This can be a pretty depressing time if you're a fresh graduate because we all know that with the current financial crisis, landing a dream job is likely to remain just that - a dream - at least for some time.
But take heart that you are in your 20s. You are likely to be working for at least another 20, 30 or even 40 years, so don't be too anxious if you are unable to start work immediately after graduation, or if you land a job that appears less than ideal.
Still, there is no doubt that this is the time when your resourcefulness and resilience will be tested. It takes loads of patience to scour the recruitment pages of The Straits Times daily for jobs and, hopefully, make the rounds of interviews.
If you are not defeated by them, then you will be mentally stronger. When you learn to deal positively with rejections and come out with creative responses, you are building your strength of character.
Looking back, the past jobs that I've held were a result of what were available at the time of my job hunt. Sure, I had a general idea of what I would like to do but many times, the external circumstances and the laws of demand and supply in the job market dictated where I ended up working.
After all, when you graduate in the midst of an economic recession - as I did - you can't be too choosy about what comes your way. The pressure is worse if you are expected to contribute to the family - as I was - because it means you need a constant stream of income.
I certainly couldn't afford to take my time to sit around and wait to land a dream job. It also meant that if I was thinking of leaving the job I was holding, I couldn't hand in my resignation letter until I'd got a new job.
So I do empathise with those who are graduating this year. Yes, I know how difficult a job hunt can get. After all, I've held nine jobs in the past 22 years since my graduation. Call me sentimental, but I've kept all my job appointment letters and every single increment and promotion letter.
After eight jobs, I count myself fortunate that circumstances finally led me to where I am. This is the longest I've ever stayed in a job - nine years. To someone who has spent many hours of her working life going through the newspapers for suitable job openings, it is bliss to find that there has been no reason to do so in the last nine years.
I can still remember how I got my first job.
I began my job hunt just before I graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Social Science/Arts degree majoring in economics and sociology in 1986.
Like today, it wasn't the best of times to graduate. Singapore was still in a recession, which started in 1985 owing to a slump in global trade. I didn't have the option of furthering my studies as I was the older child in the family and it was time to support my parents as well as my younger brother, who wanted to pursue an overseas law degree.
Unemployment was on the rise and executive jobs were getting scarce. The newspapers carried stories of fresh accounting graduates who, unable to find gainful employment, resorted to bookkeeping jobs that paid $400 a month. It was grim.
Amid the doom and gloom, it struck me that the civil service sector was still hiring and the pay was decent. To me, that meant a starting pay of at least $1,000. I decided to try my luck and applied to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) as an army officer.
I didn't want to take chances, so I got my boyfriend (now husband) to role-play with me just to prepare myself for the job interview. I even compiled 30 questions and answers about the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and civil defence, and very diligently memorised them.
After a couple of interviews and a psychological test, I got the job as a manpower specialist officer in the non-uniformed SAF scheme, and started work at Mindef in Dempsey Road in May 1986, shortly after I finished my final exams. My starting monthly pay was $1,003.
Joining the army wasn't my idea of an ideal job as I would have preferred one with some travelling. But I was determined to learn whatever I could and contribute. It turned out that the army had a pretty generous training budget and I was sent for all sorts of training, from productivity workshops and counselling courses to supervisory skills programmes. I was in the job for two years.
It was the same at my second job at the now-defunct Insurance Corporation of Singapore (ICS). Besides sending us for numerous courses at the Singapore College of Insurance, the general manager took it upon himself to grill the recruits on the different classes of insurance, an hour before we started work daily.
I've learnt many different things from my past jobs and bosses, some more memorable than others. And the experiences have contributed to my wide portfolio of skills and shaped me.
It took a while in my case, but I know now that I really like dealing with people and will thrive in a job that provides some creativity and autonomy, and which enables me to reach out to the masses. The funny thing is when you find the right job, you don't think of it so much as a job but as a vocation.
Opportunities knock more than once. The key is you want to be ready with the right attitude and skills set when they come.
So continue to learn and invest in yourself after your basic degree. Have a three- to five-year plan and picture where you would like to be and how to get there.
Eager to improve myself, I continued to further my studies as I worked. Along the way, I picked up a postgraduate diploma in business administration from the Singapore Institute of Management and an MBA from the Open University, Britain.
While the former was fully sponsored by ICS with a one-year bond, the MBA was half sponsored by my former Finnish employer, Esmerk Information, with no strings attached.
Both credentials have proven useful in helping me be more effective in the various job roles I've had. In my past jobs, I had closed million-dollar sales, managed sales teams and run firms.
Remember that life is full of bends and corners. Just as you think you are nearing a dead end, the spectacle of another long smooth road greets you with new opportunities.
- The Straits Times
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