way to go. If we are young, tech companies may like unique skills sets, but if nearing 40, tech companies won't look at us anyway, better to master of one.

Same person, replying to above...

Sigh, I also not too sure what went wrong, or maybe is bad timing or bad luck? Or perhaps is like what you have mentioned is field specific?

Some more I further studied to upgrade on new skills/knowledge that is in demand in my field. Not like adding on a 'master' to an existing knowledge that like what you mentioned a bachelor degree is sufficient to get the work done.
So now really kind of shock that things turned out this way.

It is Monday again, another week with new hopes...

Getting frustrated...it’s been one year...how do you all keep yr spirits up?

Reply to above..

Keep applying for jobs.
For every opportunity applied to, imagine the process of getting calls from the HR, going for first round interview, second round, getting calls of being accepted.
Keep repeating this process of self imagination day by day.
That's how I'm getting by so as not to allow any moment of disappointment to set in.
Once negative thoughts come by, will easily slip into job search depression.

Sounds like what I been through some months ago. I was hired on the spot and the manager told me I was to replace the young staff. What is weird to me was that the manager was talking about the market being quiet and that he wanted to make sure all his staff have a job. And then he was hiring me to replace the young staff ? Then he shared with me that the young staff was inexperienced and he felt insecure as she was handling alot of company cheques. Meaning once I was hired, she has to go.

So I replied him to reject his offer. Not sure whether I was foolish to reject the job but then , it made me feel uncomfortable.

Good one

If you get to talk to a real human, means interview, keep reminding yourself, smile and maintain high spirits. Nobody is excited to shortlist a person who looks gloom and doom. They must have called you for a good reason. Everybody includes you, is seated there for 1-2 hours at an opportunity cost. Make full use of it to sell yourself. Don't ever say things like.. Just a job... Any amount will do... Not related but just do... Yes its the truth but nobody want to know truths.

There was one young hiring manager who really liked my profile said to me... When HR comes in later please don't say it's just a job.. We really like your profile. I screwed up on something else coz I wasn't well prepared.

And finally, at every stage you may meet different people. At the end of the interview swallow your pride and say sincerely, I need the job, I am willing to quickly pick up any differences to narrow the gap, please help me . I wasn't the top candidate but my current boss preferred sincerity instead of the best profile.

Every interview I made it into round 2 with my preparation and sincerity. My ideal job accepted me. The offered salary was the highest of 4 companies (all not high) .

Last but not least, Pray.

To the above poster,
how long u took to land yr ideal job? How long was yr unemployment gap? Are you below or above 30?

Hey just curious, which uni graduate are you from and what faculty?

Finance local uni..not fresh grad.

I'm the above poster

Mid 30
My SB M & A
Took 6 months of rest due to medical reason
Started searching in Aug, bad time but I figured, no harm deposit resume.
Took 6 months of active searching to land the job
First week of Jan 5 companies called.
Every hiring manager told me 100+ candidates, that's why 2 rounds of interview and must solve problems, do presentation.


In Dec, went for outing with old friends. My other ex colleagues told me their salary i got a shock, all 3k plus. Maybe that's why I only deposit resume no calls. So I took their advise, don't put salary. Still no calls... Must be age I guess... The rest of them all late 20s or early 30.

when hr specify in interview they are looking for a candidate who is "cultural fit", 99% the HR is not interested in you. i have noticed many fresh grads who become hr suddenly always make the poorest decisions to hire candidates. i have heard some of my friends say this as well. all interested to hire to have group gang. plus if you are minority race like me, its very difficult to get hired in a workplace that is 100% of the same race. obviously you wouldnt know until you attend the interview and get to know about the place.

Sadly it happens everywhere
 

Normal la..
Some company all the supplier Chinese, all the customer Chinese, how to employ non-chinese? Employ later the person also very fast run

Certain bank around lunch time all Indians walk in walk out, in the office all speak their dialect, speak English nobody understand... If employ Chinese also very fast run.

Some companies love to hire Australian uni grads because have common topic and their customers want those people that speak with some slang feel atas..

Don't blame the HR, the boss sets the rules. HR only matchmaker. Just that older HR more professional, don't even bother to call you in, knows that for sure cannot pass.

We all know the economy will go through cycles of boom And recession. Am I correct to say that we are undergoing a recession at this point?(given that here are so many people jobless now)
How long do we think this recession will last?

Earn $ during recession, mortgage all your assets and open a short / put position on the index market :D

Hi All, i am 40 years old this year. Was a contract worker until Dec 2017. after being jobless for so long, finally able to get a job late last year. But alas, a short 1 week before i was due to be confirmed, my ex-boss (FEMALE) terminated me with no compensation, on grounds that i was not ''performing''. (this termination also happened 1 week near to CNY 2019) I have reason to believe that this is an unfair dismissal. so i called in to MOM and wanted to log a case. MOM said that they dont handle my case, and throw me (the ball) to TADM. TADM is totally useless. They said that they dont have a strong case to fight for me, and said that my ex boss can totally dont come for the meditation. and she can come or dont come on a ''voluntary'' basis. Isnt this ridiculous or what? I was dismissed on unfair grounds, i never reported late at all, did OT whenever the need arises, saved money for the company when there's a event happening or able to cut budget for them. Sometimes i even skipped lunch due to the heavy workload. So i felt so angry for over a month before being able to claim down. now feeling so depressed as i have been sending out so many resumes and went for a number of interviews, where i was being passed over so many times for other junior people or FTs who is willing to take very low pay. I am aged 40, where they told me i am too ''old''. What should i do more to get immediate perm job?

Don't lose hope
 

The long speech before this line, is your rant. Nothing wrong but also nothing you, or anyone here can do right, so no point..

What should you do... You are not the only jobless, as you probably know. Many excellent and actionable steps are detailed before your post. Some people have been very very kind to share specifics of how they managed to get calls. Have you tried them? I find - do up a good cover - and - salary below 4k - to be actionable. There's even one person who advised to swallow pride and ask sincerely for the job to pay the bills.

At 40, everywhere thinks twice before calling. My advice would be, think of a solid excuse for being let go by that lady. That is a lethal bullet that has hit you no matter how unfair it is, because sadly, all bosses side with bosses. They don't want others' problem to become their problem. The companies that call, will surely ask about it.

I suggest you don't mention engaging MOM at the hiring stage because you may be perceived to be aggressive.

My advise to all is, if you ever receive a call to an interview with your desired company, accept it no matter what. I made the biggest mistake recently. Received a call from my desired company for interview. But the scheduled date and time clashes with another interview. So i asked the caller to reschedule and she said will give me a ring back after checking. She didn't call so i called to check. Said will get back to me after checking with the boss's calendar etc. The call nvr comes.... :(

CSO Job
 

Hi Pinko,
May I know what kind of job you looking for? I will try to help you.
Now my company looking for CSO.

any singaporean indians on this forum? do you ever feel like overseas indian have more chances to get hired than yourself? i dont understand what we lack in ourselves.. is it because we are not educated enough or what.. bloody gahmen say we not talented enough.. y dont u improve the education system more to have individuals equipped with more skills than grades itself..

Sadly I somewhat agree
 

Not just because of Indian. Foreign skilled Vietnamese, Indonesia, China..

Overseas talent are very qualified and inexpensive. Almost half of overseas Indian have at least masters some are armed with phd (not sure about credibility of awarding uni though) and they are grateful to have a gross salary of 3k. Try giving a local 3k the fella will kick up a fuss. Secondly they are hungry for the job. Everything also "OK can do, sure, no problem" , local tend to avoid committing. Management likes people they can hold accountable though its lip service but still they like... Finally, many of these people have no family here, they won't take leave, mc, parent care, won't disappear 2 weeks reservist n disrupt workflow.

If there's no quota, Singaporeans are jobless. This is applicable for many other countries too.

The above is shared by my friends in upper levels of management.

***Just want to rant a bit... ***

After months of job hunting, the most frustrating thing is, i have been seeing the same job on companies' job portal for months after months.
Fine, if i am not qualified (that was why i was never shortlisted despite matching 99% to the JD), but can't be for months and there isn't any qualified candidate? Are these jobs even for real? For months and they can't find that 100% matching candidate?

***Alright rant ended, and now return to desk to send out more applications to the possibly the same job which I have saw/applied months ago (some looked suspiciously like the same job with just a different title...) ***

I agree buddy....
 

I was interested in a job at a certain newly autonomous university. It had a number of ideal posts. When I asked my friend to sound out HR and forward my profile personally, HR say, not hiring, post to collect profiles first.

At some companies that are really good life and good salary, they post for fun. The only people they hire are based on reference. Colleagues friend, lecturers friend. Basically the person must be influential n vouch for you. You cannot say their process is not transparent, not fair, it is!

The post I wanted, got filled by the hod family member... My colleague. They already wanted her so the role was kind of created for her.

Also ranting haha.