We are currently trying to feature highly-educated unemployed PMETs in this interview series and ask our employers to contact us if they find the person featured suitable for any vacancies open in their companies.
Today, we featured Nasir, a young Malay engineering graduate with a master’s degree who has being looking for work for the past 2 years.
Transitioning (T): Thanks Nazir for agreeing to answer our online interview questionaire regarding your employability, can you tells us abit about your age, marital status and gender?
Nazir (N): 29, single, Singaporean Malay male.
T: Can you tell us more about your educational qualifications and work experience?
N: A Master’s and a Bachelor’s in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from a local university. Has a year’s experience in project management from 2008 to 2009.
T: Can you tell us more about your previous job title and work nature?
N: Project Engineer in the civil service. Work hours and pay are unsurprisingly good, but little in the way of job satisfaction. Resigned to pursue a more technical career as I needed to focus more on hard skills (such as programming, electrical circuit design, FMEA, software skills etc) rather than man-management skills. Otherwise I would have little relevance in the industry, even in my own previous job. I had planned to return once I had accumulated enough experience since I am able to contribute more effectively, though this is nothing more than a pipe dream today.
T: Previous pay structure and retrenchment benefits?
N: Can I politely decline to reveal my pay? Anyway you can do a quick estimate from the ministries’ websites – everything is transparent. As for the second part of the question, the civil service hardly ever retrench its employees. At most, a pay-cut. When the economy recovers, the uniformed services will have their pay reinstated first followed by the civilian executives.
T: How long is your unemployment duration?
N: Have been unemployed for more than 2 years. Extremely vexed and depressed; the number of interviews I have been to can be counted with my fingers. Some of the interview sessions were downright demoralising (one asked an illegal question), while two were quite positive but did not materialise in a concrete offer. One of latter two even readvertised the same job. Previously, it was opened to fresh graduates and those with little experience. After three rounds of interviews (including a written exam to test background knowledge), this MNC reposted the same position for more experienced and industrially certified applicants. Neither the company nor the job agent who handled this bothered to inform me.
T: How do you cope with your prolonged unemployment situation?
N: Still sending out wave after wave of resumes and cover letters, although no longer on a daily basis as these 2 years have all but sapped my enthusiasm and energy. It has definitely robbed me of a social life as I’ve spent this period in loneliness. Apart from greatly reducing my salary expectation, have done everything recommended by HR practitioners – correcting mistakes on my resume, major facelift (redid my resume almost 30 times), tips on writing a solid cover letter. I tapped my friends and family for professional contacts, broadcasted my resume to various industries and submitted my profile to linkedin.com, online job-boards and job agents. Personally I embarked on a fitness regime since early 2011 to lose weight so that employers would not have a chance to reject me based on my physical appearance/health concerns. Finally, to enhance the value of my resume (if even a little), I am actively volunteering at a Meet the People Session. The results have been nothing short of disappointing.
To all readers, I ever sent a letter to the Prime Minister himself for help. In the end, I was simply referred to the MOM, WDA, CDCs and E2I. Some help I got…
T: Are you happy with the current situation?
N: As a full time job seeker, no.
T: Are you currently going for any upgrading courses?
If specific short courses enhance my future prospects or help me in my new job greatly, certainly I would jump at the opportunity. I like to learn new things, though I rather do it at my own pace.
I definitely would not pursue another academic certificate i.e. graduate school in applied finance or business management as today’s employment climate has transformed beyond acceptable reason. Through feedback from commentators on your site as well as personal experience, I’ve learnt that employers in Singapore discriminate against;
- Highly educated job applicants. We risk being labelled “overqualified”. Convenient excuse.
- More mature jobseekers, which doesn’t make sense as mature job seekers have more sizeable networks and professional exposure to handle any position within their field of expertise. A Master’s or PhD further undermines their employment prospects if they get retrenched.
- Singaporeans. Sure the government may have implemented tighter restrictions on FT employment passes, but that is just a minor cosmetic countermeasure. There are plenty of ways (illegal or not) MNCs can get around this.
- Malays. Jobs that have a high internal security requirement are out of reach to us.
The dearth of legislation that protects workers from exploitative employers, the invasive presence of foreign “talents” who enter with zero experience and dubious/largely inferior qualifications and keep us PMEs out of jobs in the higher value chain and multiple financial commitments are among the reasons I think fuel our PMEs’ hesitance/reluctance to pursue further studies
End of interview and thank you!
Editor’s Note: Nasir has recently found a job but the pay and work scope are well below his expectation. PMETs who are jobless and want to be featured, please email me at gilbert@transitioning.org. A few of our unemployed PMETs have found jobs when employers emailed us after they have spotted articles of similar nature.
Fresh local engineering grad pay in 2008 for civil service is $3000-$3500/mth if 2nd upper honours.
It’s true that in civil service, most of the job scopes for graduates will not be technical, but managerial and administrative, even for fresh Div 1 officers. You need to balance your personal likes and perceived career direction with the reality in S’pore. Becoz today in S’pore, companies can get cheena and ahneh and peenoi masters engineers with 10 years working experience, and paying them $2.5K/mth.
It’s also a perverse fact that often, if a civil servant resigns, he/she will face difficulty getting accepted back into civil service, UNLESS you have chalked up impressive real-world results/experience in the private sector, or you have build-up very strong relationships with senior & important civil servants before you quit.
One very important titbit is that civil service often sponsor civil servants for full-time tertiary studies. E.g. diploma to degree, or degree to masters. Even if you don’t want to take govt money for your studies (becoz you will be bonded for 3-5 years after that), civil service will at least give you time-off, early release for your lectures. And even got 5-day a year study leave for your exams etc. BUT you need to be above average in your performance appraisals and of course you need to have EQ to make your boss like you, so that he/she will support your study application to the directors/HR/MD/CE/Perm Sec.
You don’t need to resign from a cushy civil service job just to study masters. Unless it’s due to push factors e.g. kena marked by director, bad appraisals, simply cannot stand your colleagues and/or the internal policies, feel like killing your boss everyday, etc etc.
As a sponsored civil servant pursuing further studies, you will still get your full salary + CPF + 13th month + even the annual bonuses. I remember I even got 2 months extra performance bonus — the performance based on my results in my masters programme.
You will also get annual textbook allowance.
And if you’re studying in overseas Uni, the civil service will even pay for your accomodations, living expenses, insurance, air-fares etc. All under COLA — cost of living allowance.
Can understand the writer’s feelings on being unemployed for so long, congrats on getting a job. May you treasure this job and work hard at it to gain experience and networking contacts. When I dropped my civil service job to migrate to Melbourne, I did not expect to be doing jobs like carwashing, dishwashing and factory work but still pushed myself to do so to put food on the table. In life when we feel down for reasons like unemployment or having a low paying job, do not despair, we are considered very fortunate already as there are some in worst condition than ourselves thus we should learn to be a tad more appreciative of our own circumstances. ( Have seen teens with terminal cancer, blind people and down syndrome people living life to the fullest here in Melbourne regardless of their situation – in short, try to be positive) All the best!
People who resign without a job can only blame themselves. This is especially so when you work in the civil service, knowing the difficulties of transferring that skill set to the private sector.
Excuse me, who likes to resign without securing a job first? Spare a thought for those who has to resign without job.
You are right JJ, who want to go and resign without a job first..Please be mindful of what you said and be sensitive to the words.
Not everyone want to leave the job unless it is very much unbearable to go..
Hi Owen and JJ
the interviewee above seems to suggest that he resigned without a job on his own volition. It was not as if he was retrenched.
Apologies if this offends, but I have no sympathy for anyone who resigns without a job purely because of work pressure or the “I can’t tolerate it anymore” excuse. If you truly cannot tolerate your current work circumstances, then find something else and bugger off. Resigning without a job and then griping about not being to get one is just sad.
I have sympathy for anyone that have to leave their jobs bcoz of work pressure or bully or tought working condition etc. I have encountered these before.
Right now, i am also jobless. I also have to leave without a job due to work pressure or bully or tought working condition etc. Many of us here also knew that it is always good to finsd a new job before leaving a old one. Who would leave a job if things are fine?
Gilbert knows my story well and the reasons why I had to leave, I was great at my job but at times you have to choose between career or family, hope you are in the same situation one day and will experience it as when you open your mouth, we all know that you haven’t seen much in life.
Hi Johson
I admire that you have picked family over a career. And I am assuming you have made with after careful consideration of the practical circumstances, including financial sustainability.
The interviewee above does not seem to have done so.
I know people have hard choices in life. But I stand by my stance that this particular circumstance where someone chooses, of their own volition, to leave a job without another one due to work pressures / unable to tolerate the environment…etc, deserves little sympathy.
and oh, my comment was in reference to the interviewee. Not you.
Hi Johnson
I juz migrate to melbourne would like to catch up with u. Email me: ezzies76@gmail.com
To Kelvin – Many apologizes for my comments as I thought you were referring to me. No offense taken and thanks for clarifying.
Dear Gilbert,
Is the above job seeker still looking for job?
He can email me at ibnu_amir@yahoo.com
Hi Nazir,
Its good that you have master degree qualifications..but i think u need 2 CVs, 1 for junior position n the other for senior….this my advice to most of my frens. Cause some junior position doesnt need a master to do it amd in the real world , most bosses not comfortable if their subordinate have better qualification….salam