Dear Gilbert,
Good afternoon.
I read the stories of those unemployed in Singapore on your website. I wonder if your website recommends jobs for Singaporeans?
I am in my twenties, Singaporean and I need to find a full time job that pays $2000 and above so that my foreign wife can stay in Singapore long term.
Last year, I work and study for a degree upgrade in bachelor of science in finance and accounting.
I work part time odd-job to pay off the tuition fee.
I am proud to say that I have already paid off all my degree tuition fee successfully and I am currently waiting for exam results.
Due to the short term employment, I am often asked the question why I do not have long staying power in the work force.
Frankly, its mainly due to office politics which everyone will claim that its a society norm nowadays.
Every time when I applied for a new job, I have to print out my marriage certificate, my student contract and the study period to explain why I didn’t include the one year of odd jobs during the final year study for the degree program in my resume.
These odd jobs are not related to my degree studies.
Moreover, many employers after interviewing would later inform me that I should be an assistant despite my degree program.
I do not mind being an assistant unless my pay is around $2000 to $2500.
The job title do not matter much to me as I have been an officer and executive before.
Currently, I am focusing on looking for a full-time job so that my foreign wife can stay long term in Singapore.
My wife might have to leave Singapore in about 2 months’ time if I could not find a job to sponsor her stay in Singapore.
Due to government regulations, my wife needs to stop working while waiting for a letter from the government.
As my wife is also not working now, I need to support her food and shelter. I am finding myself in a fix now and wonder if committing to a life-long dream of getting a degree is a mistake.
If there can be any assistance to help me find a full-time job that meets my salary expectation, I will be grateful to accept.
Thank you for reading my appeal for help.
Best Regards
Colin
*******
Hi Colin
Thanks for your mail and sorry to hear about your predicament.
It must be difficult for you to have the added pressure of dragging your foreign wfie through your unemployment dilemma.
I find that it is always best to be truthful regarding your one year lapse from full time employment.
You can explain to the employer that you are studying and working part-time so that you can focus on the degree programme.
Its also how you structure your answer. Be confident and explain it with conviction so that employers will admire your resolute determination to want to excel in your study.
Sometimes, its not what we say but how we say it that is important.
I hope that I am able to see you sometimes next week if possible for a chat at my office.
Do also inlcude a resume so that I can better match you to some positions available.
Meanwhile, I have attached my ebook How to survive unemployment for your reading pleasure.
Let me know and be strong.
We are here for you.
Thanks & Warmest Regards,
Gilbert Goh
Editor’s Note: The writer has informed me that there is a potential job offer of $2000 and above from a employer. Let us keep our fingers crossed for Colin.
Hi Colin
Sorry to hear about your predicament & please do not be offeneded by what I have to say.
The sad part is the PAP bringing in of foreign women in nonstop desperate attmempts to raise the birth rate.
Large numbers of young foreign women were granted access to good education,good PR status & good careers with good pay in Sinkieland becos PAP hope these women will settle down & make babies quicky.
The babies did not arrive but these women took up lots of positions which could have gone to locals.
You are unemployed becos your job has been taken over by a foreign woman.
What nonsense are you talking about?
“dolphin 81″ must be a single, middle-aged and very bitter S’pore woman
“dolphin 81″ must be a single, middle-aged and very bitter S’pore woman.
My personal view is the employer’s perception on the interviewee especially they r now spoilt for many choices. It really depends on the employer’s help and kindness to give a chance to those upgrader cum part-time odd jobs worker (it also prove that they r hardworking), now the question is to convince the potential employer about your strength and how it’s going to add value to the organization that you r going to work with, you got to convince them u really stands out from the crowd (& when employed u really need to prove ur worth !)
It is very sad that our Govt is treating us worse
Than foreigners. They promise us a roof over our
Heads, etc, etc but is all talk !
I advise you to go to our spouse’s country and
Make a living there and maybe you can be successful
Without a job, we are finished!
Good luck, i am overseas and I will
Try it make it overseas, sg is finished for sg
Real shit, u know what the policies are
actually, the european countries (eu) will 100% be finished/gone/kaput before the end of 2012.
All countries have their pros and cons. No country is perfect, the difficulty that many face is adapting and accepting lower paying jobs or doing a mid career change. Even here in Australia, we face many issues which also include employment island racial discrimination etc.
Colin,
You need to show some maturity in your thinking as you are already a working adult with a wife.
Nonsense like “I do not mind being an assistant unless my pay is around $2000 to $2500” is just childish nonsense, I don’t mind being a dish washer as well if someone pay me $10k monthly. I get the sense that your degree is mainly a part time accelerated course from a degree mill.
You need to understand that such degrees are bought by many diploma & NITEC grads who have had many years of work experience and wish to further their career. You go to the companies with a patchy track record you conveniently blame on office politics, a lowly ranked part time 1 year degree and practically no job experience demanding for more than $2000 is just not realistic.
Just for your info many young grads who went for a full time 3 year degree in universities like Curtin, Monash and RMIT are going into the market at 2 to 2.2k, your expectations are too high.
A degree mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies.
Tertiary education providers in Singapore need to be registered with Council for Private Education.
- How do you know that Colin bought his degree from a degree mill?
- Which are the degree mills that you are referring to?
@Tim:
Let’s get real here, from Colin’s job hunting perspective what matters is whether employers think it’s a degree mill, not whether it is “accredited” or not. If you want to go strictly by dictionary definition, fair enough I concede I could be wrong, but I don’t think this changes a thing for Colin here.
Do you really think a school that accepts a NITEC student with no relevant work experience at all and offers a “bachelor of science in finance” in 1 year is a degree just like NUS/SMU/NTU as we know it? If anyone like Colin can just grab a fresh grad Finance Executive $2k+ job by spending a few years in ITE followed by a 1 year express course, why would anyone bother with going through poly/JC + 3/4 year full time university?
There is a big difference between a degree mill and an university which offers accelerated degrees.
A degree mill as stated previously is an unaccredited university which sells degrees. Running a degree mill is illegal, and people buying degrees from them and applying for jobs with their bought degrees are committing a crime.
On the other hand, an accredited university may offer accelerated degrees to attract students. People who have completed accelerated degrees and applying for jobs with them are doing nothing wrong. Employers are free to decide how much they should be paid. A smart employer will not judge someone based on academic achievements alone. Isn’t that’s what the probation period is for?
You may find yourself in legal trouble if you insist that an accredited university is a degree mill and are selling degrees to people.
BTW, the world is bigger than NUS/NTU/SMU. Harvard and Stanford accepts high school diploma (“O” level equivalent) for entry, so what does it make them?
And while you are busy belittling Singaporeans who have taken the trouble to upgrade themselves academically, truckloads of FTs with dubious degrees are taking up executive positions with high pay.
Look here, I’m just trying to present the practical realities over here from an employer’s point of view. To Colin this is all that matters I think.
Like I say earlier you can argue for all sorts of theoretical technicalities like definition of mills, how a “smart” employer should recruit, look beyond NUS/NTU/SMU etc. But if Collin wants to look for a Finance Executive job in SG, compete with all other local/non-local uni grads, this is the reality he faces.
To him the only important thing is what the job market “is”, not what it “ought to be”.
I do not know Colin personally and have no personal vendetta against him, so I can’t see how that “busy belittling Singaporeans” accusation came about and is even relevant to the whole discussion.
I present my point here based on what he wrote in his letter, i.e. he has a NITEC, took short stints of unrelated odd jobs, studied for a 1 year accelerated course, got a degree, tried to look for a executive role and basically got nothing except Finance Assistant level jobs.
I explained clearly that his expectations are not realistic and explained why they are so. He can either take my advice, lower his salary expectations, secure a few years experience and go for a real Finance Exec role some time later, or the alternative is to sit around self-justifying why he is worthy of a Finance Exec >$2k job and sit at home waiting for the offer that will never come.
Colin, I believe you have some working experience but maybe not recognize by some employers as relevant to the jobs that you applying. That’s why employers always have doubts with your experience or ability.
An assistant position is usually paid below 2k or 2.5k. But if the job pays around 1.8k and has a lot of OT then there is a high possibility. I was once working as a warehouse assistant, basic pay is 1.8k with a lot of OT. I managed to earn 3k but it is quite a tough job.
After getting a diploma or degree thru monetary investment together with the time & energy invested, how many would still willing to take up menial/manual labour jobs?
The number of PME job vacancies is usually lesser than non-PME vacancies in the job market. After spending so much money, time & energy, how many schools can really guarantee you a decent job with good wage & benefits and if you fail to get a decent job with good wage & benefits after graduation, will they compensate you for the failed promise which they promise you?
With a degree & looking out for a job which pays 2k – 2.5k/mth, I think that is not considering as expectations are too high. When I was working as a security supervisor, my mthly gross pay is already $2211 – 2289 w/o OT.
All countries will continue to exist , eu n sg,
However, many sg citizens will lose their
Jobs to foreigners however europe nationals
Will not lose to non-eu nationals
The day will come soOn when eu will
Understand
Hey guys,
I am the Colin guy who wrote the letter. I just want to say that my case is very unique and I am blessed with a lot of luck on the way. I just want to tell everyone that I have already found a job that met my expectation and challenges that is around 2k & above as an executive. I would like everyone to know that the Power of believing in your own ability change your current situation. It became a matter of thinking during this difficult time.
If I am given the chance, I hope to be able to help Singaporeans unemployed like myself.
Good luck all and bless everyone =)
Your foreign wife and you should get out of spore. Don’t take away our jobs. You can go to her cuntry
Hi Collin, delighted that you have managed to secure a job and your beloved wife is able to remain by your side. I hope you will be extremely successful and find ways to help those who are not as fortunate as you.
All the best !