Frustrated 33-year-old Singaporean NTU Graduate's 10-Month Job Search!

I went through a frustrating 10 month job search. I'm glad I finally found a job.

It started in April 2015 when the SVP of my division called me up to go through my performance appraisal. He said he expected more from an executive with 8 years of experience. I got the hint. He was trying to get rid of me.I had covered additional duties of another executive for close to 6 months when that position was vacant, with no extra allowance. I had hoped that by showing that I was able to handle more responsibilities I would be in a good position for promotion. I didn't even get any form of appreciation from the senior management. Not even a simple thank you. And he had the cheek to say that I did not perform to expectations? BLOODY HELL!

I knew that it's either I resign or get terminated based on performance. Retrenchment is a nasty word for them and being a unionized company, it was unlikely for them to go to that. I recalled from a management meeting that the SVP was under pressure to reduce head count. I remember the magic number for him was 1999 for the whole division. Thus,I quit. I thought that since I'm only in my 30s, I should be able to find a job easily.

As expected, once I submitted my resignation, my duties were split and given to other colleagues. One of them struggled and was stressed out after taking on my duties. Too bad for her.

I thought that I can secure a job within my notice period but that was not the case. It's an employers' market in a bad economic time, the worse time to look for a job. I didn't expect that my job search will eventually stretch to 10 months.....

I aspired to enter the public service, in particular WDA, as I have the relevant job experiences. I was naive to wait for their reply which never came. After a frustrating few weeks wait I gave up and started to look for other jobs instead.

I applied jobs through JobsBank since September 2015 but didn't even get a single call. I even tried applying jobs in NTUC through the site, but months after that the status is still new. What a joke! Especially when NTUC was aggressively promoting Jobsbank. I wonder if anyone is looking at it. I don't mind if I'm rejected but at least give me a status so there's closure. The more I use it, the more I think it's a scam. Once, I applied a job in Jobsbank. After a few weeks with no response I applied the same job on their company website and got a call the next day. What does it tell you?

I was fortunate to be invited to interviews. I was perhaps I'm younger. In fact, for most months, I had a few interviews. However, I observed that I face intense competition at every one of them.

I had some nasty interview experiences along the way.

SMRT was where I had the worse interview experience. I went for the interview at the admin and training building. It didn't feel good when I entered the place. Seems like a gloomy place. That's just the beginning. The HR executive who attended to me read through my application, upon noticing that I was unemployed for a few months, said, "Wah you so many months never work, can survive ah?"

I felt like giving her a tight slap. After that I just went through the motion during the interview as I had lost interest in joining SMRT.

MOE HQ was another place where I had a "memorable" interview experience. I had a couple of interviews there. When I enter the room and offered to shake the interviewers' hands (proper business etiquette, right? ), none of them stood up. NONE. It seemed like either their butts are too heavy or someone glued their butts to the seats. I felt so stupid.

There were a few interviews where it seems I was the only Singaporean. Maybe I was there to make up the numbers?

As the months gone by, my savings and CPF balance was running low. I started getting "O$P$" letters from HDB. Fortunately, my wife had enough CPF savings to cover the mortgage. However, I could not go on like this. During this time, I became a father of an SG50 baby and my expenses were increasing day by day....

Desperate, I went to U PME centre to seek help. After meeting and talking to consultant, I was referred to attend an interview skills and resume writing course. It was a 2 day course with lunch and tea break included. I am able to claim some training subsidy too! I had nothing to lose. I was the youngest in the class. The rest of my classmates were fellow PMEs who are in their 40s and above, highly educated, some with master degrees from NTU and NUS. and unemployed for YEARS. I chatted with them and many tell me about their sad stories. Some of them are loyal to their companies, but now that times are bad the companies find them too expensive to maintain, decided to let them go. I concluded that loyalty to the company is SHIT, it is better to be LOYAL TO MYSELF and go for better opportunities when they come along. I also realised that when you are in your 40s, it's either you get headhunted or be prepared to be hunted.... that's the sad truth.

We started a Watsapp chat group to keep in touch and encourage another. Sad to say that months after we attended the course, some of them are still UNEMPLOYED....

A few months after going to NTUC and not landing a job, I went to WDA Career centre to seek for help. After speaking to a career coach, I managed to get an interview. However, I never hear from them since....

My prayers were answered when I was invited for an interview for a office manager job. I was lucky that they were quite desperate to fill the position and I had relevant experience and could start work immediately. I was offered a 10% increase in my last drawn pay. The workplace is located near my home too.

My job search finally ended.

It has been a learning experience for me and though I am settled in my job now, I know that I have to manage my career well and be open to opportunities from now on. My advice to job seekers out there.... make use of resources by the public agencies even if you hate the government. I should have gone to NTUC, WDA earlier. When you open a case with them, you also help add to the statistics and let the government see how bad is the unemployment situation.

To fellow Singaporeans who are still looking for a job, Good luck and all the best!