Not Good Enough
My mum asked me today why I have not landed a job yet. It has been 4 months since I got squeezed out from being a Teacher due to various reasons and I am still very much unemployed. I told my mum that the reality in Singapore is as such:
1) Her son, me, does not have a Degree with Honors
2) Most companies only want degree holders who graduated with Honors
3) None of the big companies would take me because they are very clear in their advertisements, Good Degree (which is the same as at least a Second Lower Honors Degree) or Honors Degree (Which means only First Class Honors need apply)
4) None of the smaller companies would want me because I have no or little RELEVANT experience and will cost more than a Fresh Graduate
5) When you work in the Private Sector, especially the Engineering sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NUS graduates
6) Similarly, in the Public Sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NTU graduates, Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count
7) Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count because they are the only branches of the Public Sector who employ graduates of any background or ranking for their Front-Line Officers
8) Similarly, like point (6) you will be hard pressed to find any non-Honors graduate (NUS, NTU or SMU) among their Executive or Non-Uniformed Personnels
9) If you do find any non-Honors graduates among the Public Sector employees who have joined within the recent 5 to 10 years, chances are they are more likely than not to be graduates of NUS
10) The worse kind of person to be unemployed are former Public Sector employees, meaning rank-and-file and non-Management Executives only, as the Private Sector would deem them "tainted" due to the perception of breaking the supposed "iron-rice bowl" hangs largely over their head
11) The emphasis on Honors Degree is simply over-rated and is a source of amusement to many European countries
12) Non-honors Degree holders are just as good and some have even better work ethics
13) 9 out of 10 low application jobs on any of the local job employment websites have a common term, SALES
14) I can sell a theory (why things need to be done), I can sell a lesson (class lesson in maths) but I cannot sell any product, tangible or non-tangible
15) Although I am trained as an Engineer, I am lousy as an Engineer and my forte is towards Administration and Coordination of non-technical(engineering) aspects of any projects, returning to Engineering is not an option
16) Engineering is not an option anyway as they were the biggest bleeders for this year and the last
17) The economy is not doing as well as everyone claims. Even if it is picking up, job opportunities do not correspond accordingly
Naturally I have not been sitting on my hands and doing nothing
1) I have been sending applications out everyday
2) I have even visited employment agencies but it is just another case of the final employer putting up another filter
3) I have been asking for salaries comparable or even lower to a fresh graduate although I am able to command more
4) 786 applications to date and only 3 interviews
5) One company even asked me to drop my asking rate to below that of a poly-grad because I do not have a relevant lower-educational level certificate
6) I will continue applying and hope that somebody will break it into their head that there are not as many Honors graduates in Singapore as they think and non-Honors graduates are just as good if not better
1) Her son, me, does not have a Degree with Honors
2) Most companies only want degree holders who graduated with Honors
3) None of the big companies would take me because they are very clear in their advertisements, Good Degree (which is the same as at least a Second Lower Honors Degree) or Honors Degree (Which means only First Class Honors need apply)
4) None of the smaller companies would want me because I have no or little RELEVANT experience and will cost more than a Fresh Graduate
5) When you work in the Private Sector, especially the Engineering sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NUS graduates
6) Similarly, in the Public Sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NTU graduates, Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count
7) Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count because they are the only branches of the Public Sector who employ graduates of any background or ranking for their Front-Line Officers
8) Similarly, like point (6) you will be hard pressed to find any non-Honors graduate (NUS, NTU or SMU) among their Executive or Non-Uniformed Personnels
9) If you do find any non-Honors graduates among the Public Sector employees who have joined within the recent 5 to 10 years, chances are they are more likely than not to be graduates of NUS
10) The worse kind of person to be unemployed are former Public Sector employees, meaning rank-and-file and non-Management Executives only, as the Private Sector would deem them "tainted" due to the perception of breaking the supposed "iron-rice bowl" hangs largely over their head
11) The emphasis on Honors Degree is simply over-rated and is a source of amusement to many European countries
12) Non-honors Degree holders are just as good and some have even better work ethics
13) 9 out of 10 low application jobs on any of the local job employment websites have a common term, SALES
14) I can sell a theory (why things need to be done), I can sell a lesson (class lesson in maths) but I cannot sell any product, tangible or non-tangible
15) Although I am trained as an Engineer, I am lousy as an Engineer and my forte is towards Administration and Coordination of non-technical(engineering) aspects of any projects, returning to Engineering is not an option
16) Engineering is not an option anyway as they were the biggest bleeders for this year and the last
17) The economy is not doing as well as everyone claims. Even if it is picking up, job opportunities do not correspond accordingly
Naturally I have not been sitting on my hands and doing nothing
1) I have been sending applications out everyday
2) I have even visited employment agencies but it is just another case of the final employer putting up another filter
3) I have been asking for salaries comparable or even lower to a fresh graduate although I am able to command more
4) 786 applications to date and only 3 interviews
5) One company even asked me to drop my asking rate to below that of a poly-grad because I do not have a relevant lower-educational level certificate
6) I will continue applying and hope that somebody will break it into their head that there are not as many Honors graduates in Singapore as they think and non-Honors graduates are just as good if not better
posted by Prosage at 9:31 pm
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