Anyone jobless for a long time before?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am in my 40s too. I am tired of my job. But looking at the current situation, it seems like quitting is not an option. New job opportunities are harder to come by as well. Sad... is this the mid life crisis that everyone talks about?

Yes, i guess so...mid life crisis. There are so few jobs I could write in to. Those i wrote in, no response. It feels like am just waiting, aimlessly.

I wish I had think twice or trice before I quited the last time.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I will seriously consider it again. Thanks for your response.
Have been applying jobs (even of lower qualification) since last year and ever since I quit. I only gotten 2 interviews and never get back. The rest of the application through all the jobs portal doesn't seem to response at all.

I know its hard to go back to an ex-company. Its like admitting defeat.

I did this before. Since I couldn't manage to get another job, so went back to previous company, as they had a temp role vacant. Went back and faced people question and express shock at why I was back. But after a week or two, the worst would have been over. People just did not bother you anymore. Just worked as per normal and looked forward to my salary at the end of the month. I was happy and glad that I made the right choice.

You need money. This is more important. You can keep a look out while you are working, make the hop when the opportunity comes.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

After reading through this entire thread, I finally found the courage to share my story with everyone....

I majored in marketing during my uni days and graduated in 2008, coming into the workforce in early 2009, but it was a bad timing and with financial dues, I took up a job as quickly as possible with an IT MNC doing customer support. However everyday I looked forward to getting back and doing marketing but constantly under restraints, I made due with a seemingly mundane job that I have no passion for.

After a 2.5yrs stint with the company, I left for the Telco industry for better salary in order to quickly pay back my financial dues. I was on probation in a perm job which in retrospective, should expect a conversion of 6mths. But that didn't happen and I was further extended for another 3mths again, with no hints of perm conversion. At then did i realize I'll be out of a job by Aug 2012. It was a painful experience for me...coupled with the financial burden I had to shoulder as well. I had no choice but to leave the company on my own accord voluntarily rather than being let go or asked to leave.

As of now, at 5mths, I'm still out of a job and out of luck...especially when every month, there's only an outflow of expenses rather than inflow. It was a very discouraging fact and it mattered to me so much that I left a company within 1 year.

I need some advice on how I can better position myself with interviewers and agencies, hopefully the people here can offer some insights on the below:

1. How should I/would you position yourself when people ask you why you left your previous company within 1 year?

2. Would saying "end of contract" or decided not to renew/extend your "contract" term to pursue other oppurtunities viable?

3. If I want to do my line of study again and start from scratch(including taking a pay cut) , what are some of the ways I can try to justify the issue of being overqualified so as better secure interviews and job oppurtunites?

Thanks for anyone in advance who can offer their insights.

I thought I was in a very bad scenario but see some of people who posted (esp. 30s and mid 30s with family commitments) being unemployed/jobless are probably in a much worst scenario that I am. Nonetheless I hope everyone in a unemployed/jobless scenario like myself can get the chance and oppurtunity that we need to turnaround.

Hi bro,

Don't know who you are, but I feel for you because I went through a similar process and I want to share my true story with you, not to show off, but to let u know that things will definitely get better, so please don't give up.

In 2011, I was pretty fresh out of uni, with slightly under 1 year of experience that I had gained on a contract basis.

I left my contract role as I was offered a permanent role with a firm, Similarly, I was subject to 6 months probation and had to leave 'voluntarily' due to performing under expectations and poor fit to culture... and guess what the culture was dictated by all the 'FTs' in the company from neighbouring countries who formed cliques and ostracized me. My life in the firm was an absolute nightmare with no one willing to teach me anything properly and being left to fend for myself. I had no chance at all, even though I had worked my absolute hardest.

Leaving without a job left me jobless for 9 months in 2012, of which I can truly describe as being the worst period of my life (even worse than the hellish time in the firm). As u described, every month it was money flowing out, and no money flowing in. Networking was humiliating, where u had to admit that you were jobless to your peers, but even after embarrassment, no one could help me due to the terrible market conditions. The family and girlfriend were constantly worried and stressing and nagging at you.. on one hand I was grateful for their concern, but the other one it certainly made me feel a lot worse about myself..

As you can imagine, I was in a very poor position competing against more experienced candidates on the market, plus I had to explain why I left the previous firm without a job at every single interview. Throughout the 9 months, I constantly scoured job websites, sent countless resumes and went for numerous interviews. Disappointment after disappointment from no responses and failed interviews left me deflated, but I kept pushing on and trying. Finally, after 9 months, I was offered a contractual role in a firm, where I worked my ass off and networked within the new firm to the best of my abilities, and I managed to get converted to a permanent role with a huge payrise (>50%). I have a much better relationship with my colleagues and bosses in my current role, a lesson I learnt the hard way in my previous job.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

1. How should I/would you position yourself when people ask you why you left your previous company within 1 year?
>> Tell them you left voluntarily (fact), and a non-performance related reason why you felt your previous role was not suitable. Keep the answers on this issue in the interview honest but short, and move on to other topics as soon as you can.

2. Would saying "end of contract" or decided not to renew/extend your "contract" term to pursue other oppurtunities viable?
>>Yes, it is actually viable. Contracts not being renewed, and being jobless is actually getting more common due to the tight job market and reflects less badly on you than you'd imagine.


3. If I want to do my line of study again and start from scratch(including taking a pay cut) , what are some of the ways I can try to justify the issue of being overqualified so as better secure interviews and job oppurtunites?
>>This is something you have to decide by yourself. It is a tight job market, there are plenty of 'overqualified' people looking for roles that require less qualifications. No need to justify, just show some passion/commitment to the job you are interviewing for.

Good luck, all the best!!!!!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, I'm in my mid 40s, unemployed since Sep 12. I have two children (JC/Sec) to support. I have been in contracts for many years. Difficult to get back to perm jobs due to employer biasness. With age, it's worst. Hoping for a miracle, hope to find a suitable perm job by Mar13. Otherwise, am dead.

Sorry to hear your predicament. If you want / need someone to talk to, may I suggest you visit http://www.transitioning.org.

From what I read, the creator of the site, (a Mr Gilbert Goh) had personally gone through prolonged unemployment, and has decided to set up the site to help fellow unemployed citizens.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am in my 40s too. I am tired of my job. But looking at the current situation, it seems like quitting is not an option. New job opportunities are harder to come by as well. Sad... is this the mid life crisis that everyone talks about?

You know what's scary? Mid life crisis is not a one off event. It can hit you at 30+, 40+ and even at 50s.

If you are tired with your current job scope, can look within the company for other appointments. Coming out and starting over in a new company can be a very stressful event too, especially for someone in their 40s, where you are expected to "hit the ground running" so to speak.

Unlike younger employees, older employees are expected to start contributing the moment they join a new company, especially when they employ you based on your "past work experience".

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sorry to hear your predicament. If you want / need someone to talk to, may I suggest you visit http://www.transitioning.org.

From what I read, the creator of the site, (a Mr Gilbert Goh) had personally gone through prolonged unemployment, and has decided to set up the site to help fellow unemployed citizens.

Bad idea. This guy is a politician from some small oppo party using all these unemployment stories submitted by his patients to take political potshots at the government.

A real NGO or charity set up to help unemployed people will not be filled with so much anti-PAP propoganda. There is no useful resource for people seeking jobs at the website at all and mostly is just a bunch of essays bitching about foreigners, governement and punggol by election.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Bad idea. This guy is a politician from some small oppo party using all these unemployment stories submitted by his patients to take political potshots at the government.

A real NGO or charity set up to help unemployed people will not be filled with so much anti-PAP propoganda. There is no useful resource for people seeking jobs at the website at all and mostly is just a bunch of essays bitching about foreigners, governement and punggol by election.

So the picture that many PMETs in their 40s, once got retrenched, find it hard to get back to a job is false or true?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So the picture that many PMETs in their 40s, once got retrenched, find it hard to get back to a job is false or true?

The picture is true, but the last thing you should do when out of job is to approach some politician of dubious origin peddling a website that appears to do nothing to help the victims but use their stories to sell his agenda.

A true NGO interested in helping unemployed should provide recruitment and training resources to help them find jobs, not engage in politiking by posting inflamatory remarks trying to fan anti-foreigner, anti-company and anti-PAP sentiments.

A good example of a helpful NGO is Fei Yue Fei Yue Community Services - Main Page. They deal with a much wider area of social and community issues which can easily be blamed on the establishment. Yet if you scroll through their homepage, it is largely very positive and uplifiting, filled with schedule of useful programs, activities, job opportunities, resources on government programs and detailed explaination of critieria and application process.

Contrast this with transitiong.org - Its front page is filled anti-PAP anti-WP rhetoric on politics and elections, call for protest at Hong Lim Park etc (What this has to do with an unemployed worker desperate for a job I don't know).

The so called counselling for the unemployed who wrote in with their stories is cursory at best and constitute nothing more than a couple of feel good platitudes. The main gist seems to be nothing more than to parade such unemployed victims to arouse envy and vitroal against the government.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The picture is true, but the last thing you should do when out of job is to approach some politician of dubious origin peddling a website that appears to do nothing to help the victims but use their stories to sell his agenda.

A true NGO interested in helping unemployed should provide recruitment and training resources to help them find jobs, not engage in politiking by posting inflamatory remarks trying to fan anti-foreigner, anti-company and anti-PAP sentiments.

A good example of a helpful NGO is Fei Yue Fei Yue Community Services - Main Page. They deal with a much wider area of social and community issues which can easily be blamed on the establishment. Yet if you scroll through their homepage, it is largely very positive and uplifiting, filled with schedule of useful programs, activities, job opportunities, resources on government programs and detailed explaination of critieria and application process.

Contrast this with transitiong.org - Its front page is filled anti-PAP anti-WP rhetoric on politics and elections, call for protest at Hong Lim Park etc (What this has to do with an unemployed worker desperate for a job I don't know).

The so called counselling for the unemployed who wrote in with their stories is cursory at best and constitute nothing more than a couple of feel good platitudes. The main gist seems to be nothing more than to parade such unemployed victims to arouse envy and vitroal against the government.

What do all these unfortunate 40s end up with? Taxi drivers? Property agents? what else?

My brother in law has this fear of being retrenched in the 40s because he worked as an engineer in a semi-con MNCs. From his observation, many engineers in his company reached EOC in their 40s, got retrenched and thereafter is forever hard to find a job again. He is in his 30s, the year before, he resigned, trying to switch line but failed. The company offered to get him back with a pay rise and happily accepted.

Other than IT line, semi-con, what are the most vulnerable industries for the 40s PMET?

[cslee]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What do all these unfortunate 40s end up with? Taxi drivers? Property agents? what else?

My brother in law has this fear of being retrenched in the 40s because he worked as an engineer in a semi-con MNCs. From his observation, many engineers in his company reached EOC in their 40s, got retrenched and thereafter is forever hard to find a job again. He is in his 30s, the year before, he resigned, trying to switch line but failed. The company offered to get him back with a pay rise and happily accepted.

Other than IT line, semi-con, what are the most vulnerable industries for the 40s PMET?

Armed yourself with relevant knowledge and skills. For those good IT people who I know of, they're still doing very well and approached by head-hunters frequently. If you don't believe me, check out those SEs (at least CCIE level) aged 40+ to early 50s in Cisco Systems.