Striking out on their own
More graduates turnto entrepreneurship as job market sours
Lin Yanqin
yanqin@mediacorp.com.sg
HE IS looking out for job opportunities but undergraduate Wang Wei Xiang, 26, has more than employment on his mind as graduation looms.
The Singapore Management University business management student is also considering a partnership to start a consulting firm, given that the job market is less than rosy.
“Having a job would mean more security and that’s important for me, but if there is a promising idea I would explore it to see if it could become a business,” said Mr Wang, who attended the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) first job fair for graduates yesterday.
He is not the only one thinking of striking out on his own. According to Ms Corrine Ong, director of the National University of Singapore’s Career Centre, more graduating students have been bringing up this idea.
The fair — which drew 800 jobseekers — also catered to the enterprising. Spring Singapore was present to introduce its Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Startups for those under 26. Over 300 graduates are already registered to be part of Spring’s database, with a handful equipped with plans to start a business, said Mr Patrick Lim, Spring’s head for new business support.
But most do not know what being a young entrepreneur really entails. According to Spring, just 13 of the 30 applications received since the fund was launched in November have been accepted.
Apart from good ideas, entrepreneurs need to be prepared to work even harder to drive sales in a poor economy. They should also ensure they have sufficient partners to execute a business plan, said Mr Lim.
But even with the interest from graduates, the fair focused mainly on job and attachment positions, with 2.48 per cent, or about 149 of the 6,000 openings, related to entrepreneurship.
NTUC assistant secretary-general Josephine Teo said yesterday that some 8 per cent or about 1,000 of this year’s 12,000 graduating university students may find themselves without a job even after six months — if the employment rate of 87 per cent during the Sars period in 2003 is anything to go by.
Meanwhile, the labour movement will be organising three sector-specific networking sessions for graduates this year. Those seeking employment advice can also access NTUC’s new online advisory service atwww.youngntuc.org.sg.
NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say urged graduates to keep an open mind. “One door will lead to another and you never know where life will take you to. If you give your very best … any job (which) may not come across as a dream job can turn out to be better than your dream job.”
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That’s my recommendation to graduates who haven’t found a job yet – start a business. That’s the fastest way to giving oneself a job, and in the future, other people jobs.
Agree with you.
Better than sitting at home but problem is the lack of idea and start up fund.
If govt can help out abit here will be good but also why always depend on thr govt?
Start small, grow fast. Not all business require huge capital investments. The government do provide grants for startups.
As for lack of ideas. There’s really no such thing. If one can think of an idea a day, there will be 365 in a year. One of them is bound to be good. I think of these things all the time. In the end, it’s the execution that matters more than the idea.
If you think you can, you will at least try. If you think you can’t, there’s no reason why you would try, hence there’s just absolutely no chance of success.