Editor’s note: This article first appeared here on 21 Jun 2009. 

Should you grab any job that comes along?

Written By: Gilbert Goh

Should you grab any job that comes your way after being retrenched? Many I know will try to go back to their same profession and some even seek out the same position they last held with similar pay scale without any consideration for other position that they are unfamiliar with. So what should the unemployed do here?

I guess this is a personal issue and also largely depend on how long the person  has being unemployed. Some have a large sum of savings and can hold on for many months whereas others could not even go unemployed for a month. Depending on how desperate you are, you are the best judge of the situation.

Those who held senior position before  seem to take much longer time to find employment.  Senior management staff and chief executive officers tend to find it harder to find their next job especially in a very depressed job market even though their salary request is much reduced. I have seen senior managers earning $5,000 to $6,000 during the 1997 downturn turning to driving taxis to make ends meet. Their sacrifice and humility earn my utmost respect and I salute them! They are role models for the many unemployed people who may still be fussy about their job selection.

Easier To Land Part Time Work

Generally blue collared and clerical staff will find it easier to get employment as firstly such jobs are in demand and secondly their salary request is within market range.  Many   will  be able to find  work   if they are not too choosy. However, this is all so personal and what is gem to one may be trash to another. I have known some members here who are doing telemarketing for $7.00 an hour happily of which some will shy away from due to various reasons best known to the individual.

So should you take up any job that comes along regardless of the salary and job scope just so that you can go back to being employed again and lead a normal life? Our government has asked us to lower our expectation and just work first so that we are out of the misery. There is some truth there as the longer one stays jobless the worse the situation will become unless one has alot of backup funds. Even with an attractive severance pay out, many retrenched executives lost alot of self confidence as they sit at home doing nothing. Their family members also have to cope with daddy suddenly hanging around their neck 24/7.

Yet for others, the retrenchment may come at a wonderful time especially for mothers. A transitioning member gladly took out ten months of severance pay out and spent precious time at home now tending her two young kids.  After knocking off at 9pm daily for the last ten years, she found meaning in her life again with new found freedom at home. Her kids are also happy that mummy is finally at home now waiting for them instead of the maid. She may need to readjust her work philosophy having find so much meaning in life after staying at home for the past few months after being retrenched.

Lifestyle Change

Personally,  I find that we all need to lead a more balanced lifestyle in busy Singapore.  Too many of us have worked too hard in our jobs and this have cause us to lose touch with our family members and even ourselves.  We all need to work less and live simply so that we can find meaning in our existence. Many have told me that they felt  they are merely robots living meaninglessly in our stressful society. I agreed with them.

On another note,  some may want to just take up any jobs for the money. This is a practical society that we live in. Bills need to be paid and the home mortgage has to be paid on time.

Financial advisors have advise us,  as a rule of thumb,  that one should set aside at least six months of living expenditure for emergency use. However, speaking from my experience, a minimum sum of twelve months to eighteen months seem reasonable as one can stay jobless for one to two years against one’s choice. There is no fixed unemployment term unfortunately. Some I know have stay jobless for more than two years. Others longer.

Others may also ask if they can strike out on their own if they have some capital set aside for such a purpose? I say why not? Retrenchment always provide us the opportunity to try something new and we may succeed. The only caution I give is that if the business venture fails (which it may) what is your next option? Many who have dumped all their savings or severance pay into starting a new business venture get themselves burn and end up worse off than before. I would advise one who is keen to start a new business venture after being laid off to also set aside at least twelve months of expenditure sum so that there is something to fall back on in the event that the business really fail. We don’t plan to fail but if we fail to plan for contingency we are in for real trouble. It is good to be kaisu sometimes.

Career Change

What about a total career change? Again why not? I speak from experience again. I was working in the financial sector for around 5-6 years earning around $60,000 a year on average before going away. As I was all along keen in the social service sector, I thought I was ready for a career change. However due to the extremely low salary range I put it off my priority job search list as I realise that I could not maintain my lifestyle with the kind of salary I am getting. For a start, social workers are paid less than $2,000 a month and quotes of $1500 is not uncommon.

Nevertheless, after many months of unemployment and an recurring interest in that sector, I decided to plunge right in starting at $6.50 an hour as a part time worker in a family service center. After several months as a part timer, I was offered full time contract employment with a starting salary of less than $1500. I stayed with the center for less than a year before venturing out to another welfare organization managing to acquire a salary of $2500. Though it was less than half of my previous pay as a financial advisor, I was able to pay my bills and manage a reasonably decent lifestyle. What lessons have I learnt here?

Firstly, I should not have wait so long for the right job and salary to come along. By waiting, I wasted precious time and potential lost of income. The mental stress that I have acquired from the wait far outweighed the real loss in income and status of the new job. If I can do this all over again, I will follow my heart and seek out those jobs belonging to the social service sector. As such jobs do not pay well and many people shun them as dirty jobs, Singaporeans have a lot of choices if they don’t mind the salary range. Many people who are retrenched in the 40s and 50s are all doing well in the social service sector.

Secondly, it gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing that my job creates an impact on someone’s else life. Accountants and lawyers have known to throw away their five figure salary and spend their time in the social service sector. The job satisfaction they get far outweigh the huge loss in income and social status. Many have not regretted the big sacrifice and some even have to downsize their lifestyle in order for them to survive on the meager salary they are getting as social workers.

Commission Paying Jobs

Many people I know went into the commission-based industries such as property, insurance, stockbroking and multi level marketing (MLM). Many have done extremely well and regained back their self esteem. Some are smart enough to even go for taxi licensing first in preparation for any economic layoff – more like a backup plan. To these people, I saluted them as they are more prepared than others who can only watch when it is their turn to get laid off.

I remembered I went into the insurance business in 1994 and was making a reasonably decent living till 1999 before I ventured out for my study abroad. The income I made during those five years was equivalent to my ten years of service with the government as a civil servant. So if you are jobless, commission-based job is worth a try and you never know if you can do it or not without trying first right?

As commission-based jobs do not have a base salary one needs to ready for at least three months of no income as industries such as insurance advisors need to clear a few certification courses before they can start to sell. For property agents, the wait for the first paycheck may be a good half year down the road as clients only pay up when the deal is officially closed. There are also marketing advertisements to pay and other industry-related necessary cost to bear. Those with big backup finances have an obvious advantage here.

So, it is good to try out new opportunites but going in with eyes open is equally important. It will be disastrous to try out for a year without really making any headway in the full-commission  industry and  ending up worse off than before.

Nevertheless, there is no gain without risk here.
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. Sir Edmund Hilary

This article was first posted here on July 2009.

Written by: Gilbert Goh

I have listed seven industries which the newly retrenched can try on to jumpstart hopefully into a  new career. Some of these industries have being tested by me and others were related to me by people in transition.

Hopefully, you can find something that will interest you to try it out first before turning it  wholeheartedly into a career.

1. Commission work

Commission work is  easy to start off but need alot of perseverance and efforts. Initial fiery efforts sometimes can only carried us so far but the rest is up to a dogged persistence to hang in there when the chips are down.

Commission jobs are like being your own boss as no one pays you a salary. In fact, sometimes, you pay your boss a cut of your commission and it is called over riding commission.

I am sure by now you know what commission jobs are. Property agents, insurance advisors and MLM agents all belong to this category and need to sell something before you pick up a cheque for your commission.

Strong marketing skills and good PR are all important criterion for those keen on doing commission jobs. Property and insurance agents all need  to pass stringent qualifying exams before they can start to sell. As it takes about a minimum of three months to pass all qualifying exams, it is encouraged that those who are  interested in this career have some savings to tide over a transitional period.

We have all heard of how some property and insurance agents earn six or even seven figure salary in their career. Do not be fooled as this group belongs to a minority. Most struggled as the industry is very competitive and  many drop out as they could not last the pace. Commission work also needs people with drive and passion. Those who make it are frequently people that are very motivated and driven.

I have been an insurance advisor for four years and fortunately have done well from 1994-1999 attaining the coveted Million dollar round table award twice. I have also travelled widely because of the industrial prizes that came with certain awards.   I could not persevere after four years as  I found the work boring and monotonous.  However, I have throughly enjoyed my four years’  journey  as an advisor as not only do I have a lot of freedom but it also freed me to do alot of personal stuff on my own. It was also the first time that I managed to get out of the 9-to-5 work cycle.

The insurance sector also introduced me to the power of positive thinking and goal setting.  Being a rather negative thinking person, I am glad that those motivational seminars that I sat through many hours  provided me the impetus to do things that I have never thought of doing before. For me, life has being an adventure since the day I became  an insurance advisor.

2.  Teaching

I was fortunate to be introduced to the teaching industry and was posted to China for a one-year term teaching English to the Chinese students in 2007-2008.

It was an eye opening industry as I have never taught before. Though there was a syllabus to follow, often, we have to improvish along the way.  I remembered I brought my class out to the football field one morning and taught them there. We shared alot during that period and that session somehow broke the ice for all of us.

I urged all who are transitioning to take up the opportunity to work abroad if offered that chance. It is not only ground breaking but also mind stretching.  While working abroad, you are exposed to a totally different culutre and your mindset tends to change and reshape.

If you are keen to teach English to foreign students, do take up a diploma in TESOL – teaching English to students of other languages.  It is almost a pre requsite due to a tightening of requirement by the educational ministry. A tiertiary education is also helpful here.

When I returned  to Singapore from Sydney last year, I continued  my teaching on a part time basis. Though teaching is lucrative, it is short term and often temporary. There is also no CPF here and no medical or other monetary benefits.

Most educational centres pay between $30 to $50 an hour depending on qualification and experience. One can earn around $4000 a month teaching about 5 hours a day.

A passion for teaching is  required here as sometimes it can be boring and the class may give you problem. Classroom management also is important here as students tend to “bully” teachers who are soft and lenient.  Sometimes, your class may give you enough problem to quit the industry halfway and totally.

Networking is important here as it is rather tough to get into closely knitted this industry without any referral. The two teaching contracts that I had were all recommendation made  by friends on my behalf who knew the bosses in the educational centres.

You can also try out relief teaching in our public schools. I heard that for experienced retired teachers, there is a need to fill up relief teachers in our schools here.  Relief teaching is also temporal and only pays upon work done. There is also an absence of other work benefits such as medical insurance or bonuses.

3. Telemarketing

Telemarketing is an industry that  is recession-proof. Any company will need telemarketing services to push through products to the market. It is mostly paid hourly and rates of between $7 to $10 an hour are commonly quoted.

I have done a few telemarketing contracts during my transitioning period from 2000-2001.  I enjoyed the work as I liked  talking and interacting with people. Some even provide a one-day course to orientate the new worker to the industry. Many simply allow you to start work once you have sign on the dotted line.

Most telemarketing work here involves marketing of the financial products such as credit cards or lines. Suffice to say in any marketing job, there is always the sales target to meet. Some companies pay a small commission on top of the hourly rates to attract workers to meet the sales quota.

Most people take telemarketing job as  temporary work and I do not blame them. The work can be strenuous and monotonous. You also need to talk alot and competition among fellow telemarketeers do not allow one to be too cordial in the work place.

There are many telemarketing companies in the market and one needs to search for them in the internet to surface out a few of the bigger better ones.

People who are retrenched and  are desperate may want to consider taking up telemarketing as a stop gap measure until you find something better.  It is better than sitting at home waiting for the next job. A take home pay of around $1500 a month for rookies is achievable here.

4.  Tuition

This is a  traditional bread and butter job for many undergraduates and retired teachers. Many could make a few thousand dollars a month just by giving tuition to a crazy population. As many as 80% of our studying population have some form of additional learning services that go beyond their normal teaching curriculum.

The starting off however can be rather difficult as it is an industry that operates by word of mouth. If you are good and responsible, you will gain credibility and popularity very fast.

Rates of $30 an hour for teaching to a primary school kid with travelling is achievable if you are good.  Those tutoring A level students can fetch up to $70 an hour especially if it is very near to exams.

It is an industry that favours the females as many parents are cautious of male teachers handling their children at home.

Some people  in  transition  I know have tried giving  tuition with variant result.  I guess alot depend on how passionate the person is in helping the child furthering his academic potential.

Moreover, during holiday season, most kids switch off from tuition and your income nosedives during that period.

In my opinion, giving tuition may only provide you some form of monetary incentive  but can never replace your main source of income unless you are really good at it.  An income of around $300-$500 is achievable if you have a few students to start off with.

Alternately, you can try out at tuition centres first though the starting pay is pathetic. Hourly rates of between $20-$30 is often quoted and you have to handle a class of between 5 to 15 students in the centre.

Personally, I have not try giving tuition to school going children  as I am not keen in this industry at all.

5.  Laborious menial work

I have heard that most kopitiam and food stalls need workers and they always have vacancy due to the work nature and shift hours. For an eight hour shift, rates of between $40 to $50 is attainable.

The job  is laborious and is considered dirty work. You not only need to clean tables but also even drag rubbish bags to the rubbish point.

I feel that  this kind of work appeals more to the matured blue collared workers who have not much choices in their career due either to their education or work skills.

There is also a need for drivers both in the class 4 and 5 category. As the work is tough and  often involves carrying goods up and down the vehicles, the person needs to be fit and hardy.

I know that some retrenched people take up cab driving but with different success. Some manage to persevere whereas others give up. As Singaporeans tighten up and many switch to public transport, cab drivers need to work doubly hard to make ends meet.

Moreover, new drivers need to pay up a refundable deposit of around $1000  before they could enrol for the taxi driving course. This is a deterrant measure and many people simply fail to cough up  a thousand dollars to enrol for the course.

6. Security work

Many people I know also try their hand at security work after failing to  land a job for a while after being retrenched.  Frankly, I see nothing wrong in that and it remains a personal decision for those in transition.

One needs to take a 3-month course and some c ompanies are willing to let you do it for free in return for a 6-month bond.

The security industry is always in demand and there are several thousand vacancies right now. PMETs can go for the supervisory security course affliated with WDA and can earn close to $1800 as a security spervisor.

One major bugbear of the security industry is the working hours.  Most contracts need you to work a 12-hour shift with an off day a week. Those who need to go for worship services in church have problem settling down in this industry. The pay is also nothing to shout about.  A new security officer can earn about $1300 a month working a 12-hoour shift cycle.  For those working in 8-hour shift, the pay can be as low as $900 a month.

People in transition considering security work needs to be reminded that people with criminal records are usually disallowed from such industry. Moreover, some who have little education have failed in their security industrial tests as they could not comprehend the course details properly.

Security companies also are infamous for the way that they fail to pay their workers promptly and correctly due to a cashflow problem.

I would encourage those considering  security work as a career to sign up for the bigger companies such as Cisco or Premier Security. They are better run and managed. The odds are that they will not fail to pay promptly or correctly.

7. Part time temp work

Part time work is always a sought after service especially in a recession. Companies prefer to provide work only for a designated period and  they do not have to provide for any medical or other extra monetary allowances.

Adminsitrative part time work is more popular with women workers and  rates of anything between $7 to $10 an hour is achievable.  One women friend I know likes to do temp work as she gets to try different work environment and industry.

There is also less politics here as no one cares to engage politics with a temp worker. Some companies also pay temp workers higher as compared to permanent workers due to the short term work nature.

Of course, the flip side of temp work is that there is a lack of benefits and more importantly minimal work security. After every assignment, one has to wait for the next one and unless one is financially sound the wait could be a long and weary one.

Many people I know are doing some form of temp work while in transition. It is a form of income  for many thoughis  less stable than a permanent job. A temp worker can earn close to $1500 – $1800 a month performing clerical work.

One can get more money from doing direct temp work for a company  than getting it from an agency as there will be a cut in money provided for the job deducted by the agency.

I hope that I have provided some form of asssitance to those who are  considering what to do next immediately after being retrenched. More importantly, before taking the plunge, it is good to consider what you are passionate about.  Often, those who last longer tend to do something that they like.

This article first appeared here on Aug 29, 2009

7 Ways To Come Out Of Prolonged Unemployment

Written by: Gilbert Goh

Many readers I met have been out of work for many months. Many also experience joblessness  lasting more than a year. One I met was jobless for more than 2 years surviving on his savings and doing odd jobs along the way. As a guide, people who are out of work for more than 9 to 12 months are deemed to belong to this prolonged unemployment group. Aparently, there is a sizeable proportion of the working population that belongs to this troubled group – mostly in their 40s and 50s.

As many as 50,000 people who are out of work may have fallen into this jobless category causing much headache to the government.

The technical word for this group of workers is long termed unemployed (LTU). Many of them are mainly retrenched workers, axed during the recent global financial crisis, and came  saddled with obsolete skills and have difficulty adjusting to a new economy.  Many will  need to upgrade their skills to prepare themselves for a second career with lower salary expectation and having to start all over again like a new kid on the block.

Having stayed jobless for 18 months during the Sars period personally, I could empathsize with the LTU’s  situation. You send out hundreds of job applications weekly and interviews that you attended all turned out fruitless. Every time you don’t hear from any employer after another interview, your self confidence took a step back.  Your head hung lower and you wonder whether if you are destined to stay jobless forever. That thought did come to me as the world seems to go pass me. It was a tough period and people in prolonged unemployment needs alot of resolve and mental strength to hang on.  Self esteem is at an all time low and it takes alot of self confidence to ignite the engine again. The mind also works slower when one is out of work for a long period.

However, readers who belong in this category  can find solace in my situation as I have moved out of this tag and are very much a better person after that awful period.  I have learned to be more flexible than before and very opportunistic. It is as if my honing radar is very switched on now to look out for opportunistics.  I remembered I took on a life-changing opportunity to work and teach in China only after a short discussion with my wife. Prior to that, I would not even entertain such thoughts more out of not wanting to come out of my comfort zone than anything else. I also became more resilient as a result of that prolonged period of joblessness. Something happened during that period and I could feel that something inside of me has changed. I am sure many people in prolonged unemployment will agree with me on this.

Unfortunately, people in a state of prolonged unemployment tends to be comfortable wherever they are. It is not that they want to stay unemployed, it is just that the whole mental and physical being have adjusted to being not working. They may also follow a routine that after a long while may take alot of discipline to  come out of it.  Lets face it – if possible we won’t want to work as it can be boring and stressful especially in our suffocating working culture. Some who left their former work places in acriminous circumstances also have this phobia to return to the work force. If possible, they want to enjoy the peace and quiet at home living simply with whatever savings they have so far.

I have listed seven ways to come out of prolonged unemployment. For some of us, unless we are desperate financially, we will take our time to return to the work force. Prolonged unemployment can also be bad for our social well being as no one can feel that they are plugged into the society if they continue to live their life alone at home all day. While we work we also intreact with our colleagues enhancing our social well being and self esteem. Nothing beats doing a hard day’s work and being able to see the fruits of our work at the end of the month when we stand behind the ATM machine.

LTUs need to believe in themselves once more or else no one else will believe in them. Alot needs to come from the inside.

1. Make a decision to return to the work force

Though jobless for 18 months, I have taken up several short term contracts doing telemarketing. Lasting between one to three months, such jobs have given me much needed financial resources and broke the monotony of staying at home. It also helps to keep your mind in shape.

People in prolonged unemployment can look for short term work to get by – at least to get out of the house for a period on a regular basis. Many short term work can  be located through telemarketing companies, recruit agencies and newspaper advertisement.

I got two telemarketing contracts from the newspaper advertisement and proved to be a life saver for me as if not I would be a living cocoon stucked at home.

A reader in prolonged unemployment situation  told me that he helped out at his mother’s egg stall regularly and this has helped him used up  the free time  wisely. The time spent  at the stall also helped him to bond more with his ageing mother.

So, make a decision to return to the work force and doing short term contract job may be the start that you need before taking off. Very often, what the mind sets out to do will be accompanied by active participation of the body and emotion.

2. Know what you want for yourself

Our government has always advocated that the unemployed  go for upgrading skills to be more job-ready but what is the right training programme for someone who is jobless already for a year or two?

Our retraining programmes, such as those initiated by e2i and CDCs, are all heavily subsidised and many merely pay not more than 10% of the course fee.  Training allowance is also avaluable to those who are in need and it seems that this is a heaven-send initiaitve benefitting the unemployed.

However, to my shock, I realised that many who  attended our retraining programmes are actually  not really jobless. Many training programmes are attended however by workers sent by their companies as there are no work to be done at the work places. Workers attending such upgrading courses have their pay tab picked up by the government saving companies from retrenching them in the process as there is no work to be done at the companies.

LTUs can still benefit from retraining programmes by asking themselves what do they really want to do for a second career? At the age of 40s to 50s, many may  have realised that the best money making days may be behind us. We can only hope that we can do something that we like now. Work should now become a joy rather than a chore. Though some of us still have to support our family, one should adjust to a lower salary range and scout out whatever limited opportunities available in the job market.

Do not follow the crowd when it comes to attending upgrading courses. I see some readers all rushing into one particular course that has a long waiting list only to regret taking it later. Many simply sign up for the course when their friends are also doing it. Many have also used it as a networking opportunity.

I wanted to be in the social service all along and when I decided to upgrade it was not a difficult decision for me. I worked part time in a family social service and tooked on a certificate in counselling – sponsored by the company.

I later worked towards a diploma in psychology – also sponsored by another company. After that, I earned my graduate diploma in social science on my own never wavering from my dream. Soon after, I founded a non profit organisationing  – Transitioning.org,  helping many to transit during unemployment. It is now a registered NPO with the registrar of societies.

LTUs need to spend some time going through what they really want for themselves. They need to go through what is available in the market and look for a match. When the whole process is to help in the pursuit of a dream never can dissuade the person from achieving his passion.

Readers who have difficulty finding their passion can email me and I see how I can help you here.

3. Get family involvement

My family helps me alot during the long period that I was unemployed. They stood by me and never ceased to push me out to take up any job. I know many wives who will nag and harass their husbands to take up a job even though they dislike them. Some husbands have no choice but to desperately hunt for a job just to avoid their wives’ nagging routine.

LTUs should discuss with their family members their life goal – what they want to do and how they can accomplish them along the way. Unless husbands talk to their family members about  their plan,  one can’t really blame them for mistaking that he is just a bump that refuses to work!

Suffice to say, a family that is supporting and encouraging, can help to put an LTU back on his feet again faster than one who has poor support.

With a low self esteem and some  not even have enough left in their tank to push on for another mile, family support is vital for LTUs to get their feet back again in the work force.

4. Find support from fellow LTUs

The human race is a particular species that find solace in gathering together. They can progress remarkably well if they can find the relevant support from the community. Their problem seems lighter and easier to solve if they can that they are not alone with their own problem. Many others have also face the same issue and have overcome them before.

I was fortunate to have strong support from my own church group who never failed to encourage me along the way. There were alsosome friends that I count count on for morale and financial support. To these days, I have never forgotten about their generiosity and they were one of the main reason why I could escape unscathed from those dark days. Of course, it took a lot of humility for me to open up my situation to them. One key element for LTUs to find support is to humble themselves first and not allow the ego to take precedence here.  When you do your part the rest will ultimately follow. That is the law of the nature I guess.

Too many fellow LTUs I found tend to keep their problem to themselves. Perhaps, it is our Asian culture that inhibits sharing of our problem to others. Of course, many well meaning friends when you share with them your problem,  also took the wrong discourse and dispensed solutions to them. All LTUs simply need is a good listening ear and that the friend is always there whenever he needs to unload off his chest.

5. Learn to find your life’s mission

As LTUs normally are in their 40s – 50s age group, I am sure that many want to do something that left a ever lasting legacy behind – there are simply not many days left when we will depart from this world. Like many here, I am not really into money making when I gew older.

Suffice to say, some will not have this luxury of choosing something that they like to do as financially some will need to take up any job to get by for their family members.  For this group, survival over takes their intrinsic interest work wise.

I want to do something intangible – stuff that touches people lives. Call me sentimental or silly but there are things that I do these days that do not make my professional resume looks good anymore.

By running this non profit organisation full time, I have not drawn an income for many months and in fact I have to give away cash to people who are more in need than me. Many of us attached our work to an income and this is only right. we all should be paid for an honest day of work. I have also duplicated some of the things that I have done in Singapore to Sydney right now. We just started a support group in Sydney on 28 Aug and it was a dream came true. Though the group only has four participants on the first session, I  resolved to ensure that the group will carry on and hopefully more people in transition will join us.

There will be those out there who may want to do some meaningful voluntary work that does not pay at all or simply paying peanuts. Of course, some breadwinners will be unable to work in such jobs due to practical reasons.

There are many needs out there that require someone who dares to sacrifice themselves so that they will left a legacy behind. Too many of us live our life too flippantly when we can, through some serious planning, curve out a meaningful career for ourselves benefitting many people along the way.

6. Do things that help boost the self esteem

I  understand that many LTUs battle depression and often a low esteem. Some have alot of  self doubts about their abilities and a few may need lot s of affirmation before they can go back to the work force. Many who are being retrenched often blame themselves for not doing a good job when this is furthest from the truth. Some employers have no choice but to retrench staff as there is no work to be done. Marketing and sales staff are always the first to go and the “last in first out” philosophy often happens to new staff. Questioning your capabilities when you are being laid off is both unnecessary and self harming. The soonest one stop the self harming game the better it will be for the recently laid off. If not, they will wallow in self pity and join those in the LTU group.

As they wake up daily to a meaningless routine and staying very home-bound, many even hate to go downstairs for fear that some may enquire on their work status. Every well meaing enquiry frim a good neighobur is a stab to their self image and confidence.

I have met many LTUs in my work here to realise that the longer one stays unemployed, the worse the situation gets. Some even doubts their capability when offered a job – rejecting the offer in the process!

LTUs need to consciously do things to boost up their self esteem. For example, some I know go for the various retraining courses to stay in tune with the market. I find that this is a wonderful way to keep one’s mood in the high as the person is out of the house regularly and he also mixes around with other people in transition. There is support when you mix with people regularly. We are never meant to be alone all by ourselves.

During my period of prolonged joblessness,  I also wrote alot and to date, at least one hundred articles were printed in most of the major newspapers’ forum columns in Singapore.  I also took time to write a book “How to survive unemployment” and am embarking on my second book now.  Thus, we all can make good use of the extra time on hand to do something that we have no time to do all along.

In this aspect, e2i has done a wonderful job of allowing people in transition to attend their many short courses almost free of charge. A friend went for a one-day executive worshop for PMETs (professional, managerial, executive and technician) and continued with other sort term courses that lasted a few days. He also got to know others in transition and have being able to gain from their support.

7.  Set a deadline on when to go back to the workforce

For LTUs,  it is always good to set a deadline on when you can get back to the workforce. Often, what the mind sets out to do is accompanied by active participation of the body and emotion. For example, if you are jobless for a year, you can set a time frame of another three months of intense job searching so that your vision of landing a job may materialise within the three months.

Conclusion

It is hope that  LTUs can find some solace from this article and learn to move on with their life. It is never good to be jobless for too long. It hurts our pocket, esteem and also may hamper our family’s abiility to support us.  There is a limit to how long our family can hold on when we suffer from prolonged unemployment. Ourchildren will also find it difficult to respect us when we daily stay at home and face the four walls.

This post first appeared here in Aug 2009

Written By: Gilbert Goh

Many people I know have difficulty telling their family members when they received news that  they are going to be retrenched.

The agony of losing their job and the trauma of having to inform their loved ones stress them to the point of a break down. Some primary breadwinners even lie to their spouses that they are still working when they are actually out of work.  They continue to put on their tie and left their home for office as per normal. They then hang out in the library or Macdonald. It is a very sad state of affair if husbands could not tell their wives directly that they are out of work without suffering an emotional heart attack.

It goes without saying that men holding higher offices have much more difficulty revealing the dreadful news of their retrenchment to their spouses as it means a deep dent to their  ego plus their pocket. An impending downgrading of socisl status also means that men feel that they have let their family down.

This is understandable as many have loans to pay and often they are taken with two incomes in mind. When one income is taken out, naturally, the surviving working member will feel the pressure of having to pay for all the household bills and loans. So, many surviving income earner feel the stress and react adversely to the news adding on to the pressure feel by the newly retrenched.

Emotional Trauma of Unemployment

Unless one has substantial savings in the bank account, primary bread winners will mostly face an emotional battle to reveal the dark truth to their loved ones. This is more so for men who often earn more and are dependent on for household bills and other loan repayment. The role of the primary breadwinner changes now and this often stress out the surviving income earner. Both husband and wife now need to sit down and talk out especially on  the financial issues affecting the household. Sometimes, it may even lead to a downgrade of housing and lifestyle. Cars may need to be sold off to leesen out the loan repayment and maid has to be laid off. Without discussing properly and leaving things to chance, the marriage is doomed for major repercussion.

A friend of mine who is going to be retrenched soon has yet to inform his wife about his impending job loss. He is waiting for the right moment and has meanwhile dropped her alot of hints hoping that the pre-warning will soften the blow when the news are broken to her.

Another friend has informed his wife about his job loss but was prevented from telling his in-laws to save face. As the in-laws are all doing well, the wife felt that informing them will somehow tarnish their good image. This friend lamented that  he felt lousy whenever his parents in law asked him about his job and he has to lie as if he is still working. His wife’s constant harassment about his job search also stressed him out alot and he has told me that it is worse than not having a job.

He has to take on any job more to satisfy his wife’s constant pressure than anything else. This is so wrong and unnecessary.

So how can we best break the bad news to our loved ones when  the company has informed us of the job loss?

Ways To Inform Your Spouse

Firstly, never feel that you are at fault at work. Your job loss is not tied to your work performance.  It is the ailing economy that is the cause of your  retrenchment. Your reaction to the job loss will impact how you feel and may even affect your re employment opportunities. Someone who takes to retrenchment positively will approach the situation with the right attitude and often picks himself up faster than one who reacts negatively.

Many people also feel lousy when they are axed.  Some take it out on their family members especially when they feel emotional about the loss initially.

Next, prepare to  inform your loved ones at the appropriate time. It is good to drop strong hints along the way but there is always the need to inform our spouses directly.  They need to hear from us however ugly it may be.

Couples need to have the aptitude to go through a relationship in both good and bad time.  Many only go through a relationship when things are doing well but turn the other way when things go awry.

I have witnessed how spouses, especially women, gave their husbands the cold shoulder when they announced the retrenchment news. Some even pressured them to take up any job just to avoid  gossiping from  relatives and neighbours.

Bad News Test Of One’s Marriage

I find that this is so wrong and spouses need to adopt an encouraging approach when  their men break the bad news to them. It is also a good opportunity for the couple to hang in and support one another when the chips are down. Relationships often come out stronger when the couple manages to emerge out  a fiery situation such as an illness or a retrenchment.

Often, it is also a test of one’s relationship thermometer. How much you have invested in the relationship will be   tested when there is any setback which will disturb the harmony of the household. Those who have spend time and effort in building up the relationship often  find that they have a supportive spouse. by their side when things go wrong. As they have sow in the marriage when things are well, they will reap back much more in return when there is a need for it.

Fortunately, I have also seen how some wives stood by their men when they  were jobless. There was not a word of malice in their tone throughout their unemployment period and it was a journey that they decided to go through together. As the greadwinner role switched, wives did not chided their husbands for not bringing in the beacon which may further dampen the self esteem of the guy. They decided to tighten their belt and go for the jugular and downgrade their lifestyle. The kids could also see that even though they go out less often than before, the love shown at home was love personified. Action speaks louder than words here.

So, when the time comes for you to annouce the  bad news to your spouse, grind your teeth and  bravely break it out. It is not good to face job loss alone and be isolated in the process. We all need our family to provide us the support.

Conclusion

Frankly, the aftermath is more important as you go through in detail how you are going to organise your finances and left nothing to chance. Try to cover every ground so that there is no misunderstanding.

Moreover, any other adverse news such as a sickness or death of a loved one will also affect a good relationship. It is when we go through a bad patch together that we can grow as a family. What good is it when a family only goes through life with us when things are good?

So never deny the positive effect of bad news. Losing your job may be the best thing that can happen to you and your family. It will cement the love that you have for one another and your relationship will be sweeter than before.

This article first appeared here in July 2009

7 Major Traumas of Unemployment

Written by: Gilbert Goh

Many readers have asked me what to expect when they were given the pink slip.

Trying my best to be optimistic, I told them to stay well prepared and not to take things for granted here. People who are prepared and positive tend to sail through unemployment with their chins up.

Unemployment has known to break up marriages and drive many to depression especially if families  are hit hard financially. For me, unemployment means no income and due to a lack of unemployment welfare, there is no social safety net for our jobless.

I will list the seven major traumas that will strike the unemployed and  coming up with some solutions to counter their impact.

1. Finances

By now, most people will know that unemployment = no income and full stop.  Many I know could not face up to having no regular income as their savings is almost near zero. What they have earn before is just nice for their monthly expenses.  Some simply spend away what they have earned without any regular savings plan in place. When unemployment arrives, they are shocked and  could not think straight for many days. This is what I termed a worse case scenario and it happends to many people I know.

My advice for people who are STILL working now is to plan out your finances  before you even receive the pink note.  Don’t wait till you are retrenched before deciding to plan out your finances. That will be too late. The clouded mind of the retrenched also does not allow one to plan confidently. If you are married, do this important exercise with your spouse when you are relaxed and calm.

Prioritise your expenditure – decide  how much you need to survive on given the amount  you have in your savings acount. Then calculate how long you can live on with that expenditure plan before you press the panic button of borrowing from friends  and selling stuff. Many may need even need to downsize their car, home and lifestyle to make ends meet without an income or living on one income for a family setting over a prolonged priod. Do plan that out as that option may arrive  at your doorstep however detailed you have plan for life without a job. It is called planning for the worse. Trust me, some of you will need it.

At the worse scenario when you need to raise cash urgently, what alternate forms do you have?  Do you need to borrow from friends if necessary and who will they are? Do you have things to sell on ebay and how much can you raise by selling stuff online? These are all valid things to think through before the crunch time comes.

Many people are made bankrupt as their debts piled up and bills went unpaid for many months.  This can be avoided if you talk it out with your banker or enlist the assitance of Credit Counselling Bureau to act as a mediator for you. Check out all avenues of assistance before the bad news hit you in the face.

Personally, I have faced many sleepless nights when I was unemployed during the Sars period. The worse stressors were when the bankers sent you  pay-up nasty mails with the legal masthead on them. It was not only stressful but terrifying for one who has always enough to pay up for such monthly bills.

Needless to say, it is prudent to live frugally now even if we are still working given the turbulent time we have in this current economic climate.  When you spend wisely even though you are still employed, it will be easier for you to adapt to a frugal lifestyle when you are jobless. It comes easily as you have being conditioned to live simply all along.

Summary note: Plan out your finances well using a worse case scenario.

2. Relationships

Many families enjoy a blissful time together when everything sails through smoothly in life. However, when one of the family’s income earner is jobless and tense, everything changes at home. Tempers flare up easily and the whole family atmosphere changes over night.

The warm cheerful father that they have known all along may now turn into a hot tempered monster who roars at everyone at home. Suddenly,  his constant presence on the sofa now turns into an unwelcome sight for many at home. Children will try to avoid the massive terrifying frame and camp in their bedrooms waiting for the nightmare to end.  Instead of hugging them, their dad now snap and growl. Young children who do not understand what have happened may turn inward and depressive at the suddent change in family dynamics.

My family members got the blunt end of my outburst during the first six months of my unemployment.  I would snap at my daughter at the simplest of things and made her cried. Of course, I felt bad at my foul mood but could not do much to improve matters.  I also quarrelled alot with my wife over finances as we took out a home mortgage loan based on the income of two working members.  It stressed out the only working spouse who has to pay for most of the household bills.

I later talked things out with my family members and things improved when I shared my issues with them. They could understand why my mood was foul and I also promised that  I would be more responsible in my behaviour.

We also continued our regular weekend family outing and this helped to provide support to me during that tumultous period. Many unemployed readers have told me that their family remains their best form of support and reinforces the good relationship that they have all along especially during their unemployment blues.

Summary note: Talk things out with your family members and continue whatever family time that you have all along. Your family is your best support during this awful period.

3. Friendship

Some people I know count on their friends to support them when they are jobless. I was fortunate to have a good butch of friends whom I counted on for support.  They were with me when I was down and out. Some offered me financial assistance and never chased me for repayment and I was grateful for their unconditional support.

However, there will be some friends who will run away at the smell of trouble from you. A friend of mine for twenty over years disappointed me much when he turned the cold shoulder during that period.

I remembered we shared many years of  good brotherly bonding as we grew up together and later became very good friends. So it was a shock when he turned the cold shoulder during that tough period. Calls to him went unaswered or he would not want to go out with me for our regular drinks.  I was more disappointed than angry with him. Needless to say, our friendship went downhill after that. So, be prepared that your good friends may turn out to be those that may not stand by you when you are down and out. This may hit singles more as they count on their friends to be their support system. It may be wise to cultivate a few more good friends to be on your side. Woe to those who only have one or two good friends and could not count on them when he needs them most.

Fortunately, I have also invested in other friends and those that I thought would be cold to me turned up to be rather supportive. They went out with me and provided me a good listening ear when needed.  To these days, we  still stay in touch. So, you will reap from the time and efforts  that you have sow  on friendships.  Though one or two may turn away, there will still be others who will respond to us when we need them.

Summary note: Be prepared that friends may turn away from you when you need them most.

4. Emotional Disturbance

Many unemployed people turn depressive and negative especially when they went jobless for many months. Some will face sleepless nights or have difficulty going to bed. Anxiety seems to be the byword of every jobless vocabulary.  The odd one will also have suicidal thoughts when the going gets rough. To some, losing one’s job is like losing part of our life. We have identified ourselves with the position printed out on our namecard and when one is retrenched, our identity goes thorugh a crisis transformation.

For the record, the first three months may be the most difficult period as the unemployed adjust himself to face up to his situation. Many snap easily at their loved ones and relationships tumbled downwards. Family members may also need to be prepared here to be more understanding and loving. Many I know could face up to the trauma of unemployment better when their family members were supportive and dependent. It is also a test of how strong the relationship has being. Families who spend alot of time together tend to have an easier time when someone goes jobless. The time spent together previously now acted as a buffer for them when the chips are down.

Almost all of the unemployed people I met have some form of emotional disturbance during their period of unemployment. Some managed to have only a mild attack whereas others need to seek medical assistance.

It is not difficult to fathom why the unemployed turned depressive.  Unemployment often attacks the self worth of a person and many I spoke to often questioned why were they retrenched when they were hardworking and performing well at work.

Their self worth thus took a hard stab as damaging  self enquiry went on for many weeks and months often during the crucial first three months. I would advise these people not to do too much self critical examination of why they were retrenched and their c olleagues get to work as often managers do not reveal too much about retrenchment exercise. Some human resource managers I spoke to told me that there were many other reasons why a staff has to be  laid off.  Besides work performance, other perimeters such as business re organisation, financial constraints and manpower reduction were considered before someone is being laid off.

Critical self enquiry on one’s work performance also hampers one from venturing to seek re employment  confidentally. Some I know never venture out of one’s home unless it is at night to avoid the inquiries of neigbhours. I also have this problem as  I try my best  avoid neighbours who will ask me why I am always at home.

In face-saving Singapore, many jobless people will try all ways to face up to their jobless state. Some retrenched PMETs still turn up in their tie and brief case preparing to go to work when they have no office to go to so that their family members will not know the truth.

Ego saving efforts to concel unemployment seem to be more rampant when the person is higher up the corporate ladder. It is well known that the higher you climb, the steeper will be  the fall.   The top executive has much to adjust to life without work as now he does not have a secretary making coffee for him in the morning nor those power lunches he share with his peers and bosses. He is all alone facing up to an uncertain empty future. The jobless executive needs to redefine what success means to him now. Is climbing up the corporate ladder that important now when one needs to be better at managing work life balance? Time alone without work may be the best tonic for the busy working executive to sort out his priority in life.

For the emotionally disturbed, it may be good to speak with someone about issues that torment us.   Seeking counselling is also helpful as research has shown that by speaking out our problems to another person we often feel less stressed. It is never wise to left issues that emotionally affect us without really addressing them. It is like caging up an angry dog who wants his daily favourite walk in the park. So seek help when necessary.

It is also good to communicate our fears with our spouse who will remain by our side through thick and thin. They will remain our best form of support during the down time.

Summary note:  Learn to face up to your fears and  be humble enough talk to someone about them.

5. Physical wellbeing

Besides suffering from emotional setback, the unemployed may face a barrage of physical ailments. Lets face it, what  goes on inside us will affect our physical being.  Of course, the vice versa also applies here.

In his book ” Real Life”, Dr Phil McGraw wrote:  ”When you adopt a healthy lifestyle it begins to add up in a powerfully positive way.”

WHen you sat depressed at home and shouting at your kids half the time to stay quiet, the heart went pumping hard and rage is also not a healthy way to destress. Over a prolonged period,  when the  person is jumpy and anxious, it will manifest itself physically. On the other hand, a healthy phsycial wellbeing will also influence how you think and act. I have exercised long enough to know the merits of such a statement.

I knew a friend who was retrenched recently and after suffering three months of joblessness, he had much more white hair than befores and lost some weight in the process.  He was anxious as he was the only primary breadwinner. His wife works part time and is also on  medicinal assistance.

Thus, do not discount the physical after effects of unemployment. What that goes inside our head will affect our physical well being.

So what can we  do to counter the stressors of unemployment?

For me, I took to jogging to destress and found it helpful both for my emotional and physical well being. I have started to run for well over two decades and intesified those runs when I was jobless.

In my book “How to survive unemployment” I have detailed how exercising has helped me alot to recover from the emotional perils of joblessness.  If readers want tohave  a free soft copy of this book, just email me at gilbert@transitioning.org.

Summary note: Guard your physical well being by having regular exercise.

6. Adaptability

Lets face it – those who can adapt to unemployment faster will tend to recover and look out for rehiring opportunities. The ones that still hang on to their previous employment  tend to have a hard time adapting to unemployment. They tend to speak bad about their bosses  who have retrench them and also question their self worth alot more. They have not learn to move on as fast as they could have.

In his bestseller book “The 4-hour Work Week”, author Timolty Ferriss wrote: “Usually, what we most fear doing is what we most need to do. That phone call, that conversation, whatever the action  might be – it is fear of unknown outcomes that prevents us from doing what we need to do.”

Mr Ferriss describes vividly what the problem the unemployed will face about adapting and facing up what he  fears most. When the retrenched still is hung up on why he is being laid off, it is likely that he will have difficulty trying to take active steps to getting re hired.

He is still sore about his retrenchment and so long as he is mad about it, he will face difficulty in adapting to his jobless situation.

Thi is perhaps the reason why many still could not open up to their loved ones when they are about to be retrenched. Many only inform their spouses the day that they have no job to go to causing a mini panic at work.

I have found that those who could adapt and accept  their retrenchment well turnd out to be the ones that could find new jobs fster than those who could not.

Top executives often have major adaptability issue as  they have much more to lose when they are laid off. Besides losing the financial perks,  the self worth also nose dives and they  tend to question  their  capability to perform. As rehiring for the top brass retrenched PMETs tends to be longer, the resilience factor of this category of workers has to be higher. Some may even have to downgrade their expectations in a worsening job market. Needless to say, their salary expectation has to be readjusted.

Some needs to adapt to looking for work beyond their level of comfort.  Others may have to adapt to a lower pay package in a totally different field. A few may even have to be relocated to work abroad for a stint. I remembered I have to take up a teaching job 2 years ago – a totally different field in China,  in a major job shift  which  I have gladly taken up. The experience changed my life forever and shifted alot of my own life’s paradigm.  I would not have done what I am doing now if I have not taken some risk, uprooted myself and got out of my comfort zone. Worse of all,  I will also be forever trapped in my own limited world view.

I have heard of how we have major problem taking on certain job scope and that could probably have contribute to a worsening jobless situation. Learn to let go of our past position and salary package and take some risk with a new career.

Some who have went for retraining with e2i and WDA have adapted well in their new career. They not only do well in their new job but also derived satisfaction from their work.

Summary note: Adapt to your new state well and  take on some risk to move on to newer horizon.

7. Self Confidence

I want to talk more on this topic as I have seen many matured PMETs suffering a serious dent on their self confidence after being laid off. Some may not even recover as they face a proloned period of unemployment  damaging their confidence irrevocably. Many simply want to retire at home if they can.

It is obvious that the longer the person goes jobless the damage to his self confidence will be greater.

People who goes jobless for more than 12 months will also face a psychological barrier of getting rehired. Their body language says it all when they go to job interviews with sloughed shoulder and downcasted eyes.

Interviewers also do not take to prolonged unemployment kindly as they may feel that the person is unadaptable and fixated.

It is good thus for the unemployed to do some casual or temporary work so that their resume will not be blank out during that period. It also shows a person who is vibrant and actively trying to get out of the rut.

Self confidence is also strongly tied to a positive mindset. A confident person will try to bounce back from adversity and also adapt to different situation.

He will want to thrive in any adverse situation so as to learn from the  experience.

To him, any negative experience can be  utilised   as a nurturing process so that something good can come out of it.  He will not want to waster any time wallowing in self pity.

So whenever you enter into an adverse situation, try to look out for a learning experience out of it.

A jobless situation can turn out to be a rewarding experience if the person can try to  look out for a positive career revamp. How we think will determine how we approach our problem.

Summary note:  Learn to see the positive outcome of any adversity – however hard it is.

Conclusion

I hope that I have provided you enough information for you to stay prepared during your  unemployment period. This will be a particularly tough time for you and your family. It could also be a test of your family relationship and the journey will be choppy I assured you. However, after going through the rough journey in stormy sea, the ship will soon arrive on shore and you and your family will treasure each other alot more.  A person who has gone through the consuming fire of trials will often come out stronger and more matured. I hope that readers will agree with me on this.

Motivational quote: Pray to God, but continue to row to shore – Russian proverb

This article first appeared here in Oct 09.

I have read widely that the economic crisis may be already over and many have cheered such positive news. It is like dawn breaking out on a very prolonged period of darkness. We can finally see some light at the end of a very dark long tunnel. For many, they will want to erase such a depressing period from their memory if they could.  The past twenty  months have knocked many of us flat  and some even suffered tremendous financial distress from failed investment, home foreclosures and bankruptcies. Many have lost their  fortune in a very short period and may never get to see their money again at all.

Some families I heard broke up as a result of unemployment-related problems – mostly financial.  Lives have changed  and how we approached our affliction will largely determine whether we can meaning in our suffering. Yet, there are many others who have learn something useful out of the crisis. Some have told me that they became stronger mentally and emotionally. They have learn to thrive in adversity and found that their adversity quotient has strengthened. It is in the valleys that many will learn life’s lessons and this is so true for many in this recession. Unless we try to embrace and accept such down times readily, we will never learn from crisis that can suddenly  hit us at certain points of our life. Without experiencing sadness, we can never really know what is true happiness. Without the feeling of being poor before, we can never truly understand what poverty can bring to a person and appreciate any richness that we have. Adversity has softened many people  and they have all grown to become a better person. We all can learn a lesson or two from the 2008/9 recession. Here are seven lessons I learned from my own unemployment blues:

1. Never put all your eggs in one basket

Those who think that by investing our money we will reap tangible returns from  risk-averse investment vehicles will be disappointed. The past recession proved to be very devastating for anyone who invested their money  even in capital-guaranteed instruments. One big lesson we can learn from the recession is that greed may  equal loss. Invest abit but left some in the low-interest savings account seem a wise choice in this volatile environment. Though the return may seem low for money placed in the savings account, at least the capital sum is guaranteed – 100%.

Personally, I have lost 6 figure sum   in the stock market many years ago and have since stayed away from the stock market. I have learned my lesson and hope not to repeat my mistake again. Readers who have lost money in the minibonds and other investments will identify with what I have shared here.

2. Reduce debts and save more

Hopefully, the recession has taught us to constantly look for ways to reduce our debts and save more. Many I know have cut back on spendthrift habits and spend what they have rather than using their credit facilities. If you have a mortgage loan, try to pay it off in the shortest possible time. Staying debt free should be the motto of our people in this tough time. If possible, when buying a house, use the income of one person rather than both working couple to seek for a loan from the banks as the recession cycle seems to be getter shorter these days. Many people were caught out when they have difficulty paying their mortgage loan when their partner lost their job in the recession.

We ought to try to stay debt free in the shortest time possible. I know that this is easier say than done especially when we borrow to wed, buy a house, car, furniture and some even use their credit card to go on their dream holiday. Cutting down on debt or even staying debt free should be the goal of anyone affected by the recession.

3. Always be in an upgrading mode even when you are gainfully employed

Seek out a new skill even when you are still gainfully employed. Many people work thinking that they will be in their job forever.  People  always look lost when they are suddenly  retrenched and never know what they want to do after that. While still employed, plan ahead what you want to do for the next five or ten years. Those who plan ahead tend to be more confident of their future when they lose their job in a recession. Having additional skills also allow you to immediately change career when you lose your job. You are already one step ahead of those who are still floundering and looking lost after retrenchment. So,  learn a new skill preferably something that you like to do all along but never get the chance. It is time to explore those dreams that seems almost impossible to achieve when we are in our comfort zone. Be adventurous and take some calculated risk in your life.

4. Treasure your family

One nice thing that I heard from many people who lost their jobs is that they have  treasured their family more. Perhaps, we have substitute  relationships for tangible stuff in our materialistic society all along. We buy things for our children thinking that this will please them when deep down they prefer having us around  at home. They want our time and not our toys. Many who spent most of their waking hours in the office sudddenly felt lost when  enforced to spend the day time with their family members at home when they lost their job. They felt uncomfortable as they don’t know how to engage their children while transitioning at home.

They realised how much they have missed out on seeing their children grow up until they spend the time  at home interacting with them. It is a good wake up call for many I felt. Our children all grow up too fast and when we realise that we have miss those time, it will be too late as   time lost can never come back to us again. Time lost is forever gone.

5. Reconsider that loyalty issue with the employer

One significant lesson many people learned during the recession is that you can never expect loyalty from your employer though you have being foolishly loyal to the company. Many people put in extra hours of over time when requested to help their employers rush out some urgent tasks but were shocked to receive the pink slip still. Worse of all,  you still see many of your colleagues working  on when you are being laid off – that’s the deepest cut of all.

“Why me?” many have asked when they were been laid off. It was a blatant thrust of the sword into the loyal heart. So, reconsider that  loyalty issue with your employer. Are you putting in too many hours trying to fulfill your boss over bearing demands at work? Every extra hour you spent at the office  takes you away from the precious time that you can spend with your family members. Is it worth it?

I am not saying that we should all slack at work but the loyalty issue may need a re-check after how employers lay off their workers indiscriminately during the last  recession. One ought to know that we work to live and not live to work. Life is too short to put all our waking time working for our bosses so that they can make more profit for the company.

6. Spend more time networking

Many people who find jobs easily after been  laid off usually have a larget network of friends and contacts that they can tap on. They have benefit from spending time interacting with people from all walks of life. We need to change the way we job search from now on especially when the economy is so turbulent these days.  Learn to move out of the comfort zone of simply going to work and returning home. Learn to socialise more and be a friend to others. It is when we sow then  we can  reap from the time and efforts that we have put in cultivating relationships.

Networking can be uncomfortable for many of us who are naturally shy and inhibited. However, hopefully the positive efforts to network  will put us out of our comfort zone. So, move out to interact more with others – it can also  bring more colour into our mundane life.

7. Simplify our lifestyle and be contented with what we have

We all need to simplify our lifestyle more here. In Singapore whereby shopping is the popular past time of most people, learning to simplify one’s lifestyle seems relevant. We buy things on impulse and stock them up without really using them in the process. We buy the latest gadget when we found our colleagues having them. Hopefully, during the recession, we have learn not to compare ourselves with the Joneses and be contented with what we have. If our car is still working well though it is a old model, try not to change for another newer model incurring a new 10-year loan in the process. The key question to ask ourselves when we want to buy anything new is: “Do we need it? Is the old one not serving us well enough?” It is best to be happy with what we have. Stay lean and contented.

Lessons learnt from difficult times tend to stay on within us for a long time. People also emerge stronger after each economic crisis. So don’t waste your time brooding over lost opportunitites but try to see something useful coming out of the hard times. Life is too short to spend them always wishing for what we don’t have. Learn to see that there will always be a rainbow coming out of the heavy storm.

As one great man has taught us :- All this shall pass. It had already happened for me and the same will happen to you as well …

Written by: Gilbert Goh

PS: If you have similar stories to share about lessons learned during the period that you were jobless, email me at gilbert@transitioning.org or goh_gilbert@yahoo.com. All stories will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Networking To Better Job Opportunities

This article first appeared here on June 2009

  Written By: Gilbert Goh

 In these tough times, many have told me it is not what you know but who you know that matters. I believe them.

 Networking is something that will continue to benefit many who are jobless.

After staying jobless for about 20 months during the Sars period, I finally found a part time job working in a family service center paying $6.50 an hour. 

The job was secured through the tedious efforts of  a long lost friend who recommended me after persuading his boss for about a fortnight.

After working for six months there, I later found full time employment  elsewhere because of the social service experience chalked up there. To this day, I am thankful to this kind hearted friend who took time and effort to speak to his boss about my predicament.

 Many friends I knew found jobs through this manner –  more so if you are not so young or educated like me.

The next three jobs were also all recommended by friends and because they referred me to their bosses, I could get the job easily without much competition.  Sometimes, I secured the job after clearing through one interview only.

I taught part-time English to foreign students in China and locally and the stints were referred to me by a close friend. Without his help, I doubted that I could such work easily.

People trusted the recommendation of their staff and it shows the power of referral here. Bosses rather employ people whom their staff recommended than going through the advertisement way - wasting money and precious time in interviewing them. There is also no guarantee that people whom they employed from advertisement will be good and suitable.

Personally, I have little luck with open employment especially if it is advertised in the newspaper or employment agencies.

Maybe, I am not very qualified or well educated like many others out there.

Some employers told me that they have received hundreds of application letters for each job they advertised and it was troublesome having to go through the whole stack of letters and interviewing them one by one.

However, networking may not be easy for some.

Some jobless people find it  tough  to get out of the house as  they feel ashamed to go out and  meet others who are gainfully employed. It seems that being jobless is such a shame in our Asian community. This stigma hits both the male and female jobseekers.

Naturally, the jobless will  feel lousy  as they tend to compare themselves with their happy friends who are gainfully employed. There is also the financial issue  here as going out means having to cough out transport and meal costs.

I always made it a point to meet my friends in a cheap kopitiam or Macdonald so that I would not feel the pinch. People are very understanding and if they are your real friends they won’t mind meeting you anyway. It’s the company that counts anyway and not the place.

However, some  people may  asked insensitive questions especially if your unemployment period is as long as mine. Those who dislike you will seize the opportunity to chide you a little and  make you  feel lousy  after the meet-up.  We need to be wise here and learn to look at the positive side of meeting people than focusing on the negative.

I came across an unemployed woman (Susan – not her real name) who stayed at home for many months without venturing out of her house except during evening time. She was unemployed for around two years. She stayed with her parents and could not face up to her neighbours whom she fear will ask her questions about her unemployment.

A sense of shame and loser mentality have gotten over her. Susan later saw a counselor who slowly affirmed her and helped her regained back the self confidence to go out and meet people. She is now working part time as a clerk in a local company.

Sad to say, her case is very common for those who are into prolonged unemployment.  It happened to me for the first six months before I managed to snap out of it.

I avoided church friends and neighbours and holed up in my home for many days without venturing outside. It is a sure way to chronic depression.

Concerned friends can do a lot to help their unemployed friends here. The unemployed only need to know that someone is out there who shows care and support for them.  Do your part by checking with your boss if they need a part time position. Most bosses won’t mind having an extra pair of hands at the office if it doesn’t really eat too much into the headcount cost.

Those who go through joblessness on their own without much support from friends and loved ones often end up depressed and feeling helpless. All they need really is a slight jolt by loved ones or friends to jumpstart that job search momentum again. If not, depression that goes unchecked for many months can lead to disastrous consequences.

Job searching is  mostly psychological and the person who  keeps believing in himself usually gets re-employed faster  than the one who is negative and always feel that he is not up to the mark. Employers will easily detect such negative body language and prefer to employ someone who is positive and confident looking.

For the breadwinner, prolonged unemployment is a dangerous state to be in as we have other family members who depend on us. This will add on to the stress of job searching.

In a society such as ours – whereby each individual needs to depend on himself for survival without any state welfare, the stress and burden a person goes through during prolonged unemployment is both deep seated and chronic.

So much for the negative aspects of unemployment.

So what can we do to network more in this tough time?

Firstly, move around by  visiting your ex employers, ex suppliers and even friends. Send out emails to your friends  informing them that you are out of work and need a referral from them.  Never stay at home and brood unhappily over  your situation – this is a sure recipe to depression.  Attend hobbies’ club activities and socialise as much as possible so that your circle of friends will widen.

I remember going to the gym during my unemployment period to exercise and met a few other health-conscious buffs there. We exercised together at the gym and became good pals over time. Though I did not receive any job opportunity from the sessions, my days turned brighter whenever I went to the gym to exercise  with them. They also took time to encourage me during that period and we became close friends after that.

 I know of many people feeling ashamed of their jobless state and avoided meeting people.  Frankly, you will be surprised to know that those whom you are going to meet in a  group setting may even be jobless themselves. Moreover,  unemployment has struck many people in Singapore and thinking that you are the only person unemployed is mere fallacy.

Remember   to touch base with  people whom you have met at a convention or party. By taking the effort to stay in touch, people will naturally remember you if there is a vacancy in their offices over  those who do not.

I always make an effort to keep my friends and contacts informed about  my current situation  so that they are kept abreast of my circustances.  Once there is an opportunity, they will email me as I have make sincere efforts to stay in touch with them.

 Lastly, networking is all about relationship building. When you take time and efforts to build rapport with others, some will reciprocate in return. When you give out of yourself unselfishly, the returns will flow back to you eventually.

 There is often in people to whom ‘the worst” has happened an almost transcendent freedom, for they have faced “the worst” and survived it. Carol Pearson

This article first appeared here in Aug 09.

Bankruptcy Option For The Unemployed

Written By: Gilbert Goh

Should one consider bankruptcy when he  is unemployed and facing massive financial debts? Unless the retrenched has strong financial reserves or have learn to spend prudently before he goes jobless, this is one option that the unemployed  will consider when press against the wall by creditors.

One of the key backlash of unemployment  is financial distress. Bills are often left unpaid and non payment of big ticket items like mortgages and credit cards invite adverse  legal consequences. There is simply no income coming in when one is jobless and it is not surprising that we see  a spike of  bankrupt cases during an  economic crisis.  There are relatively few options to choose from when one owes the bank here.

In Singapore, one can be made bankrupt if his credit debts exceed  $10,000.  Being a bankrupt here is troublesome as he could not open a savings account and his career options are also limited for certain industries  such as in the  banking and finance sector. He also has no access to any other bank loans limiting his option for any future housing purchase.

Even though he may later pay off his owed debts during bankruptcy and discharged as a bankrupt, his tarnished record is still locked in with the Credit Bureau for many more years.  The Bankruptcy Act kept changing over the years and it may be good to check out with the Credit Bureau to find  out any other alternatives besides going the bankruptcy route.

Credit Bureau

It is easier now for   a bankrupt to discharge oneself out of bankruptcy and many have benefitted from new  business-related bankruptcy law.  In a drive to persuade more Singaporeans to be entreprenurial,  banks are encouraged to be more forgiving of debts related to business failure than personal overspending.

More importantly, the Credit Bureau   has  perform the mediation role remarkably well negotiating between the creditor and the debtor. They will try to iron out a viable option for repayment and many people have benefitted from their service. Simply call out a financial advisor from the bureau and they will do the rest. Moreover, their services are free of charge.

Nevertheless, no one wants to be a bankrupt unless he has no further alternatives. Bankruptcy is often a shameful option that most Singaporeans do not want to associate with. They would rather borrow and owe loan sharks than  the banks and be made a bankrupt.  On the other hand, I have met bankrupted friends who live life as normal as before.  Some also get to travel out of the country after lodging their travel request with the relevant ministry. One I heard even work abroad for close to 2 years as an undischarged bankrupt.  To be a bankrupt  is  not as bad as one thinks. It is not the end of the world.

Overspending and Undersaving

Personally, I am known to be a spendthrift and have never learn to save much when I started to work. The only time that I saved up was when I needed money to get married with my wife. I saved five hundred dollars a month in the now-defunct POSB Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE) account and managed to accumulate close to $15,000 in the savings account. Nevertheless, the habit never took off after my marriage and I spent like there is no tomorrow.

I have two credit facilities – a $5,000 credit card and a $11,000 overdraft facility which I kept to this present day. I guess in Singapore one can never run away from spending beyond one’s means – that is we revolve ourselves around credit facilities. We live in our home using the loan taken from the bank. The same goes for our car, education and holiday. How much loan one takes is very personal and each has their own threshold of comfort in how much they want to owe the bank. Just remember that if you can’t pay the bank consistently, one will get into all sorts of legal trouble which is common knowledge for all by now. In fact, during a recession, more people will pile up their debts as they run into all kids of problems. This not only increase their stress level but the threat of bankruptcy may even loom for some. Most banks will sadly remove their umbrella when the rain storm arrives.

I was nearly made a bankrupt when I ignored my credit card bills for a few months during that period. The situation was so bad that you would not bother whether the banks will made you a bankrupt or not. Apathy sets in and I played a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with the banker. Fortunately, wisdom prevailed before they went to the court to file for bankruptcy proveedings against me and I managed to pay off an agreed amount so that they will let me off. Bankruptcy brings forth a lot of inconveniences to one’s life chief of which concern re-employment as certain industries will not consider bankrupts as their employees. The financial sector is one such industry. Moreover, you will not be able to get any housing loan in future and this may inconvenience you if you want to buy a house when times get better for you.

Spending On Credit

So if possible, pay off your credit card debts entirely or at least the minimal sum monthly so that your credit worthiness is still intact. It is important if you want to buy house and borrow from the bank.

For me, I would pay the minimal sum every month and roll the balances over the next month. I know that this is not ideal but I have no choice as I do not have the money to pay off one lump sum. I believe many people out there belong to this category and trust me this is financially imprudent. The credit card interest of 24% a year is astronomical and can only be surpassed by those illegal loan shark in the open market.

When I was unemployed, those credit facilities landed me in a lot of trouble as I could not handle the monthly repayment without defaulting occasionally. There was the occasional lawyer’s letters to pay up or else. Banks have the usual habit of only seeking legal recourse when a customer defaulted on the repayment schedule which does not help the consumers much. What they can do is to seek a win-win situation when the consumers can pay within his means (paying the interest only) and the bank can still revert back to the usual repayment mode when the person is gainfully employed. I have seen people made bankrupt by payment defaults on credit facilities of less than $10,000 which I think can be avoided. More can be done to minimize bankruptcies as it is not ideal solution for all. It stressed up a lot of people resulting in some having to lose their job due to their industrial requirement that no bankrupt is allowed as employees especially for those in the banking industry.

Financial Over Commitment

Personally, we made  the financial mistake  of committing ourselves to a private house when we returned from overseas in 2000. I was also not working then. The house that we bought was about ten percent below the prevailing market valuation. We took out a mortgage of around $350,000 payable over 25 years. Repayment was around $2000 but rose to $2,500 when interest rate spiked few years later. We also paid around $300.00 monthly interest to service a $5,000 credit card and another $11,000 for an overdraft loan. Total interest payable per month – $2,400 and per year is $30,000! How financial silly can one get?

Yet tens of thousands of Singaporeans queue up to get that bank loan or credit card. We can actually retire comfortably on the interest payable every year. The morale of the story here is to spend within one’s means and if necessary take a loan that will not be too huge for one to repay. Some may not feel the pinch as many people fork it out from their CPF account but when you sell your house, the interest payable for your loan amount will be either deducted from your cash deposit on the house or your CPF savings.

This actually happened to us as we sold off our private home the same price that we bought it – $660,000 but due to the interest incurred for 5 years on our mortgage loan, our cash deposit of around $140,000, that we paid upfront, was reduced to zero.

When people buy a house, they only want to know whether the loan is approved and how much they have to pay every month. Nothing is enquired on whether there is any pre matured termination charge of the loan when they seek refinancing or when they sell their house. The amount can be a few thousand dollars and if the bank can absorb it you can save the sum for rainy days.

Spending Beyond Our Means

When we started out after coming back from abroad, on the safe side, we decided to set aside about $40,000 in our CPF ordinary account in case the worse scenario happened. The worse scenario did happened and after about 3 ½ years, my CPF was all gone after deduction for the house mortgage loan and the situation was not helped by my low income immediately after 20 months of unemployment. It was fortunate that I have some shares in my CPF Investment account and I have to sell them at a loss to buy the mortgage loan.

I believe that we will be financially better off if we have sticked to a more conservative housing from the HDB resale market. Besides having to pay a sizeable repayment amount monthly to the bank, we also need to pay maintenance of $600 per quarter on top of the annual property tax. It was a big financial mistake on my part and I learned a valuable lesson not to be overly confident about the employment market and my own employability competence.

Later, to add on to a very dicey situation, we also received a letter from the bank’s lawyer after two months of repayment default during one very difficult period. I was also rocked by my ATM bank balance showing a miserly figure of only $20.00. How low can you get?

Pleasant Experience With Banker

I decided to initiate a meeting with the bank to find out more on what can be done to minimize the damage. It will be very messy for all if there was a foreclosure on the house. There is not only the possible hefty loss in a very weak property market but also the effect of shame and loss of esteem for my family.

The lawyer that we met was very understanding and we worked out a repayment scheme for a limited period whereby we only need to pay the loan interest less the principal. It was only then that I realized that for every $2,500 that we paid monthly to the bank, only less than $500 was used to pay off the loan principal! After paying for five years, our loan principal of $350,000 was only reduced by only $30,000 to $320,000. The rest of the money went to pay off the hefty interest! We would have have paid close to $700,000 in total after 25 years on a loan of $350,000. How foolish and financially imprudent can one get?

The bank was at least understanding to our predicament and to this day I am thankful for their endeavour to help us during that dark period. They never remove their umbrella during those rainy days as rumoured by many who had very bad run-in with their bankers. So if the bank’s lawyer letter came, don’t avoid them – seek them out and try to work out a solution. It may even save your home from eventual foreclosure. The limited soft payment period may provide you precious time to tide through those difficult period. So never run away from the banker.

We have since sold off the apartment at exactly the same price that we bought it five years ago. Nevertheless, due to the bank interest, technically we lost close to $150,000 for the apartment. We took it well as it was like a rental that we have to pay for five years of residence there. We have since bought a resale HDB maisonnette fully paid for by our CPF funds without taking a loan from the bank. Five years of nightmarish repayment fattening the bank’s after-tax profits have make us realized that it was financially imprudent to go through the same mistake again.

The lesson to learn here is not to avoid the banker especially if the lawyer’s letter is issued. Face up to the bank’s lawyer and if possible go prepared with a repayment plan that you feel confident that you can work on for a limited period. Banks are not so merciless as alleged and they are equally fearful that the customer will declare bankrupt and they will not get back the full loan anymore. If feasible, they will also want to help the client tide through a difficult period. The umbrella is there only if we want to reach out for it.

Low debts The Solution

Also, learn to keep our debts as low as possible. Too many people are living in too much debts now – they took loans for housing, car, education, holiday, etc that once we are out of work, our debts will collapse on us. Since that very bad experience with our private apartment’s mortgage loan, we have not taken any huge loan yet and prefer to pay off our purchases with cash in our account. Our recent HDB resale flat was also fully paid up with our CPF savings incurring zero debt which we are very proud. This is the first time that we purchase our property without taking out any loan from the bank.

Thus,  the decision to  choose bankruptcy is frankly a very personal one. Some may decide to go this way as there is no other alternatives. Others will try to avoid it like the plague and fight it. Whichever way you choose to settle your financial debts,  bear in mind the consequences and then move on.  Never look back and regret what you have decide. Life is too short for regrets.

Living simply and within our means should also be our motto from now on.

The ordinary person takes everything as a blessing or a curse. A warrior takes everything as a challenge. Carlos Casteneda

WHAT CPF SAYS

‘To date, two financial advisory firms with exceptionally high turnover percentages have been banned by investment platform administrators like iFast and Navigator from performing any CPF Investment Scheme transactions.

‘And in the last two years, the CPF Board has received 13 complaints from members who claimed there were unauthorised transactions performed under their CPF accounts by financial advisers.

‘Of the 13 complaints, six have been resolved upon investigation by the board, with members either having their principal investment amount or cash rebates reinstated.

‘For the remaining seven cases, two were closed due to lack of evidence, four were subsequently dropped by members and one is pending police investigation.’

DESPITE signs of a turnaround in the job market, university graduates are no better off.

In fact, more of them are without jobs and taking longer to land a job, according to revised official figures released yesterday.

Part of the reason is that they often tend to seek jobs that pay close to what they used to earn, said MP Josephine Teo, who is also assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.

However, economists interviewed foresee their lot improving in the new year, when growth is expected to hit 5.5 per cent, according to a recent poll of 20 private-sector economists by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Meanwhile, the labour market in the third quarter, following Singapore’s exit from recession, shows ‘encouraging signs of a turnaround’, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

The revised figures show more jobs were added, fewer people were laid off and there were more vacancies between June and September.

In all, employment grew by 14,000, offsetting the 13,900 jobs lost in the first half of this year. Still, the resident unemployment rate among Singaporeans and permanent residents hit 5 per cent, a five-year high.

Also, more residents, regardless of their education level, are taking beyond six months to get a job.

Known technically as the long-term unemployed, their numbers have doubled, from 9,600 in the third quarter last year to 18,400 in September this year.

Worst off are university graduates. Their numbers have swelled from 1,600 to 4,700, which works out to one in four of these unemployeds.

It is the same story in other areas.

Degree-holders form more than one-third of workers made redundant, either retrenched or released prematurely from their contracts. They form 36 per cent of the 2,470 workers made redundant, although they make up only 27 per cent of Singapore’s workforce of two million.

It is a similar situation with the re-hiring of laid-off residents. Though this re-employment rate rose for workers at all educational levels, the rate for graduates remains the lowest, at 44.4 per cent.

It was the same case in the second quarter, when it was 39.3 per cent.

MP Josephine Teo said graduates tend to hold jobs, such as supervisors, which are the first to be chopped in a downturn.

She also said retrenched graduates typically take longer to find jobs because they have savings to fall back on and look for work that pays almost as much as their previous job.

Graduate Chris Lim seems to fit the mould. The 31-year-old has been jobless since she quit her marketing job in a bank in June last year. She had wanted a similar job in the service industry but the economic crisis has made it tough.

Said the business administration graduate: ‘I’ve had a few job offers but I rejected them because they weren’t suitable. I’m not super desperate because I have some savings.’

She is working part-time as a receptionist and is hopeful because headhunters are calling her more often now.

MOM, in its statement, said organisations and jobseekers should not be discouraged by the slight rise in the unemployment rate to 3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters. It also pointed out the 5 per cent resident unemployment rate is below the record 6.2 per cent in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.

Economists say the peculiar situation of jobs growth coupled with high unemployment is a result of more residents entering the job market as the economy improves.

Singapore, which came out of recession at the end of June, grew by 14.2 per cent in the third quarter,

Also, the rise in the unemployment rate could be due to a mismatch between skills and jobs.

Economist Tan Khee Giap expects the resident jobless rate to fall by next June.

But there is a need to shorten the time the jobless take to find work, he added.

Ms Heather Chua of hiring firm Kelly Services noted that 50 per cent of residents retrenched in the second quarter found work in the third quarter.

‘This is a strong indication more companies are positioning themselves to prepare for the nascent recovery,’ she said.

However, MOM’s Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan, noted that the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.

He said: ‘The Government remains focused on job creation and training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as possible.’

kianbeng@sph.com.sg