Hi Sir
I came across your website and after reading alot of articles there, I feel that it relates to the problems I am currently facing right now.
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Marcus and I am 22 this year.
I’m going to share what makes me feel so hopeless here and get some advice from you.
I did very badly in my N levels passing only English so after secondary school I qualify for ITE - but they gave me one only choice which is Mechanic or I have to re-do my N levels again.
So I decided to work part time for two years and I realised that it was very hard to survive out there. without any proper qualifications.
When I turned 18, I entered NS and after serving out the 2 years I could not find any suitable job for a year.
Against all odds, I pulled myself together – I had no choice but to be a security guard.
It is not easy especially for the self esteem.
I was so depressed inside thinking – why am I doing this kind of job at 22 years of age?
The pay is $1.5k a month and after CPF deduction the take home pay is only $1200.
How am I going to start a family as its barely enough even for myself.
Many people advised me to re-do my course again then go to O level and poly or whatever.
But the problem is even if I can study well, jobs will be taken up quickly and the educational system here is flawed as its too focused on academic result.
I ever thought of setting up my own business either online or offline but where do I get the capital to do this?
I hope you will be able to advise me on your point of view.
I hope to hear from you soon.
By the way, I have a small request – is it possible to meet up so we can chat face to face over a meal?
I have met many counsellors who have the working class mindset but you are different.
That is why this website is so important to me.
Thank you once again.
Regds
Marcus
********
Hi Marcus
Thanks for your mail and sorry to here of your predicament.
I must salute you for being humble enough to take up the security position as you need to survive.
Nevertheless, you remain ambitious and this is commednable.
It shows that you are resilient and forward looking.
I do see that you have the hunger to succeed within you and this is good.
I agreed with you that our educational system is too result-oriented and if you are not in the mainstream, you are literally dead.
Those who enter blue collared work is also sidelined and the low pay structure has deterred many from performing well.
However, there are those who have did well even without good educational qualifications but you must try to think differently from the society norm.
Many of us have thought that we are a failure when we don’t have solid academic qualifications which is really not true.
The important thing is not to let the lack of academic qualifications deter you from thinking that you can’t forge ahead and have a bright future.
But I must add that this is a tall order but not impossible.
I have seen many friends without proepr qualifications doing well in business or other commisioned jobs as they have never let the lack of academic achievements prevent them from doing well in life.
Start to change your thinking pattern and plan ahead what you want to achieve in life.
You have mentioned in your mail that you want to start something both online and offline…why not explore that route properly?
Try to draw out a proper plan and goal so that you are always on track.
We can meet up sometimes next week for a chat if possible to discuss more on this.
Meanwhile, stay positive and always believe in yourself even though your academic qualifications point otherwise.
We are here for you.
Regds,
Gilbert Goh
Editor’s Note: Permission was granted by the writer to post this mail on our blog.
Marcus,
You need to know your strengths first. Forget about what you like to do or want to do. If you don’t have the natural abilities for something, you won’t be happy doing that thing after 6-12 months. And you’ll end up sucking at it or being sacked or close shop/bankrupt etc.
You need to ask yourself whether you were simply too playful previously, or whether you can really study. Otherwise it’s a waste of time and money spending another 4-5 years (at least) to get O-levels and diploma.
Do take note that diploma only gets you sub-$2K jobs anyway. Even degree holders have difficulty getting good jobs. And you have never-ending free-flow legs-open-wide 1-2 million so-called degree holding ah nehs, cheeenas, peenois etc etc who are willing to work for $2.5K or less even with 10 yrs experience.
The relatively well-paying jobs at diploma-level are those high-demand necessary niche jobs e.g. paralegal, chemical process, oil & gas, pharma, uniformed groups. You can see there are tradeoffs e.g. work location, work environment, or working hours.
Unfortunately now in S’pore you need minimum O-levels for many jobs, even commissioned sales jobs. Unless you got big lobang willing to hire you for sales job without any qualifications.
If you are sporty/outdoors-type and think you can more or less study, but not very entrepreneurial or businessman, you can consider doing your O-levels, and then sign on SAF or SPF for diploma-scholarship. The pay is very good but career-wise you will be scared once you hit 45. Still OK if you are thrifty and save your big bonuses and high salary — but many SAF regulars spend and throw money like they’re multi-millionaires. Go for SAF technical vocations — still got future next time.
If you have very good EQ, like to meet and talk to people etc. then probably commissioned sales will be the best route to better income. But as I said, now in S’pore you need O-levels to do commissioned sales like property or insurance agents.
So at a minimum, you need to first do 2 things:
1. Identify your natural strengths and abilities.
2. Cram for your O-levels.
Why not be a blue collar worker? Some blue collar jobs are well paid too e.g. bricklayer, plumber, crane operator, locksmith.
I did heard that plumber can earn good money. My uncle is a plumber, he was able to earn enough to support his family but still far away from being called rich.
Bricklayer jobs are usually taken up by foreign construction workers. I don’t think the job pays well. A security guard friend who used to worked as crane operator told me he can earned $3000 after OT. As for locksmitch, i don’t think the locksmitch uncle who has a key duplicating stall in Yishun interchange is rich.
Blue collar workers can be well paid in Australia. That i believe. The chairman for S’pore construction association was interviewed by lianhezaobao few weeks ago. He mentioned plumbers can charge high fees for fixing watertaps in Australia. What they earned could be more than a ordinary manager earned. But is impossible here.
The basic wages of blue collar workers here are not high. They earn more by working as many OT as possible. Once OT is reduce due to reasons such as poor biz or cut costs. Their gross wages will drop dramatically.
There have been various local & internatinal reports on blue collar workers on strikes after OT was reduced as their gross wages dropped.
You are missing the forest for the trees. Bricklayers, plumbers, locksmiths, electricians etc. often go on to run their own businesses. And these skills enable them to emigrate to 1st world countries where these skills are in shortage and well-paid.
Since these bricklayers, plumbers, locksmiths, electricians etc. are well-paid in 1st world countries, surely the locals will took up these jobs themselves. How can there be shortage? Even in Australia, trash collectors & retail asst jobs are mainly took up by the locals, not the foreigners.
There are but not so many bricklayers, plumbers, locksmiths, electricians etc. go run their own businesses. Running a biz isn’t that simple & easy. Out of 10 people, maybe only 1-3 people will succeed. The rest will fail.
Even my plumber uncle had once need to stop his own plumbering & electrical services biz and go work for others. Only now then he came out to restart his own plumbering & electrical services biz again.
1. Check out the skills shortage in first world countries before you comment further.
2. Your uncle fail does not mean everyone will fail.
3. It is obvious Marcus needs to learn a trade since he is poor in his studies. The only question is which trade.
4. You really shouldn’t be advising anyone when you are so pessimistic.
How i wish i am also 22 too.
Marcus is young. I feel we should encourage him to further his education. Do a p/t course & work p/t or f/t as you’re not rich. There are many schools & courses in S’pore. Sometimes in order to earn your money, even though you don’t have ‘N’ or ‘O’ level, you can still get a place. They will ask you to start from certificate level first then proceed to diploma level then bachelor level.
Schools which are recognised by govt are perhaps those ITEs, polytechnics, NUS, NTU, SMU, SIT, SUTD & SIM. As for certification or courses offer by foreign schools or private schools, the recognition depends on individual statutory board or company.
Each individual school will promote the courses offer as the best course that shouldn’t be given a miss & make you feel that after graduation, you can find a good job that pay well. Be careful. There are a lot of education traps out there. What is being taught in lectures might not be able to be apply in work. Many are just theory based stuff.
Marcus, I wouldn’t advise you setting up your own biz either online or offline coz you don’t have capital. Even if you do have the capital, who can promise you a fruitful biz gain? You need more than capital alone in setting up or owns a successful biz. We aren’t as intelligence or as lucky as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg & Li Jia Cheng etc.
Actually, investing in education is also a kinda of biz investment. You need to spend money & time in it too. But once again who can guarantee you a bright future & gd job with gd pay after graduation?
Get prepare, hope for the best & prepare for the worst.
I would like to recommend you few options.
1) Become a Security Supervisor & you may get a gross salary of $2K per month. From there you move up to become Operation Executive(OE) & Operation Manager(OM).
2) Study ITE Traineeship Scheme for your NITEC while you work OJT & earn few hundred dollars. Link: http://www.ite.edu.sg/wps/portal/eip.instry.trnshp
3) Apply for PSA NITEC Scholarships or PSA Technical Specialist Training Scheme to study NITEC while working & earning few thousand dollars. Link: http://www.singaporepsa.com/nonexecutivecareers.php
4)Apply job in Maritime Industry though e2i. Link: http://www.e2i.com.sg/events/job-opportunities-briefing/register-interest-for-maritime-industry
5) Check online for other organization ITE Scholarships for NITEC courses.
You can check out if WDA has course for you. As in the past they had a enrolled nurse course in which they pay for the course and give you an allowance. You are still young and should work twice as hard as you can to ensure you have a bright future. Everyone makes decisions but we reap what we sow thus you should not be surprised that it’s tough for you now. Consider your options and work towards it. In life there are 3 types of successful people, the smart and lazy, the not so smart but hardworking and the smart and hardworking so assess yourself and work hard towards your goals. Good luck
I think the WDA nurse conversion programme has already stopped. One of my friend did went for this nurse conversion programme. You need to have a dip/deg. After acceptance, he went to attend a fulltime crashcourse nursing diploma at NYP. Now he is working at SGH. I think a bond is involved.
Indeed Marcus is still young and should work twice as hard as he can to ensure he will has a brighter future.
Sometimes, we can’t reap what we sow as there is too many uncertainty now, many which we can’t foreseen. Just be prepared, hope for the best & prepare for the worst.
For the enrolled nurse course, you do not need a dip/degree. He can consider signing on if they are willing to take him or enroll in ITE and sign on. His choices are pretty limited so he needs to decide what he really wants.
If the enrolled nurse course is conducted in ITE then maybe no need a dip/deg. But i think one need to have N or O levels with credits in maths, science, english etc in order to be qualify for the course. I won’t advise anyone to sign a bond. It’s quite risky.
Marcus is only 22. Even though he only has a one cedit N level cert but today education biz has provide consumers with various choices. As long as you have money, many things can be done.
I have read your cases over and over again. Classic case of having done badly in school and now can’t get a decent job and would like to start own business …. blah, blah, blah …
Let’s cut the crap and face reality … if you can’t even do well in school much less get yourself a decent paying job, forget about starting your own business.
Money don’t grow on trees, y’know unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
If you want inspiration to turn your life around rather than begging for advise on how to do it then read up on Liz Murray – a classic case like yourself but she went from homeless to Harvard and is now a businesswoman herself.
If you can do like what she did then only you can start to talk business-setup.
Aiyo, don’t need to scold him until like that lah.
Done badly in school, can’t get a decent job w/o gd academic certificates and would like to start own business to solve his/her poverty. This’s a classic case. I believe some of us here do have that kinda of planning too when when we were younger.
“if you can’t even do well in school much less get yourself a decent paying job, forget about starting your own business.” – i don’t really agree on this part. I did met a few businessman who did badly in school, did all those lowly paid laborious jobs but managed to get rich thru setting up their own biz.
Who knows maybe Marcus does has the so call do biz luck/fate & manage to get rich? He is only 22, a lot of possibility for him. But once again must remember this, do biz isn’t a simple & easy thing. It’s jungle out there with all kinds of cunning, ruthless, evil people.
Yeap you have said it …. this bizman all shared 1 thing in common wit Liz Murray – so until the lesson is learnt that nothing is free and easy then life ain’t gonna change for d better
1) It is best for you to do a personality test. You can do it online for free. I find it very accurate, but in reality, you can be in the right job but still feel unhappy due to factors like low pay, heavy workloads, bad boss/ colleagues etc. There are many unforeseen circumstances in life that you cannot control.
2) There are many jobless people with high education qualifications. Working experience and skills are much more important than paper qualifications. Even when you got the right degree, they will say that you are overqualified. Thus, many people are under-employed.
3) Start a business is not only for those with capital, you also need lots of resilence, hard work etc. I heard opening a restaurant is the easiest. If you are interested, you can start as an apprentice chef, but it takes many years of hard work before you can gain your footing.
4) You can be a security guard for a few years to save money first while considering your options. Many people have higher qualifications than you but still earn about the same as you. So consider yourself lucky and be thrifty. If your colleagues are nice, why not stay for the long term? Many people resign due to office politics and bullying. It is so hard to find good colleagues to work with.
5) When you have save a certain amount, you can try to invest bit by bit. You can ask some financial experts about this. But be prudent and plan ahead.
I have worked as security guard, security supervisor & security guard trainer before. This is my advice for Marcus & the rest.
Try not to work as security guard. If already working as a security guard, try to get another non-security guard job asap.
It’s lowly paid, long working hrs, a job that is being discriminated & look down by others. Salary being short-change or delay is the norm. You will meet all kinds of people in the security industry. Some are good people but many can’t. Many are heavy gamblers, womanizers, lazybones, thieves.
You will be discriminated when you went for job interviews. Interviewers will have negative thoughts on your applications bcoz you are a security guard.
@Tim,
In a country when blue collar workers are well paid, the locals will took up these jobs first. Only when got spare or left over vacancies & the local govt wants to ease the workforce shortage in order to catch up with the demands then they maybe will allow foreigners to fiil up these positions.
A few months ago, Australia govt was talking about letting foreigners in to work in the blooming mining industry but now all the latest reports stated mining market are declining due to less demands.
Why don’t you give us a list of those 1st world countries that allow foreigners to enter the countries to compete with its citizens over well paid blue collar worker jobs?
My uncle’s biz didn’t failed. It’s just that when times was bad & he didn’t earn as much as before, so he went to work for others. Later when he felt that it’s suitable time for him to reset up his biz again, he reset up his biz.
Of course Marcus can learn a trade or handicraft & depend on it to make a living. But if wants to learn a trade & become craftsman, I think he would had enrol for the Nitec in Mechanical long ago. He is young only 22. If possible, he should go for further studies.
Tim, have you ever quit your job & try to be your own boss? i have & i failed. That’s why i advice Marcus to be careful.
Let me quote you some examples – Many years ago, S’pore govt encouraged people to bid for mobile van hawker biz licenses to operate F&B biz using vans. What have happened to these people that invested thousands of dollars in it? How many mobile van hawkers still operating?
What happened to those that open bubble tea shops during 2001-2004? How many still survive till today? Only some managed to make it & many have failed. I heard some investors invested up to $100k for the franchise license, shop rental & decoration etc. $100k is really a lot of money.
I also remember when breaktalk was doing very well after pushing out the pork floss bread. Suddenly, you can find breakshops everywhere in S’pore & many were selling pork floss breads. Many breadshops closed down after 1-3 yrs. I was working as bakery assistant at that time. I knew how the situation was like.
Being positive won’t guarantee you any success but it will make you feel confidence that’s all. When you are pessimistic when comes to doing biz then you will be extra careful to avoid losses.
A China national just got a job at my friend’s company as a plasterer. He is so good at it that the company pays him $10k a month. On hearing this story, some people will do nothing, by convincing themselves that there is too much competition, too tough, too risky, too much hard work, etc.
Different outlook in life. Let’s leave it at that.
My only objective here is to let Marcus know there are well paying blue collar jobs and the bright futures that come with them. He should do his research on them. He does not need to be stuck in a security guard job or lament that fact that he is poor in his studies unless he chooses to.
I find it hard to believe that a plasterer can earn up to $10k a month. Don’t mind can you tell us the name of the company?
Yeah, why not put up the company’s name and biz registration number? For $10K salary or even $4K salary, many local citizens will be hungry enough to cold call the company and travel there to discuss opportunities and potential openings.
If a plasterer can be paid up to $10k a month. Then how much money does the company paid their executives & manager a month? Surely some of their other employees would also want to switch careers to became a plasterer too.
Hi Marcus, the answer to your predicament is simple. Look around what you currently have and work from there. Its like the story of David and the Goliath.. =) stay positive
Anyone who is interested in becoming a plumber, you can register here:
http://reg.e2i.com.sg/EventRegistration/Event.aspx?eventCode=BCAApprentice&eventId=YzAyYzkwMDgtZTg2OC00Y2ZhLThiMzQtOTRhYTE2YWVjYzI0
get a few friends and brainstorm. u dont have much to lose
Try our best not to work as blue collar workers. The reasons are – the jobs usually don’t pay well, working hours is long, wages sometimes don’t come on time, little benefits, wage depression, heavy workload, discrimination etc.
Nowadays, many white collar workers are also force to work like blue collar workers too but companies usually don’t pay them OT money.
Here in SG, the ruling party PAP won’t allow the implementing of minimum wage policy as this goes against their objectives of PAP policies. PAP is still using the old school ways to manage & rule SG. They want to keep biz operating costs as low as possible even at the expense of allowing exploitation. This really sucks.
PAP panicked when WP won the Aljunied GRC. Only then we started to see more kinds of reports & complaints on exploitation, defects in policies. There’re only changes after WP won the Aljunied GRC, if not there won’t be any changes from PAP.
From what i see, PAP is now playing a two hands game. On one hand, they reluctantly acknowledged the defects in policies & mistakes they make. But on the other hand, they insisted to rule SG using the methods which they deemed to be correct.
hai
i am an master of social work graduate with 6 years experience i am here just for a visit pass, till to day i did nt get any jobs, at least any interview letter.as in my opinion to remove unemployment first give priority to educated or experienced individuals(foreigners/locals).in my case all the institutions are not ready to take foreigners but at that time they are not filling their gap with locals that means locals are not educated, so give priority to
Why is other countries’ jobless, surplus degree holders, uncontrolled birth rate, poverty problems affecting us & their problems became our S’pore’s problems? And in the end, we got affected & suffered because of them.
Welcome to the real world daris , it’s the same here in Melbourne Australia. Local experience and PR is a must and of cos better English standard.
In the past, Germany govt used to imported thousands of foreign workers from Turkey to ease the manpower shortage in order to meet industrial demands. What happened next? Many of these Turkey workers refused to leave. They settled down in Germany, they & their descendants took up German citizenships but few integrate well into the Germany society. They created their own Turkish community. Many still regard Turkey as their motherland or fatherland. Germany govt viewed these Turkish citizens as a headache & timebomb.
Every country govt has its own duty & responsibility to protect & take care of its citizens. If a country govt doesn’t give priority to its citizens for employment, edu, medical attention or housing. Then what will happen to that govt?
Why think so much ? Take part time study if you need to support youself at the same time too.
You are still young and plenty of time to go for a few years of night classes until you get that precious Diploma/Degree.
Give yourself a target when you want to achieve this and plan out how to do it.
If pursuing academic papers is not your preference, choose an apprentice job with special skills that can pay you well in the future once you have master it.
hello fellow followers,
it’s doesn’t matter what are you right now! although you are cert holder or you just a beginner and trying to reach from the roof top. you are what you are now beliving yourself is more powerful or just talking nonsense.
my advice choose your destiny and your fate what you wanna do either to continue study or work and work as you are dont hear all the nonsense advice.
as we are know right now singapore cert “N” “O” or even diploma hard to find actual job as event you get a new job are you thinking you will survice in a long term there is a “rascal people” out there who dont want every new comer going to success like you belive me.you can try changing your dream.
if you know what i mean!
my suggestion to the writer is to take up nitec diploma in any field, eletrical or plumbing, and the emigrate to australia or canada.
i just met a PRC guy here who came here to australia thru’s NZ, cant speak a word of english and look like he is not educated at all. But he is good in tile laying and he is quoting me $40/per m2. Beside this, he has heaps of work waiting for him to start and he is not in need of my business at all.
can you imagine that?? even a plumber that come to my house to repair a drainage problem is quoting $200+ for the job.
Hi John,
Does local Australians like taking up eletrical or plumbing jobs? I knew these jobs were paid well.
Aussies don’t really like to take up blue-collar manual jobs, unless the pay is above $100,000 a year guaranteed i.e. monthly paycheck, with all the usual Aussie perks — high minimum wage, compulsory minimum annual wage increase, 4 weeks paid leave, covered medical, bonus etc. Coz they also know not much career progression and maybe short shelf-life, so they want to grab as much as possible first. The only way to progress is to setup own business.
Most of these jobs like plumbers are independent contractors i.e. you need to be own businessman and go advertise and find your own customers, have a van and buy yourself all the required tools and supplies etc. Hence although the workmanship per hour charge is high, but if you don’t have regular customers you also will struggle.
I have 1 uncle and 1 aunt who migrated to Oz 25-30 years ago, and also 2 friends who migrated about 10 years ago. Some of their kids have grown up and are working. They are like any typical aussies, having been born in Oz or lived in Oz since 2-3 yrs old. Looking at them and at other younger Aussies, they prefer working in corporate settings, posh offices, jobs like business roles, marketing, accounts management, project management, sales etc (basically talk cock jobs which the ang moh education is good at). Slightly smarter ones will arm themselves with accountancy degrees, law degrees and medical degrees. Many asian-aussies have been dominating the accountancy and medical schools. Female asian-aussies are also dominating the law schools.
less than 3-4 years studying at a TAFE school followed by 1-2 years of apprenticeship. some aussies tradies built their wealth early by working in the mines, and heard a couple of chaps managed to chalked up 4-5 properties in the span of 5 years and he is less than 27 years old.
I worst than you… Last Meal…
http://moonlifeonearth.blogspot.sg/2012/10/last-meal.html
Hi Marcus, if you have a driving licence, you may wanna consider becoming a driving instructor, all 3 driving centres are in need of people. But if you don’t have a driving licence then look into going into healthcare or elderly care industry, it is booming with many centres coming up in the next couple of years, so the manpower crunch and demand especially for locals will be high. Good luck.
Trained to be a nurse. With the aging population everywhere, nursing is a job required everywhere globally – Oz, UK, Canada. You can also work next to all the pretty nurses and doctors. Its a difficult job but rewarding, respectable and still better than a plumber. Haha.
When we went to enrol for courses, especially those dip/deg courses. What’s our objective(s)? What do we want to achieve?
Some want to have a career switch into certain industry, e.g. banking & finance. What happen if they fail to get into that particular industry? If they managed to get into that industry but they are only offer a entry level or junior position which doesn’t pay well. Will that be a great disappointment?
Some are hoping to gain promotion & pay raise in their present companies after obtaining a dip/deg but what happen if they didn’t get the promotion & pay raise and someone else get it?
Some plan to job hop to another company & earn themselves a senior post with higher wage after obtaining a dip/deg? What happen if market turns bad? The companies they went for interviews didn’t hire them as they have doubts on them? They may be deem as over qualified for the jobs.
There are too many dip/deg holders.There are millions of jobless dip/deg holders. There aren’t so many PME job vacancies in the job market. So, hope for the best & prepare for the worst.
Hi marcus, I want to share my experience with u, I am now 30 years old, I am a security officer too and I am earning 6k now 5day a week as a security manager, it all started 5years ago when I was retrench from my technician job, fliping the newspaper day by day got me a security job starting salary of $1600 for 6 day work, in 6mth I have been promoted to supervisior earning $2200. I took supervisor course and follow by diploma in security, in 3 year of my service I am already holding the post of operation executive earning 3.5k. Only with N level, I took a 2.5days supervisor course and a 8 mth diploma in security, and here I am now to say that everything is not too late.
How many ppl are there in a supervisor class? All of them are supervisors now?
How many ppl are there in a 8 mth diploma in security class? All of them are OE & security manager now?
I don’t leave a response, however after reading through a lot of responses here 22-year-old becomes security guard and feeling apprehensive about his future | Support Site for The Unemployed & Underemployed. I actually do have 2 questions for you if you don’t
And,
mind. Is it simply me or does it give the impression like some of these remarks appear
like they are written by brain dead people?
if you are posting on other sites, I’d like to follow you. Could you post a list of all of your social community sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?