Career advice for 25 yr old

[coffeemate]

Hi people, I'm here to seek advice for my career & future.

I'm currently a procurement analyst in a big sme of about 10,000 employees (international + local). It's a portfolio company run by KKR (a leading global investment firm), pending to be sold to an MNC in a few years time to be vertically integrated. I have worked for a v successful MNC for 1.5 years as an operation executive before quitting (due to stagnation in role & pay) and starting at this sme (significant pay raise). Now I have a 'grand' total of about 2 years work exp under my belt. I grad from NUS bioengineering but I can forget abt being a bioengineer as the subject is too niche. less than half the cohort end up as engineers, the other half went on to do research. anyway, the fact is that i don't enjoy an operational role. it's not stimulating at all. being in operations really sapped my life away. while my current role gives me a more advisory & project management role, i don't see a very long and bright future in the company as it is a sunset industry & the employees here are severely unmotivated (most are waiting for retrenchment / retirement). even the CEO is waiting for this coy to be sold off in a few yrs so that he can retire.

hence, although i like my role (and the occasional biz trips), the morale of the company is seriously killing my mojo. most of the ppl here hate change, including the CEO, which severely restricts the projects that can be done to improve the coy. and the work pace slooowwwww... previously i was in a 'young' environment. the vibe was good, energy was good, but the job & progression was **** (too operational / tactical).

while some may say "just wait for the coy to be sold", my worry is what if this happens too late in my life? will i miss out on learning more work skills & more pay raise? i feel like my youth & energy might be wasted in this coy which is moving at snail pace at the moment.

i did try going for interviews after getting this job, and was almost hired as a biz analyst (another significant pay raise from this current coy) in a big MNC firm, but lost out to another candidate with 5 yrs more exp. i have not been actively looking for a job as of now as i plan to get an MBA while being at this "company resort" (cos it's so chillax).

Is there any kind soul out that willing to share their exp or provide me some guidance / direction??

Originally Posted by coffeemate

Hi people, I'm here to seek advice for my career & future.

I'm currently a procurement analyst in a big sme of about 10,000 employees (international + local). It's a portfolio company run by KKR (a leading global investment firm), pending to be sold to an MNC in a few years time to be vertically integrated. I have worked for a v successful MNC for 1.5 years as an operation executive before quitting (due to stagnation in role & pay) and starting at this sme (significant pay raise). Now I have a 'grand' total of about 2 years work exp under my belt. I grad from NUS bioengineering but I can forget abt being a bioengineer as the subject is too niche. less than half the cohort end up as engineers, the other half went on to do research. anyway, the fact is that i don't enjoy an operational role. it's not stimulating at all. being in operations really sapped my life away. while my current role gives me a more advisory & project management role, i don't see a very long and bright future in the company as it is a sunset industry & the employees here are severely unmotivated (most are waiting for retrenchment / retirement). even the CEO is waiting for this coy to be sold off in a few yrs so that he can retire.

hence, although i like my role (and the occasional biz trips), the morale of the company is seriously killing my mojo. most of the ppl here hate change, including the CEO, which severely restricts the projects that can be done to improve the coy. and the work pace sloooww... previously i was in a 'young' environment. the vibe was good, energy was good, but the job & progression was **** (too operational / tactical).

while some may say "just wait for the coy to be sold", my worry is what if this happens too late in my life? will i miss out on learning more work skills & more pay raise? i feel like my youth & energy might be wasted in this coy which is moving at snail pace at the moment.

i did try going for interviews after getting this job, and was almost hired as a biz analyst (another significant pay raise from this current coy) in a big MNC firm, but lost out to another candidate with 5 yrs more exp. i have not been actively looking for a job as of now as i plan to get an MBA while being at this "company resort" (cos it's so chillax).

Is there any kind soul out that willing to share their exp or provide me some guidance / direction??

Work 1.5 years and you quit due to stagnation and $. Where do you expect to be at? Even front office personnels are stagnated for the first 3-5 years. You are in ops and you expect to climb in 1.5 years? Lol.

so you've been with this coy for half a year? anyway, 25 yo still young. other than MBA, CFA is another path cos MBA is quite costly.

[coffeemate]

Yah, thats why I dont want to be in ops.

so what sort of guidance you want? what to study? jump to another job?

fact is if you were really that good, you wouldn't be working in a sme rite? u were only there for such a short time and at such a junior position what do you expect to change or do?

anyway the probs u have are quite common, change management is a very challenging job that only very exp pro and snr level ppl know how to manage better. if u think joining another co will have a lot of ppl happy to change & improve all the time, ur in for a rude shock.

[coffeemate]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

so what sort of guidance you want? what to study? jump to another job?

fact is if you were really that good, you wouldn't be working in a sme rite? u were only there for such a short time and at such a junior position what do you expect to change or do?

anyway the probs u have are quite common, change management is a very challenging job that only very exp pro and snr level ppl know how to manage better. if u think joining another co will have a lot of ppl happy to change & improve all the time, ur in for a rude shock.

You r right abt change. im not saying im a very good employee. im just starting out and trying new things. the pay in my current job is better than my ex-coy thats why i quit. but i always wonder if the decision i make in life is correct... this job is good but i dont think it's going to be my lifelong career. so i'm asking for advice on my next step in the future. right now everyone is telling me to get an MBA. but, what's next after taking an MBA??

Originally Posted by coffeemate

You r right abt change. im not saying im a very good employee. im just starting out and trying new things. the pay in my current job is better than my ex-coy thats why i quit. but i always wonder if the decision i make in life is correct... this job is good but i dont think it's going to be my lifelong career. so i'm asking for advice on my next step in the future. right now everyone is telling me to get an MBA. but, what's next after taking an MBA??

I would advise you against taking an MBA unless it is at one of the top schools like Insead, Harvard business school etc. The reality is that with your current work experience, an MBA at a lesser school adds no real market value to you.

Originally Posted by coffeemate

You r right abt change. im not saying im a very good employee. im just starting out and trying new things. the pay in my current job is better than my ex-coy thats why i quit. but i always wonder if the decision i make in life is correct... this job is good but i dont think it's going to be my lifelong career. so i'm asking for advice on my next step in the future. right now everyone is telling me to get an MBA. but, what's next after taking an MBA??

With your sort of level dun waste time taking MBA. The only Singapore based MBA worth taking is Insead after CBS moved out, but they are very expensive and will not accept people with your sort of exp.

MBAs offered by the local unis are sub-par because the purpose of MBA is to gain useful industry network and discuss/debate with top players to learn. You will not find many good calibre people in the local unis (most are just junior level staff in small MNCs, GLCs or public sector) which defeat the whole point of taking MBA. The private distance learning type is even worse…

At the end of the day, you just need to figure out what you want, nobody can help you with that, but the caveat to that is you must be realistic in your expectations. If you want an office environment where everyone is friendly, cooperate with each other, open to making big changes to improve all the time, have meaningful job and yet pay well etc, then I suggest you just stay where you are and dun bother because chances are another company will have all the same problems again.

Go take only. MBA plus CFA. Complete oredi still nth to do, take phd.
Finish phd, take another degree, rinse n repeat.
活到老，学到老