Dear Sir,
My name is Ramesh. I am 30 years old and unemployed.
I have completed my Masters of Science in Management from Anglia Ruskin University,England.
I also have a Bachelor’s Degree, 2 Diplomas and other educational certificates
I have not been able to get a job since Dec 2010.
I have applied for lots of government jobs and almost a total of over 500 hundred jobs in 2011 from all sectors.
I have always been rejected, or kept for reference.
I have even tried applying for the same job again, but only to get the same reply.
I do not know why my application are always rejected even though I met all their criteria.
In March, I registered myself in Northwest CDC, but I have been told to attend a course.
Isn’t my educational qualifications and working experience enough? In the end CDC was unable to help me due to my high qualification.
News and stats show that there are lots of jobs not filled up, yet when I apply for government jobs I don’t fit the bill and not even call up for an interview.
I really do not know what else to do. I hope to get assistance or advice from you Sir.
Only in March 2011 and July 2011, 2-3 companies bothered to call me to say that I am over qualified for their positions.
That is the reason I shifted my attention to Careers @ Gov.
In Oct 2011, I was called in by the Navy for a recruitment talk.
However, after talking to me, I was told that the cut off age is 28 whereas I was already 30 in 2011.
I have made a wasted trip yet again and another miserable rejection.
Sir, I even applied to MOE from 2006-2011 for a teaching position despite my qualifications.
I even wrote in to the the Education Minister and MOE head regarding my “always being rejected” tag. Don’t they always mentioned that there is a shortage of teachers?!
My MP appealed to E2i for me but I was made to go for a resume course. Thereafter, I was asked to go for another short course – I want to get a job not to waste my time attending courses!
I have been thinking about my future – a Singaporean currently without a future despite high qualifications.
I am basically living on credit. I have no contributions to my CPF nor Medisave for close to 2 years.
This will definitely affect my future if I wish to buy a flat or if contract any illness.
I am a Singapore Citizen yet I am unable to get a job whereas I see many foreigners enjoying the good life here.
Is it really so difficult to get a job here?
Regards,
Ramesh
Editor’s Note: We have assigned Ramesh a career coach.
Sorry to burst your bubble but your Masters’ degree is not useful at all – your university is ranked near the bottom every year! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglia_Ruskin_University
Let’s move on to your Bachelor’s degree. Is it done via distance learning or part-time? If so, your chances of getting a government job is very very low.
You mentioned you have enough working experience. But I wonder how much working experience a 30-year old guy can have after doing NS, two diplomas, a basic degree and a Masters’ degree?
Applying for over 500 jobs indicates that you are not focused on your job search. You are only wasting your time and effort applying for jobs which you have zero chance of landing.
Tim
You’re not being very nice; even though Anglia Ruskin might not be in the Guardian or Times top 10 league, still, it’s a decent Master’s?
Boy are you objective
If u can let go your dream of landing a PME job for the time being & put one side your Master then you should have less problem in getting a blue collar job. It doesn’t pay much but u can earn some money for daily expenses.
We got no other better choice but to do this.
I agree with ji to a certain extend. The problem is that blue-collared jobs have wages of between $800-$1200 which is barely enough to survive after a CPF cut. It is not that we refuse to remove our education qualifications when we are merely focusing on survival. The main problem is that a low-level job also involves dedication and hard work, besides long hours and low wages. Furthermore, it is very difficult to be promoted to higher levels and many blue-collared workers are just resigned to their fate and living from hand to mouth.
Hence, all of us should support Prof Lim Chong Yah’s “Wage Shock Therapy” whole-heartedly. I agree that the wages at the bottom are too low for a decent living and wage restructuring is “long overdue” to narrow the ever-widening income gap. If the wages of blue-collared jobs are increased, more highly educated people may consider them instead of being jobless.
It is pointless to apply to MOE. It is true that they have a shortage of teachers, but the main problem is that students and parents would indirectly “force” them to quit. A teacher needs more than just knowledge and patience. He/ She needs a lot of peseverance and dedication, besides being a good leader and role model. Teaching is only for those who are very strong-willed to withstand disappointments from misbehaving and ungrateful students.
YJ is right. Low-level job also involves dedication and hard work, besides long hours and low wages. Furthermore, it is very difficult to be promoted to higher levels and many blue-collared workers are just resigned to their fate and living from hand to mouth. This is the down side.
But on the good side is that what is wrong with resigning to your fate and living from hand to mouth? You will be contented with what you have, casting aside all your desires & dreams. You also don’t have to invest any more time & money in further education or training or reskilling stuff again. As it is just some blue-collar or low-level or low-class jobs, you can always leave & hop for another better one at your own pace.
There are many types of blue collar jobs out there, you just have to pick the suitable ones.
Prof Lim Chong Yah’s “Wage Shock Therapy” is good but PAP is reluctant to implement it coz the PAP top officials are all highly educated ppl. Many of them are rich folks or came from wealthy families. They are proud of their bachelors, masters & Phds & want others to follow them. Is Prof Lim Chong Yah the chairman of the national wage council?
I have also attended quite a few WSQ courses & workshops and got myself quite some WSQ certs. To me, these are useless certs. Now working as a security sup, even the diplomas that I have are also useless too coz you don’t even need one to be security sup.With all these WSQ & non-WSQ certs & diplomas, I am sometimes the most knowledgeable guy with the most certs in the companies that I have worked before. Even one manager has to take his hat off to me but I am still doing a low-level job.
Some candidates from the opposition parties only have diploma, Nitec or secondary education, whereby all the PAP candidates are all highly educated degree holders. For me, I am fine with political leaders with only diploma, Nitec or secondary education. We now need political leaders who understand what is happening on the ground & have the abilities to help the poor and not just well educated & rich folks to lead the country again.
More and more highly educated people are joining WP.
An example is Chen Show Mao who has degrees from Oxford, Stanford and Harvard. We need more people like him to boost the credibility of WP.
Yes its true, Singapore is a brand conscious society, your degree need to have some status attached to them. Not all degree are the same. But dont lose hope, i would say your best chance is networking. call up some friends for help and get a recommendation. forget about the civil service, your pedigree is a sure reject. i am betting that your degree and two diploma are all done in some private schools. Networking is your best chance.
Remember you are not the only one and remember to stand against policies that victimize singaporean’s jobs even when you are employed. Other people problem may be your problem one day.
Ramesh I can understand your dilema. You may wish to look at sales as a starting point. Best to keep you MBA aside and learn the ropes of a sales organisation that is likely to offer a basic plus commission. This was my situation several years ago which i used as a stepping stone to reinvent myself.
Stay positive
Cheers
Shan
Why can’t ppl understand that a Masters does not get you a job. If you got a non-local degree it’s harder, if it’s done corresponding/part time even worse you can forget about it. Been unemployed for 2 whole years that’s something you are going to have a hard time explaining to prospective employers. Hope you at least did some volunteer work. I would suggest you speak with your career consultant at NWCDC and check if there are any mid-career conversion courses. I do had a commerce degree and worked in Singapore before relocating to Australia, unable to get a job in my field, I am undergoing a mid-career change to the healthcare industry. For example, aged care, disability care, nursing etc will always be in demand. When I came over, I had to do dishwashing and carwashing to survive before securing a slightly better job. Life ain’t easy my friend, you have a degree thus you should be able to find industries which are in demand in Singapore and decide what you want to do. ANY job is better than none. Look at ppl in eurozone no jobs! (pardon my frankness)
I find the first forumer above so disencouraging and non-constructive. No doubt a Masters from a branded school is helpful to open doors in the corporate world, but the fact that the OP made the effort to complete 2 diplomas, 1 bachelor degree and a Masters degree has proven his perseverance to complete and achieve something. This is especially important given how easy it is among the young these days to just throw in the towel after the slightest setback.
Sugar-coated words of encouragement should be left to his friends and family. What he needs is real advice so that he knows what went wrong with his job search, and correct it.
The government appreciates his effort to upgrade himself. They even provide subsidies for Singaporeans to do so. However, the fact remains that the government sector prefer to hire local university graduates. You can lament how unfair it is all you want but this is how the system currently works and I don’t think it will change in the near future. With this valuable piece of information that I have provided, he can stop wasting his efforts on government jobs and focus his job search on companies which will hire him. So may I know how was I being nonconstructive?
Hi Ramesh,
I have also sent an email to Gilbert.
I want to help you and myself.
I will let Gilbert forward you my message.
Yours truly,
Colin Kee
Employers like to employ S-Pass workers from foreign countries. Now the minimum pay for S-Pass is S$2,000.00 and employers dont have to pay any CPF or even provide benefits to the foreigners. The majority of these S-Pass holders are not even semi-skilled at all. They just come into Singapore to work and to learn on the job. Yet employers are not willing to pay Singpaporeans S2,000.00 for the same position. CPF, medical,leave, etc, etc. Got it?
hi ramesh,
life sometimes is not about lamenting about the impossible..though most of us do that at times including myself.
i learnt that for some it is also about dedicating all the energy and faith to something that is possible even when the possibility seem slightest…and the challenges at some points seem insurmountable
i am sad to learn about your journey..but i do sincerely hope that the tribulations of the journey you are on will lead you somewhere and someplace better and very soon as it has for me.
take it from a guy who grew up from a lower income family, not academically inclined, worked part time in many odd jobs including as a cleaner once. the journey i went through humbled me and keep me going no matter what the challenges that come before me now or later.
i can also relate to johnson comment. cos in my journey i learnt that paper or qualifications are not sure tickets to jobs or opportunities…it takes more than that.
For me, it is about never giving up and keep on going attitude no matter what, as the world does not owe us a living.
i hope you will find something soon. meantime, keep the hope and faith..and if that means faith and hope in making new friends and links..either here or outside…go for it…
Singapore is just a small island with limited land space. We already had enough amount of jobless dip/deg holders & PME workers. There are a large pool of unemployed or underemployed talented Singaporeans out there receiving little or not help from the gov. Enough is enough.
PR system should be abolished. All those S-pass E-pass or whatever pass policy should be review again.
If one has talent then market will reward it accordingly it’s pure bull sh.t claiming being talented and unemployed. Just because one has pink IC doesn’t make him/her talented.
Talent implies creativity, broad knowledge base and unorthodox way of thought. I have yet to see anyone matching that in any of usual whine & moan comments here.
If you are so talented, go back to whereever you came from, and try to be successful there. In reality all the EPs I have seen are trash and we don’t need trash like you.
Bla-bla-bla, another internet loser/warrior. How do you know I haven’t been successful ? I need bigger challenges, SG provides perfect base to take them on plus I can trust SG banks with my money.
“Bla-bla-bla”… that clearly shows your “talent”. You’re the real loser, moron. Get out of my country.
“Bla-bla-bla”… that clearly shows your “talent”. You’re the real loser, moron. Get out of my country.
Well, gotta spell it out for mentally challenged: ‘The whingers never do, and the doers never whinge…….’
So just because one has a E-pass holder, he or she is a talent?
If you are a talent, why didn’t you make it at your own country?
If you need bigger challenges then get out of S’pore & go somewhere else. S’pore is considered too safe.
Try Swiss banks, it is better than SG banks.
Hello Gilbert,
I think that just as the government awards good employers, they should also publicly shame discriminating anti-Singaporean employers. This will be a big reason for the Singaporeans to be wary of such discriminating anti-Singaporean employers and may also help change employers’ attitudes.
Thanks
Although Ramesh’s academic qualifications are less impressive than he thinks they are, his inability to secure a job after many applications over an extended period points to a few possibilities that he may not be aware of.
1)He could be thinking too highly of himself which can come across badly as arrogance during interview
2) His CV is poorly written
3) Poor EQ skills, not able to strike a professional rapport with interviewers
4) Unable to cite any achievements / learnings in his previous career.
5) Too much selling on academic qualifications. This might work when you are a 24 yr old freshie, but can reflect very badly for a 30 yr old and give the impression that he has nothing to offer.
His career counseller can probably advise him better once he has seen Ramesh face to face.
Re Johnson:
This is typical elitist doggie talk, everything is the employee fault. The reason is simple, FT from India/China MBA are asking for 2k, that’s why locals get squeeze out of job.
He has MBA, 2 degree & diploma, under normal situation most big MNC will be fighting to get him to join. But now he end up not even able to get a low level job.
Right, MNCs will fight to hire someone who has a MBA from a university which is ranked near the bottom every year.
Gonzo not sure what weed you smoking but no MNC would consider him. They are better off with a local grad with good results. Having so many qualifications means he is not focused and doing a masters without work experience means that he assumes it will improve his chances. In most cases, it’s good to clock a few years of experience before doing a masters. He should also check on uni global ranking. Just based on his qualifications and his comments, can see that he needs to be more focus and do a mid career change.
Finally some sensible comments that look at possible root causes (instead of the usual blaming someone else).
According to the information that we have, the OP sent out more than 500 job applications. Surely out of these 500 companies, there is a good number of companies that are not MNCs? How many employees out there working for non-MNCs possess excellent grades/qualifications from so-called stellar local/foreign universities?
To Johnson & Tim
I notice both of you have been very rude and negative and going around making fun of people who are already down and marginalized by society.
Instead of giving people hope, you two go around pointing out people’s flaws and blaming them instead of the government who is directly responsible for the situation. You think they will want to be like that if they have a choice?
Beware karma, maybe one day you will be fired as well because of FT.
Tim and Johnson may sound like a bunch of a-holes but look beyond their words and you know they speak the truth. I have worked in various govt stat boards and private MNCs and I know what they are talking about. Sad to say, if you are not a graduate from either NTU, SMU or NUS, the people from the govt sector will not even bother to look at your work experience or how many Master degrees that you own. Master degree-holders these days are dime a dozen and the job industries are already saturated with them.
My advise for Mr. Ramesh is to stop looking at govt jobs. They have more than enough candidates from the local unis who are young and eagerly lining up to fill them. Look to the private sectors instead. Start at the bottom and like what Johnson say, try to focus on a specialization and start there. Forget about getting more paper qualifications. Out here its all about skills and networking. All the best, Mr Ramesh, in your job hunting.
Thanks for the support. At aged 30 and having done national service before, you can’t expect us to sugar coat our words to the writer yeah? Welcome to the real world, if you don’t make the requirements consider a mid-career change. I do apologize if my words are blunt but ask anyone who has worked long in the public sector long enough and you will understand. The truth never sounds good, I rather give him good sound advice than sugar coat my words to give him false hope.
And to reply to yours: at age 36, having done national service and studied at one of the so-called reputed universities in UK, I have learnt that encouraging and supportive (to those who are less fortunate than us) and being humble are the way to build a better and more human society.
To premier: Pls don’t blame the Govt for everything. Sure the Govt is not perfect but which Govt is? In life, I have met many taxi drivers who used to work in high positions such as business owner, CEO , CFO , millionaires who lost their fortune through bad investing, being played out etc but they still try their best to work hard to support their family. Here we have a young man who needs to learn to survive in Singapore ands needs to be open to any job till something better comes along. There are jobs in Singapore which are still available but is he willing to do them? If there are so many working people in Singapore, surely you can secure something? If old aunties at aged 60-70 go around collecting tin cans and cardboards to make a living, learn to be a survivor! All the best ramesh!
i believe we singaporean do welcome the competition from FT but it must be fair. i think recently s’porean and foreigner are not competing fairly.i do not like the way johnson and tim is saying. please do not over confident one day you might lost your job too.
That may be true for blue collared work but let me assure you that my FT executive colleagues are in no way undercutting salaries to get the job. They are all VERY well paid.
so lets stop going around blaming the FT on this one. Especially when Ramesh has to compete in a global marketplace for executive positions.
FTs who get the jobs over citizens, and/or who get high pay are NOT necessarily good or talented. I manage my condo and my parents’ condo and rent both out to highly-paid foreigners, earning average of $15K/mth and higher. However when I engage them in conversation, they are basically your average executive; not particularly the brilliant types. Looking at their job titles and enquiring at their MNCs, I can safely say that their positions can be easily filled by locals. And salary of $5K-$7K will suffice.
Many companies, especially foreign MNCs and banks, have hiring processes that require them to recruit from authorised sources. Many of these sources are even set up as subsidiaries or affiliates of the MNC itself, and located in places like India and Eastern Europe. All those $15K/mth foreigners I rented to come through this route to their MNCs — i.e. they are sourced by the recruitment firms in India and Europe, and then sent over to S’pore.
The one thing these jokers have that locals often lack are self-inflated egos the size of a porn-star’s boobs and ass combined. Once a while these foreigner tenants will try to pull a fast one and browbeat me over rental issues using ridiculous excuses and demands. But I always whack them back and put them in their place. The most I went was sending debt collectors to a foreign bank where 1 tenant was working, and another time sending a lawyer’s letter of demand to another MNC. Whereupon the MNC immediately acquiesced to my logic and made restitutions and even willingly forfeited the 2 months security deposit (it was a corporate tenancy). I later heard thru the grapevine that the MNC clawed back the expenses from that foreigner.
I used to work in the healthcare sector. There are so many FT who were overqualified. They have MBBS and MD but they are doing data entry in SG. so I can understand where Ramesh is coming from. But dont give up hope and certainly, don’t drown yourself in self pity.
It’s difficult to get a job in the civil service unless one attain his degree from the local universities. I have friends who work in the civil service/stat boards and they have commented that most of their colleagues are graduates from NUS/NTU/SMU and a minority are from oversea universities. When one is above 30 years old, its even harder to be shortlisted for a position in the civil service unless one has strong academic credentials and years of relevant working experience (eg holding a managerial post in company). After acquiring two diplomas, one bachelor degree and one master degree, I doubt Ramesh has much working experience at the age of 30. Probably he should lower his salary expectation and get a job in the private sector to gain the relevant working experience and slowly build up his career.
To EPholder,
So u r fuxking talented, what the fcking hell
R u doing in Sg, dont u country needs u more
Than Sg,
Holding an EP is Sg dont make u talented,
if u r talented, why r u not de president of ur
Country, what de fxck u r doing here
Full of bull shit!
I came across this unverified explanation of racial catergorisation of Filipino’s who become Singaporeans:
“And when one of them become Singapore citizen, Chinese Filipino will be categorised under Chinese while Malay Filipinos may not be categorised as Malay in their NRIC. This is due to two reasons, sensitivies of the local Malay Muslims and also the govt dont want to increase the percentage of the Malay population.”
I was unfairly dismissed this week in spite of outstanding appraisals for the past 3 yrs. I was even promoted last year. The fact that my company is making millions didn’t matter. My company has often trumpeted itself as the employer of choice, people developer and showing compassion, dignity and respect to its staff. All that is utter rubbish. My employer targets higher paid staff in their late 30′s to 40′s. Looking around, besides the nurses and medical officers, there is practcally no one above 50 except for a few members of teh senior management since they won’t lay-off themselves.
Hi Tricia, don’t mind caan tell us the name of the company?
At the end of the day, only the one tat is facing it will know the real truth. Many a times, we felt unjust for our fellow men due to hearsay or teh affiliation. It’s true things r happening out there but let the real mcoy come on out here and clairfy rather than all of us giving our own viewpoints thru speculations and assumptions. For those tat r going thru the suffereings, every bit of advice and suggestions does help and the intentions r out of goodwill. So take it in anyway u like and do make sure u make an effort to help urself cos no one else would if u dun even take the first step. Raise to the occasion and make a stand. Good luck and best wishes.
I’m confused why Rames would rather go jobless for almost 2 years trying to land a gov job when he could have also try to opt for private companies?
Hi Ramesh, all the best in your job search. Perhaps you have already found a job by now, perhaps not. Nevertheless, keep trying in all private sectors, network on Linkedin, contact headhunters, get into a niche, etc.
I’m a PR and my husband is a citizen. He hadn’t been able to find a job for more than two years and this is a second round. He hardly got an interview despite having 10 years’ experience in his field. His salary wasn’t even expensive. My own job was going to India after I renewed my 6-months contract three times. They just didn’t have the headcount in Singapore.
I managed to get some interviews. Common problem were they either didn’t want to pay as much or they think I didn’t have enough experience. In the past, I lowered my salary expectation twice by 500 and then 1000 and those set me back enough that the climb back was slow and painful especially when it was in an environment where I felt like I was the sugarcane going through the sugarcane machine. I really wouldn’t recommend that if you can.
Instead, craft a value of yourself in skills and knowledge in a field of your passion. Be excellent. Be so good that you can fill what employers need right away and offer the extra mile. When the opportunity comes, you must be able to jump right in and say ‘take me, I can do this for you’.
That, was how I found my current job, overseas.
[...] news 30-year-old jobless PMET with a masters degree sent out 500 job applications to no avail 30-year-old jobless PMET with a masters degree sent out 500 job applications to no avail*|*Support S… yah… im trying to deceive myself with the stats. esp since the poster that i quote did not state [...]
From the paper qualification you have, means u are good at your studies….how about work experience? I know some people who like to study but don’t like working and nowadays not many employers willing to give u a chance to give u the experience that u want….they prefer person who can do the job efficiently once they join the company. Cause skills take time to achieve..why don’t u have 2 types of CVs, one for junior n one for senior position….good luck
You have to appreciate the situation from different perspectives.
Ramesh has tried all he can;
- applied for as many jobs as he thinks he fits.
- managing his expectations and even tried govt or teachig job.
- approached CDC and MPs to assist him.
How much more wrong can he do?
Alter his resume to remove his Master Degree?
That’s is as good a lying but not a big issue in his case, as he can choose not to declare his higher qualification.
And he is right.
There are so many positions unfilled in the PMET sector but yet you see the position being reposted again and again.
The employers are also unrealistic nowadays.
If Ramesh tries to apply for lower paying jobs, such as some suggested blue collar jobs, he will be deemed too qualified and which employer will employ him?
Unless he strike off his Masters and Bachelor degrees from his resume.
While experience counts, the employers are again overly picky and usually look for a 100% perfect fit.
This is virtually impossible if you have ever been a hiring manager.
But then I do not hire people that fit perfectly .. not that I ever came across one.
People like this are stucked with;
- too experienced
- not enough experience in another sector of work
- too qualified
- not qualified for a different sector of work despite having higher education
So no matter what, you lose.
I really know how it is because I am also stucked.
I am however expanding my search beyond Singapore and in fact can’t wait to get out of Singapore because this country is just not a place I want to be in anymore.
Even though it will always be my home but I will be happy to come back for a break.
This is also not easy and really need lots patience.
Ramesh is probably a little disadvantage because he mauy not be able to speak Mandarin but he may be able to try India for example, if he thinks it is a possibility for him.
We can blame the govt .. yes probably.
They created this huge influx of foreign talents in Singapore causing a big imbalance on our society.
But then damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
The govt should have been more prudent even if the need for foreign talent to support our economy is required.
It is hard work when you are without a job and it is even more stressful and demanding than doing a regular job, trust me.
All I can say is, job application through whatever means is the typical channel to get a job but the hard truth is .. networking is more important than sending our resumes.
I am happiest outside of Singapore and I only like coming back to just have a break and eat my favourite food.
If the opportunity presents itself, I shall build my life away from Singapore because our country is no longer a conducive place to be anymore.
This is my own personal opinion and different people have different obligations and aspirations.
I only pray that my efforts pays off and my hopes to be fulfilled soon.
As someone said, he can be rich and living a good life in Vietnam but lead a miserable life at home in Spore.Its your choice, the most important thing you and family must be happy where ever you are.
[...] *Article first appeared on http://www.transitioning.org/2012/04/19/30-year-old-jobless-pmet-with-a-… [...]