Anyone jobless for a long time before?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

uni degree holder no exp fresh

why need agency, just go direct source and for a degree holder it isn't difficult to get a high 2 to low 3. just don't be ridiculous and ask for 7k like that guy.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for your reply. Well I hope and want to believe that I am wrong about my perception of my chances to get employed due to my worries of the lack of 'fit'. Anyway, it could be due to several objective reasons, including things that you mentioned and others such as other candidates simply being better by merit, prior relevant experience, etc - so it can only be speculated.

But being jobless for a few months more than your peers put such thoughts in your mind, especially if you have very apparently worked harder than your peers in university and in your extra-curricular activities, yet they have gotten good and comfortable jobs in a span of only a few weeks searching, while getting more interviews although they have sent markedly less applications out. (also e.g. getting invited for interviews for the same role while they are a 2nd lower but me in the higher 2nd upper range don't get a response at all).

Not trying to play the victim card here, as cultural fit is indeed a consideration for employers I feel, especially smaller departments/teams (e.g. may affect image of the team to clients, may affect team bonding activities and general bonding of a team which have never had any minority members in their team, affecting the team culture, etc - regardless if we will make the effort to integrate), so I think us minorities just have to perhaps work a little harder to stand out more. Being realistic in this sense would temper disappointment and maybe make us realise we have to buck up a bit more.

Just to give you some humble views from a hiring manager (albeit still new in the hiring process):

In average, we have received about 500 applications for an open position of junior engineer posted for 1 month+ . The filtering process is tedious without help of any software (in my case), and the best we can do is to glance through the resume, paying attention to 1) job experience relevancy, and 2) honors grade (might not apply to other hiring manager).

We have managed to interview 10 candidates, and shortlisted 2 for consideration, and eventually made an offer to 1 candidate. It is a challenging task to arrange so many candidates within a month time, considering I have a department to run, I won't be considering to have so many interviews should there be another hiring in the future.

You can imagine that in order to even be selected from the pool of resumes, your resume not only needs to be relevant, but also to stand out from the crowd (I have seen some very impressive one page resumes). After which, you also need to go through multiple round of interviews, before eventually being selected for a position with consideration of your hard & soft skill, your asking pay, your confidence, etc.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to get a job nowadays, with so much competitions from overseas applicants (Malaysian, India, Myanmar, etc.). One strategy is to make a good (and customized) resume, send out as many as possible, in order to get a chance of interview and sell yourself in front of the hiring manager.

Some other tricks, such as thank you note and follow up email, although not as useful, are better than doing nothing. When I receive an email from a candidate, it will reminds me his/her interview performance.

All the best!

I had some interviews but never nailed the job.
I have family...wonder if it is a concern to employer?
Is it better to be assertive and firm OR steady and calm?
How do you see yourself in 5 years? At this stage of life, I don’t see myself climbing up the corporate ladder. Do employers prefer candidates more ambitious?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I had some interviews but never nailed the job.
I have family...wonder if it is a concern to employer?
Is it better to be assertive and firm OR steady and calm?
How do you see yourself in 5 years? At this stage of life, I don’t see myself climbing up the corporate ladder. Do employers prefer candidates more ambitious?

They prefer those that can help them gum lan jiao.

My non authoritative advice. Know who is interviewing you. If it is your future direct boss, show how you can help him/her. If it's central HR hiring, give political correct standard good answers so easier to write report

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My non authoritative advice. Know who is interviewing you. If it is your future direct boss, show how you can help him/her. If it's central HR hiring, give political correct standard good answers so easier to write report

What does HR look out for?

Drive grab can earn. Don’t just sit at home and complain.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Drive grab can earn. Don’t just sit at home and complain.

Grabfood and FoodPanda

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Grabfood and FoodPanda

sell backside too or go geylang stand

I quit my job in retail (26 months) at the end of November last year to go travelling. Coming back home to the UK in 3 days to start the job hunt all over again. Wish me luck.