Anyone jobless for a long time before?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi All,

Just to share my experience with those who are still searching for a job.

1. I am in my mid-30s and have worked 8 years in a GLC - stable job, salary with good medical benefits. Unfortunately in the last year or so, I was posted to a department where I neither like the job nor the boss. I had some issues with the progression, company culture and location but none of these are worth quiting over for individually, but put together with the wrong department and wrong boss all these became unbearable. I left my job in mid-2012 without a new job as I gave myself a deadline of 1 year to learn whatever I could from the last department so I could reasonably put the skills and duties in my CV.

2. Yes you should never quit without a job and I learnt this the hard way. Theoretically I had enough savings to last a few years without working, but it's the mental torture and anguish of finding a new job over an extended period of time that can take it's toll on you. Firstly you had to face friends and family asking you what you are doing everyday since you are not working, and you have all these free time that you may or may not know what to do with. An idle mind is a dangerous mind - you start imagining the worst and start thinking what if you can never find another job to match your last. In my opinion, you need to have a strong mental state of mind to quit without a job.

3. The advantage of being jobless was that I could put all my concentration on finding a new job. When I was employed I barely had the motivation to brush up my resume and send in job applications. After I quit, I had the urgency to make sure that my CV is top-notch and consistently look for suitable jobs everyday to apply for. After I tried applying for jobs related to my last industry and gotten no response, I was forced to consider other industries with applicable skills picked up from my last job. If I had still been employed, I would never have thought of venturing into other industries since I still had the stability of a job. I was also forced to examine what I really want out of life and what kind of jobs and specifications would motivate me to go to work everyday.

4. From mid to end-2012 I probably sent out about 100-150 resumes (I don't really keep track) and gotten maybe 5-7 interviews, none of which resulted in an offer. I submitted my resume to several major job recruitment agencies but none of them were really helpful with the exception of SearchAsia, which would consistently get me interviews but still no offer. Hence I continued to apply jobs on my own. Some of the interviews are brief (<10 mins), some long (>2hrs) and some just brutal. Keep in mind if you are a mid-career professional and are switching industries, the questions they ask you will blunt and tactless. I wasn't quite prepared for that after being out of the job searching market for so long. My worst interview was with a panel of 10 people, who would interview me in pairs for total of more than 3 hours. I have to keep repeating myself and it was stressful and tiring. However after this dreadful interview all my other interview experiences became a breeze compared to it.

5. Things started to change in 2013, in a span of 2 months I got 6 job interviews, 3 of which resulted in offers. Some tips for all job seekers:

(i) Don't buy into the 2% unemployment rate hype. I suspect the unemployment rate for PMETs and mid-career professionals is probably higher. If you really want to quit without a job, be prepared that it may take 6-8 months or more to find a job. Be focused and disciplined on your job search and make sure you have a top-notch CV because HR spends less than a minute scanning through all the hundreds of CV they receive for just one job posting.

(ii) In my opinion, Jobstreet and online job portals are a waste of time. I've only gotten 2 job interviews out of the countless job applications I've submitted. You get more attention if it is an online direct submission to a specific company. I suspect it's because most of the job postings are by recruitment agencies and they get bombarded with applications since it is so easy to just click apply. Newspaper recruitment ads and direct submissions are still the way to go if you want to have a decent chance of getting noticed by the hiring manager. For public sector, it's almost the same for career.gov.sg since job applicants can submit multiple applications for multiple ministries, so it's hard to get noticed. There are still stat boards that maintain their own external job application sites which require you to apply individually so these are your best chances to get noticed.

(iii) You must have a strong "story" and "personal branding". What's your selling point and past achievements? This is especially true for mid-career professionals to justify your last drawn pay and higher salary. When you go for interviews do note the questions they ask you and what's the motivation for asking you those questions. HR are the ones typically asking "cryptic" questions whereas the hiring managers are more straight forward. When you reach home google those questions online and you'll be surprised all the hidden meanings behind those cryptic questions. Sad to say honesty is not the best policy. Job interviews are like beauty pageants and you have to imagine yourself as a contestant trying to win the crown by saying the right things during the interview round. You don't have to lie but you do have to know what you can say or cannot say. For example, you cannot bad-mouth your ex-bosses or ex-company even though they ask you what you don't like about your previous job.

(iv) If you quit without a job and have employment gaps you must have a strong reason, i.e. long notification period, care for sick family members, studies, volunteering, working part-time etc. I'm not sure "taking a break" is a good reason since it could imply that you cannot take the stress of your previous job so that's why you quit. HR is very sharp to pick up on these. If you are out of the job searching market for a long time get your friends or professionals to vet your CV and your answers with a mock interview. By your 10th interview, you should be able to answer questions like a professional beauty contestant without sounding fake or too conventional. Then it's just a matter of chance of getting an offer when you intend enough interviews.

(v) The best time to quit is Dec to Jan, where there are more job opportunities due to start of new financial budget and when people quit after receiving bonuses. Don't quit mid to end of year. If you do, be prepared for a long wait.

(vi) Last but not least, keep positive and learn how to manage your anxiety and stress so you do not express them during interviews. Meet up with friends and family, exercise, have a routine, don't rely solely on one source or recruitment agencies for job opportunities, be open to other industries, and keep going for interviews until rejection means just moving on. Then it's just a matter of time and chance to impress that one or panel of interviewers and get a job offer!

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I just got retrenched last month as the role was made redundant.

I worked as marketing coordinator in an US chemical company. So far, I have been to 6 interviews including 2 for 6 months contract positions.

Out of these 6 inteviews, 1 offered immediately the next day after went to an hour plus interview. I am still hestiating on whether to accept it or not. As the position requires me to work on almost every weekend for public events/seminars. I am very stressed as tomorrow is the deadline to accept the offer. I am married with a 2 yr old child. I wanted to find marketing jobs but not enough experiences...This is depressing.. I had even lowered my pay expectation from 3.1k to 3.5.k. My husband and friends asked me not to worry too much and find job slowly. I scared that 6 months down the road, I am still jobless...

Originally Posted by tiff80

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I just got retrenched last month as the role was made redundant.

I worked as marketing coordinator in an US chemical company. So far, I have been to 6 interviews including 2 for 6 months contract positions.

Out of these 6 inteviews, 1 offered immediately the next day after went to an hour plus interview. I am still hestiating on whether to accept it or not. As the position requires me to work on almost every weekend for public events/seminars. I am very stressed as tomorrow is the deadline to accept the offer. I am married with a 2 yr old child. I wanted to find marketing jobs but not enough experiences...This is depressing.. I had even lowered my pay expectation from 3.1k to 3.5.k. My husband and friends asked me not to worry too much and find job slowly. I scared that 6 months down the road, I am still jobless...

Call me sexist if you want, but I am heartened that as a woman and as a wife, you also feel the responsibility of helping your husband to "bring food to the table". I am from the old school where I believe that it is the man's responsibility to go out and earn money while the wife stays home, look after the home and children.

Already your husband told you not to worry, so why stress yourself with worry and hurry to look for a job? Take this time to spend with it your child and family.

The wives of my friends are mostly housewives and their families are very happy. Granted that they may not be extremely rich, but money is not everything. Their children did well in schools, with some studying in good universities under scholarships. However I must admit that with my wife also working (because she wanted to), the burden for me to earn money for the family is lessen. I dont feel so stressed knowing that we have a backup in income source.

I have a similar experience while searching for a job. I am in my 30s and have about 7 years experience in IT. My last company was in a MNC. My contract ended in june this year and i chose not to renew because i was very sick of the job and there wasn't any career growth. Many colleagues left one after another. I quitted without a job and was jobless for almost 4 months.

I wanted to go into other sectors as an analyst. I sent resume via the career@ gov but so far no call from them. I went for job interviews however none has offered me. Even though i am single, no car, no gf and has some savings, i felt the pressure. It's really mental torture and stressed. Morever, I still have to give my parents allowance as they are not working. I don't know how long more to get a job.

Each time, i go out with my friends, i feel there is a invisible gap between them and me as they are still working. Friends wedding invitation started to knock on my door. No $$ in and big $$ out. I will feel awkward to attend the wedding because they will ask where am i working. If i tell them i am jobless, i guess they will give me that kind of discrimination or despise look etc and will keep topics or conversation minimal with me.

My advice to those ppl who wanted to quit badly is to really bite the bullet and endure their shitty job until you secure a new job. Even though u think u can afford to go jobless and have some savings to sustain u for 6 months or maybe couple of years. But who knows u can be jobless for as long as years and your savings will run out soon. It feels gd to relax for a couple of months without a job. After that you will start to panic. Do not assume the market is always good and there are a lot of jobs u can easily get. There are a lot of FTs competing with u too.

[lordlad]

Originally Posted by yelangrelive

Hi all
After looking at the whole thread, I am thinking whether i am luckier or worse.

So here is my story.
Age: Turning 30 soon
Qualification: Diploma
Family Commitment: 3 room HDB, a 6 years old son

2003
1st job: Civil Servant for 5 years
Salary: $2800
Reasons for leaving: Politics and policy

2008
2nd Job: a specailised language interpreter for 2 years (niche market in singapore)
Salary: $2500
Reasons for leaving: Politics and progressions

2010
3rd Job: Property Executive in charge of 7 to 10 buildings for 1 years
Salary: $2700
Reasons for leaving: long working hours and huge work loads, always have night meeting

2011
4th Job: Direct Salary in a outsource sales and marketing company for a charity for 6 months
Salary: Commission based (less than $1000 in a month) .
Reasons for leaving: Not achieving sales target

2012
5th Job: Sales Executive for a printing company for 1 week
Salary: Basic ($1000) + High Commission
Reasons for leaving: Find a job with Basic pay with my intern company

2012
6th Job: Field Officer for a year
Salary: $1800
Reasons for leaving (which is now): Taking a risk in a no basic but high commission job

Part time job: Part Time Distributor for one ISP (never cheong much, in a month can have 1 sale as the lowest, the highest will be 47 sales)
Salary: Full commission with passive income every month (lowest


2013
Leaving my 6th Job to focus on the part time distributor for ISP
Looking for people who are sharing the same interest with me to team up.
Salary: Full Commission (Aiming at $5k a month if i work hard enough)


All these are my career history, I realised that i am was job hopping for the past 10 years, but only now i realised that my interest and forte is in Sales especially IT Sales.

Some of my current colleagues are asking me why i am leaving my job when the econ is so bad and turning worse. I told them that my character is inclined towards sales and working for myself.

So i do not know whether I am lucky or worse.

P.S. To those who are jobless now and want to try something now or those who are looking for a job to tide over this period of time, if you are interested, maybe i have something that can help you for the time being. PM me.

There's nothing wrong with being a job hopper, heck...i've hopped more than you and i am still under the believe that if you don't hop, the possibility of you getting a pay raise is next to none.

I am like you, just a poly diploma graduate but when i hopped, i hopped with a purpose. I hopped with focus and whenever interviewers asked me about it, my reason is always the same, monetary benefits and the want to more opportunities. In terms of politics, there's politics EVERYWHERE. If you quit a job due to politics, then you can't go anywhere.

Below is more year over year gross salary progression.....compared to the elites, managers, it's nothing of course. But that's one thing good about me, that my competition is never others (i could care less whether my neighbour is richer than me), my competition is just with myself. And with that goal of competing against myself, at least i am winning against myself every year. My advise to you is:

-Don't escape from politics. You don't have to play it. But at least know the rules so that you can traverse it and prevent it from hurting you.

-Focus. Specialisation always pays better than generalisation. Just ask a GP vs a Heart Specialisation. Right now, i am only doing Virtualisation and Server. Desktop support and those craps, i wouldn't even touch with a 10 foot pole. You need to know what you want to do and find that specialty.



Year 2005 Age 23 IT Helpdesk $1,400.00

Year 2006 Age 24 IT Engineer in Designing Firm $1,500.00 7.14%

Year 2007 Age 25 SL1 Engineer (As Contract Staff in a Bank) $1,750.00 16.67%

Year 2008 Age 26 SL1 Engineer (As Perm Staff in a bank) $2,100.00 20.00%

Year 2008 Age 26 Same company, promotion as Senior Lead $2,600.00 23.81%

Year 2009 Age 27 Same company, promotion as Project Lead $3,100.00 19.23%

Year 2009 Age 27 IT Administrator $3,600.00 16.13%

Year 2010 Age 28 Same company $3,750.00 4.17%

Year 2011 Age 29 Same Company $4,100.00 9.33%

Year 2012 Age 30 System Administrator $4,900.00 19.51%

Year 2013 Age 31 Same Company $5,096.00 4.00%

Year 2013 Age 31 Engineer for a Bank $6,000.00 17.74%

Hey there, thanks for sharing.

If it means something to you, I find your short write up well composed, and engaging. I feel sorry for you that in your mid 30s you are facing difficulties landing a job. I therefore dare not even think what more for a guy over 50 to get a job.

Your sharing and especially your advise has strengthened my resolve to press on with my job even though like many people I also feel very sian already. Every day have to force myself to go to work. Now I look at the situation differently imagining that this job is a new chance for me to be employed.

Thanks again and good luck on your job search.

Originally Posted by wei

I have a similar experience while searching for a job. I am in my 30s and have about 7 years experience in IT. My last company was in a MNC. My contract ended in june this year and i chose not to renew because i was very sick of the job and there wasn't any career growth. Many colleagues left one after another. I quitted without a job and was jobless for almost 4 months.

I wanted to go into other sectors as an analyst. I sent resume via the career@ gov but so far no call from them. I went for job interviews however none has offered me. Even though i am single, no car, no gf and has some savings, i felt the pressure. It's really mental torture and stressed. Morever, I still have to give my parents allowance as they are not working. I don't know how long more to get a job.

Each time, i go out with my friends, i feel there is a invisible gap between them and me as they are still working. Friends wedding invitation started to knock on my door. No $$ in and big $$ out. I will feel awkward to attend the wedding because they will ask where am i working. If i tell them i am jobless, i guess they will give me that kind of discrimination or despise look etc and will keep topics or conversation minimal with me.

My advice to those ppl who wanted to quit badly is to really bite the bullet and endure their shitty job until you secure a new job. Even though u think u can afford to go jobless and have some savings to sustain u for 6 months or maybe couple of years. But who knows u can be jobless for as long as years and your savings will run out soon. It feels gd to relax for a couple of months without a job. After that you will start to panic. Do not assume the market is always good and there are a lot of jobs u can easily get. There are a lot of FTs competing with u too.

just to share some job sharing tips from someone who has never been jobless for more than 2 months, including snatching internships:

1. network, network, network. whereever you go, whereever you work, always build connections and talk to industry leaders. u never know whether the person u're casually talking with might be a hiring manager looking for an applicant. Social media sites like twitter, weibo and linkedin broadcast informal job ads when u join the right group.


2. never stop finding. i tell myself to send out at least 5 resumes a day when i'm jobless. in a month i would have sent out 150 applicants. it's ok if only 1 replied. my chances of a reply is 99.3% now.

3. never give up an opportunity which looks shitty. it's up to me to find out how one thing leads to another.

4. always have a backup plan if you cant get the job you want. want to work as an analyst in gov sector? chances are slim. how about starting from a small company, gain experience, and apply again? they are bound to be companies who need an extra hand badly. state you are willing to work as an intern to get that job u want.

anything less is akin to telling yourself to get jobless. so whether you want to get a job is all up to u. stay job-ful people.

I am in my late twenties and not a serial job hopper but I alway face questions from the HR and hiring manager on if we hire you how can we be sure that you won't leave us within 2 years.
How should I answer them? Is there anything wrong with me? Just wanted to find a place where I can grow and contribute. How should I go to find a perm job with career advancement opportunities?
Experience as follows
2005 – Intern at a foreign chamber of commerce overseas for 3 months.
2006 - Graduate from local poly and did temp job with a local system integrator – 1.4 K per month for 6 months before NS.
2007 – During NS, did part time degree studies in IT and business at a leading private school
2008 – Complete NS
2009 - Join NUS as a technician in 2009
06/2010 - graduate with honours degree and left to join an SI but left due to lack of interest in software development work – last drawn 3K
2011 - Join a stat board as an insourced technology consultant – last drawn 3.8K
01/2013 - Left to join another stat board as staff but left due to internal politics after 6 months – last drawn 4040
07/2013 – found a job at a jap trading firm as IT consultant but under 1 year thus looking for a more perm role where and grow. Completed MBA at the same private school (2011-2013) – currently drawing 4.6K

Originally Posted by lordlad

There's nothing wrong with being a job hopper, heck...i've hopped more than you and i am still under the believe that if you don't hop, the possibility of you getting a pay raise is next to none.

I am like you, just a poly diploma graduate but when i hopped, i hopped with a purpose. I hopped with focus and whenever interviewers asked me about it, my reason is always the same, monetary benefits and the want to more opportunities. In terms of politics, there's politics EVERYWHERE. If you quit a job due to politics, then you can't go anywhere.

Below is more year over year gross salary progression.....compared to the elites, managers, it's nothing of course. But that's one thing good about me, that my competition is never others (i could care less whether my neighbour is richer than me), my competition is just with myself. And with that goal of competing against myself, at least i am winning against myself every year. My advise to you is:

-Don't escape from politics. You don't have to play it. But at least know the rules so that you can traverse it and prevent it from hurting you.

-Focus. Specialisation always pays better than generalisation. Just ask a GP vs a Heart Specialisation. Right now, i am only doing Virtualisation and Server. Desktop support and those craps, i wouldn't even touch with a 10 foot pole. You need to know what you want to do and find that specialty.



Year 2005 Age 23 IT Helpdesk $1,400.00

Year 2006 Age 24 IT Engineer in Designing Firm $1,500.00 7.14%

Year 2007 Age 25 SL1 Engineer (As Contract Staff in a Bank) $1,750.00 16.67%

Year 2008 Age 26 SL1 Engineer (As Perm Staff in a bank) $2,100.00 20.00%

Year 2008 Age 26 Same company, promotion as Senior Lead $2,600.00 23.81%

Year 2009 Age 27 Same company, promotion as Project Lead $3,100.00 19.23%

Year 2009 Age 27 IT Administrator $3,600.00 16.13%

Year 2010 Age 28 Same company $3,750.00 4.17%

Year 2011 Age 29 Same Company $4,100.00 9.33%

Year 2012 Age 30 System Administrator $4,900.00 19.51%

Year 2013 Age 31 Same Company $5,096.00 4.00%

Year 2013 Age 31 Engineer for a Bank $6,000.00 17.74%

Really admire u man.. i am an Diploma in IT grad also but not into all those IT stuff, doing more of an IT admin stuff in civil service.. my second job with 3 yrs exp and earning only $2260.. now actively want to find a new job to earn a comfortable at least $2.5-$2.6k.. i also believe in job hopping in order to earn more fast... if not stuck there with yearly $100 increment only..

Yes I did, for a total of 9 months.

In the middle of the 9 months, went into depression. When you hit rock bottom, only way is to go up. Then sort myself out and get back on track, luckily found a rather good job.

Took it as a 'break' to recharge, now back even stronger to chiong again. But, learn to see life in a new light.

was jobless for 6 months. luckily my Indonesia fiancé is working here as a nurse continue to show me undying support. assisted me wif monthly expenses and encouragement... managed to tide through the difficult period n found a job.... just wondering if I were to have a local gf, would she have left me.... I tink this is wat the Chinese say... Huan Nan Jian Zhen Qing......... btw I m local...