Hi Gilbert,
First of all, thanks for producing a wonderful website to help those who are unemployed.
I read many articles at the website and was consoled by that fact that I am not the only who is troubled or feeling depressed by my unemployment status.
But in many ways, I might be worse.
I am 33 year old male who has graduated from a local university years ago. Today marks 2 years of unemployment for me. In late 2008, I left my previous employment at a government agency to pursue personal interests and make an attempt at the business of day trading. That turned out to be a stupid mistake as the global economy was railing from the financial crisis then. It was until early this year that I began to seriously consider returning to the workforce. As you might have guessed, I was unsuccessful.
Along with my unemployment status, I have to grapple with a deeper psychological issue. I have also been a negative person and my self esteem had kept going south since my university days.
I have switched my university course due to poor discipline and the bad habit of seeking perfection in everything I do (leading to procrastination….). Because of the fear of losing out to my peers, I rushed into choosing my second course only because it took 3 years to complete instead of the normal 4 years required of other degree courses.
Problems began to compound when I couldn’t find a job after graduation. Eventually, I did manage to find a job that brought me abroad. But I quitted after a while and again sunk into a period of unemployment before landing a job with a government agency.
It was like starting from ground zero again because the new job was in a different field. All these years, I felt that I have wasted so much time in my life but the vicious cycle kept repeating itself. I just couldn’t seem to extricate myself from this rut. I kept avoiding the problem of finding what I want to do in life. Ego and fear of lagging behind my friends kept me from seeking help OR returning to college to try a different course because that means I would waste more years, lagging even further behind others.
What is redeeming in my current plight, though, is that I do not have many financial commitments as I am single and living with my aged parents. But sometimes I feel that I can’t take it anymore because I am ashamed of myself for still living with my parents at my age because I could not afford to buy my own property. I couldn’t even bear to tell them about my unemployment status. In fact I was ashamed to tell anyone about my plight. I have totally lost self-confidence in whatever I do now.
I am not sure how to move forward. My career path so far has not been linear (fragments, rather) and looking inward, I can say that I don’t really like the previous jobs I have done nor am I good at them anyway.
I know that this can’t go on forever, so I’ll really appreciate any form of advice and counseling from you.
Regards
Ivan (not his real name)
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Dear Ivan,
Thanks for your mail and I empathsize with your situation.
Unemployment is something that can mess up someone’s life and a prologned one can be devastating.
What you are feeling now is pretty normal as you can see from the many letters that I have posted on my site. People go through a whole range of emotions when they are jobless.
Try not to be too hard on yourself – we are entitled to feel lousy along the way as we are all human. We can’t always feel positive and buoyant.
Nevertheless, do what you can to lighten up and try to stay positive if possible – I know that it is not easy under the circumstances.
Its actually the best time to practise some of the positive stuff that you have read in motvational books and take it as an opportunity to build up your adversity quotient. There is never a better time.
You will appreciate this tough time as its a hardening process whereby you only see the result later on.
When I ws jobless for 18 months druing 2000/2001, I was devastated and also suicidal until I made a decision to change my attitude towards my unemployment crisis.
I jogged thrice a week and now run marathons, read regularly, write alot and seeked support from my friends. I realised all these activities took up alot of the free time during the period that I was jobless and were very destressing. They were my life-savers!
By now, you realise that alot of the issues we face during joblessness are emotional so if you can manage your negative emotions well, you can go a a long way.
I have look through your resume and found that you are ably qualified. I also saw that you have some overseas experience in China which is good.
Many young graduates have this problem of quitting midway through their career due to various issues.
I find that perhaps our young graduates tend to whittle under work pressure easily. This is just my personal opinion and don’t feel offended.
I will arrange a career coach cum counsellor to spend some time with you. Please give me a few days to arrange this.
Meanwhile, stay strong and take care. All this shall pass.
I also seek your permission to post your mail on my site so that we can all learn from one another.
I will not use your real name to protect your identity. Cheers!
Regds,
Gilbert
Dear Ivan
As you hv a local U deg and hv experience working in a Government agency, you may like to re-apply for other Government posts. They may consider you since you are still relatively young. Or try applying for teaching. They hv been looking for male teachers and welcome mid-career switcher.
There is hardly any prefer job. Try to like yr job and after some times, you may find it interesting.
At 33, there are still plenty of opportunities for you.
I recently went for teacher’s interview and was rejected. I am almost 40 with a local(NUS) general degree.
They sent an SMS to inform me that I have been shortlisted for interview and would follow up with a letter. The letter never came. I called and was promptly informed via “an email”.
They offered pri school teaching track and CL as main teaching subject since I only have general degree and scored very well for my CL.
The whole interview process was unprofessional and I felt like it was a joke.It was not structured properly and geared towards interviewing a mid-career switcher.
They thought everyone was like a “fresh graduate”. The questions posted were also not oriented towards experienced private sector workers.
They asked me how was my “CL”, “what CL books I have read recently” and “tested me on a chinese idiom”. Lastly they told me they could not pay high salary (while they advsertised $4340* for mid career switcher in the papers)as an excuse to want to reject me.
* To me, this salary is high enough
After a week, I saw MOE advertised a scheme for O level graduates to groom them to become pri school CL teachers. I was shocked. I thought MOE / Mckinsey studies (worth millions) concluded that the education system cannot perform without having more qualified teachers, i.e., U graduates.
I think they are not keen to engage but for the sake of patronizing you, they had to call you up for interview.
Does DR. Ng Eng Hen know about all these???
It is not whether Ng or not knows…his gate keepers would only give him what he wants to know.
Even if he knows, so what?
Lisk,
So this is what Singapore going to evolve? Ministers sitting comfy at the top while the gate keepers pander to what they like to listen?
i wonder what hope i have after my many jobs in the past lasting a few months to one year. worse, i have been unsuccessful in finding another pmet job since 2008. it’s coming to three years. at age 35 and with such a checkered job history, are there any chances left? what happens if i also have a bad stutter and lack of money to facilitate my signing up for courses? besides i also learn very slowly. i wonder if there is still hope. i have tried applying for even low levels of jobs in govt agencies, etc even applied for volunteer or intern jobs but no one wants to hear from me at all. and even play the fool with me. for instance, calling you to go for interview and when you go there, they said they called you up for a different job title which i did not even see in the job advert in the first place. sometimes, they call you up and say that there is no such interview here for such a person.
i don’t understand….
hi octavia,
i can emphatise with your situation. don’t give up hope. even if many will laugh at your stuttering, you still have to continue speaking. cheers!
Octavia,
Some interviewers want to test the candidate if he is clear what he wants in the job. So they set a trap question by saying that there is another job available and ask if the candidate is interested. If the candidate falls for it and say yes, it shows that the candidate is not focus or no idea what he wants and therefore may not be commited to the job.
The best approach is to say that you are only interested in the job you are applying for as that shows that you are keen on that position and more committed.
There are 5710 vacancies for degree holders on http://www.careers.gov.sg as at 4.34 pm 18 Feb 2011.
What is happening to the World today ?? All you see today are people looking for jobs , jobs and jobs where it is getting scarce with the ever increasing number of higher qualified graduates and inflow of foreign competition. Even those who are employed, pick the answer best describes you:
a.”I’m happy with my work”
b.” Happy but I feel drained and exhausted”
c.” Trading my health and time for money”
d.” I mean, thats the only purpose of our lives, duh??”
e: ”Lifes a B”’H , then you die”
I mean, geee,,,, what kind of world do we live in today ? Sounds more like a chaotic place to be in compared to the good old days, or perhaps not.
For starters, I’m 27 years young, graduated with a business honors plus masters of science degree. And,,,, and,,, I’ve been unemployed for the past 3 years despite sending out hundreds of resumes, attending a small number of interviews only to get disappointed with no replies or followups. Not even a courtesy :” thank you but we are sorry you are not shortlisted for the position”. Translation ,:”" we dont give a fuggedabout it ”
Staying positive, i decided to work on my passion. Having created 2 companies within 2 years and currently hiring more than 10 employees, now I think that Being Unemployed is not a bad thing at all. I’d rather be UNEMPLOYABLE than UNEMPLOYED. Although running your own company can be filled with uncertainties, but again, do you think you can rest assure your job won’t go away because of some over -talented workers from some third world whom are always ready to eat your lunch??
To all those who are lost in desperation and frustration,, I feel you ,, I’ve been through that and always believe that with Grit, Determination and some Faith , you will be able find the brightest light in the darkest places.
Peace out.
Real Life, Real Story.
Coming Back Stronger,
I must say that I am impress with you… not many people can do what you did, setting up 2 companies and doing well.
Like you, I have been through 3 period of unemployment and I get sick of working for others. So I am executing my plan B, that is to have a sideline with a view of it becoming my full time job.
I still keep my full time job at the moment as I need the certainty of cash flow to pay my monthly bills, but what i made in my sideline is for me to keep. Till that day I can have my side income exceed my full time pay, it is the time for me to consider quitting.
To Ivan,
My side income is actually trading as well. Honestly, trading is one of the most difficult job to do as your own money is at stake… my account got wiped out 4-5 times before I am able to make money now… and I still want to keep y full time job as it provide me with cash flow to pay my bill and therefore I am not under pressure to trade and make money. I think you made a mistake thinking you can just live off your trading profit…I have been doing that for the past 2.5 years, and I hope that I can do it full time in the next 1-2 years, therefore all in all, it will take me at least 4-5 years… so I am not sure why you think you can just quit your job and live off your trading profit right away…
Get a job and trade on the side untill your profit can exceed your full time job for at least 3-6 mths before quitting…. that is a more prudent way..
All of you are noob, poor employee and will be always under someone! You all better learn from me, make use of others to earn money for me. Forget about your fuckin teacher, mother, father, or god lesson. Just be evil and you will soon get rich!
Bill, what’s wrong with you to said this?
You better go see a doctor.