A rite of passage into the workforce: Job search

After my eventful time in South Korea, and since my mother is well on the road of recovery. it's time to sit down and begin the next stage of my life - settling down as a working adult with a desk bound job.

Gosh, how I hate the sound of this. How dreary can it get? 20 years down the road, I'll still going the same thing and going through the same routine. But this is a rite of passage every human have to go through, me included. Doesn't mean I have to like it... And face it, nobody likes job hunting

The uncertainty, the stress, the extra work, etc. Who likes job searching?

You would think that, with the economic upturn Singapore is facing, there would be a demand for labor. There is.Here in Singapore, there's a huge demand for EXPERIENCED labor, never mind what industry or function one was from. As long as one has WORKING experience and his/her character is a fit with the organizational culture, one can be guaranteed employment.


Where does that leave fresh graduates? Nowhere.

NOBODY wants to hire fresh graduates.

Which i think is ludicrous, because there is a pool of untapped potential out there and nobody wants to be the first to tap into it. Oh yeah, except for the sales function, that is. The one area desperately in need of manpower and that everybody, including most fresh graduates, desperately try to avoid.

I'm desperate enough to accept a sales job, despite the fact that I can't sell, even if i were to use money as an incentive...

Anyway, from my job hunting experience, I've come to realize a few thing:

# 1 Networking is very important. 

I just can't stress how important it is. Often companies will call you up for interviews based on reccommendations or referrals. And often, whether you get accepted on a permanent or contractual basis also depends on your network. Based on information gathered from my circle of friends and acquaintances, one has a way higher chance of being employed as a permanent staff if one was 'vouched for', compared to if one was employed via a recruitment agency. So job hunting isn't just an individual effort. It takes a considerable amount of effort from your surrounding friends as well.

#2 Go for all interviews. 

Any interviews, even if it's jobs you are not interested in. Just apply and hear the interviewers out. You never know if the job might interest you. In the worse case, you can still get some interviewing experience out of it. And this will definitely help a lot when you're finally interviewing for your 'dream job' (I don't believe in dream jobs. Job = work. If you have to work, it means you're not enjoying and that contradicts the meaning of Dream altogether.).

#3 It takes a bloody hell lot of time. 

A friend of mine took 5 months to find a job and even then, he was recommended by a friend for that job (you see how important networking is!). So be patient, take up some courses to upgrade certain skills. If not for my mother's condition, I would have applied to learn driving.

#4 It isn't really about plain intelligence anymore. 

Although they do play a part in getting you that interview, your school results are not the only factor that is taken into consideration, nor are your sports achievements / CCA records, when it comes to the actual hiring. According to a report by Forbes, What matters too are emotional intelligence, moral intelligence and even body intelligence (http://www.forbes.com/sites/keldjensen/2012/04/12/intelligence-is-overrated-what-you-really-need-to-succeed/). Therefore...

#5 BRANDING IS VERY IMPORTANT! 

Logic and common sense both dictates that since it's the employers who are hiring (and paying the $$), therefore, they'll want to hire employees that fit into the company. So, for us potential employees, what matters is how we portray that image of fitting into that company - whether we have the values, beliefs, personality that they are looking for. But said image should be a blend of the values that the company is looking for and the values we possess. I.e... It's useless to 'wear shoes that are ill-fitting' or be a person whom we can't be. It really won't end well for both parties.


SO yeah. I'm not exactly a good source to learn from though. Up til now, I still have not yet gotten a job, although that might change in the few weeks to come. Keeping fingers crossed!

P.S. I've started posting up blogs posts about South Korea as chronologically accurate as possible so scroll forward, starting from end August 2012. Stay tuned for more!

I declare this blog REVIVED!

Heellloo~~~

It's good to be back! In the blink of an eye, I find my self vanishing from my blog for close to 2 years. Why is that, you ask? Well, firstly, it's all thanks to Blogspot immigrating to Google Account! Being the noob in technology that I am, I had trouble shifting my HOTMAIL account to a Google Account! Emailing Google Helpdesk is a fruitless effort. I have greater success in my job search.

Then today, on a whim, two long years after Blogspot and Google merged, I decided to try my luck and check if my blog is still around in the virtual world.

IT IS STILL ALIVE!! AND UNSPOILED! IN PRISTINE CONDITION!

And to top it off, I received comments while being MIA. What are the odds?!

This spurred my decision to restart my blogging activities. YESSIR!

Filled with a burning motivation, I forced myself to navigate past mind bloggling Google password reactivation programs and cracked my brain in order to recall my old Hotmail Password.

Finally, after 15 minutes of hard mental work, I AM BACK!

In the past 2 years, my life is a literal roller coaster ride. My father passed away, I went to South Korea on a student exchange, I was in the down and out thanks to job searching in SG. All shall be revealed in the time soon to come. However, such events shall be dated chronologically. Don't be surprised if you see posts dated in the past. ;)

Wait for it, ladies and gentlemen! And you shall see the good, the bad and the downright ugly!

Cheers!

P.S Looking back on my previous posts, I just realized how bad my English was. I shall have to do a revision soon. >__<

The Mishaps of Chinese New Year

I love Chinese New Year. Who doesn't? One can get lots of red packets, eat lots of CNY goodies and snacks, catch up with long lost relatives, and gamble a bit with cousins.

Uh... On second thoughts, never mind that question. I can think of at least 3 (big) groups of people who won't like CNY - The Singles, the married couples, and the ones on diet. I can sympathize with them. CNY is also the period when one have to face the Horror Interrogation by nosy relatives.

For the Singles, it goes like this:

#1 - Got boyfriend / Girlfriend or not? (Are you in a relationship?)
  If no,
#2A - How come no girlfriend/boyfriend? (Why aren't you in a relationship?)
If Yes,
#2 - When getting married? (When are you tying the knot with your other half?)

 Likewise, married couples have to face this drill too.

#3 - How come no kids? (Why don't you want any children?)  

But thankfully, for them, married couples are drilled less extensively by Nosy relatives.This is offset by the fact that they have to give the red packets. Nosy relatives stop their drilling only when one fulfills the criteria of (a) getting married, (b) having kids. But by then, said person would have joined the club of Nosy Relatives. ... Pretty sure that this is not a good thing... 


Well, regardless of the general sentiments about CNY, I like CNY well enough, since I always manage to deflect the Horror Question(s).It's easy, really. Everytime #1 starts, just answer with 'Don't have. I'll let fate decide." It shuts the Nosy Parkers right up! The free cash + food also gets me emjoying this festival every single year.

Pity the same didn't happen this year.

On the 3rd day of Lunar CNY (i'll leave you geniuses to work out the exact date), just when my family and I were heading out to have a family lunch with all our relatives, my mother had a fall.

We all know how detrimental falls can be to old folks. I blame the accursed rainy Singaporean weather and the uneven infrastructure of my neighborhood. My mother suffered a clean fracture of her left femoral bone, close to her hip. Added to that, the doctors in the hospital discovered a hairline fracture in her right femoral bone. She will have to be wheelchair-bound for the whole of her recovery period.

By the time admission procedures for her were completed, it was 6 pm. Both my brother and I dragged our exhausted bodies back home, emotionally and mentally drained by the long wait and nervousness over her condition.

On the first day of CNY, I had an epic gastric attack that got me nearly warded into the hospital, and was only allowed a light and bland diet (during CNY! WTH!!). On the 3rd day, my mother had a fall and fractured her legs.

I seriously feel like throwing a rock up at the sky and railing at the God(s) above about the unfairness of my life but knowing my luck, I'll be surprised if it doesn't fall back down and smack me right on the head.

I can't believe it. After months of planning, I'm finally leaving for South Korea tonight. Everything is packed. paperwork is settled and I've concluded my Judo training for now. Goodbyes have been said, tears have been spilled and promises made.

I'm kidding for the last part. No tears were spilled nor promises made. My mother didn't even send me off at the airport but that can't be helped. My brother is away on a company trip and she is still recovering from sickness.

I'm taking the night flight with JL. ZL has already left the night before. I'm starting to get really excited at the thought of 5 months living in a completely foreign country. As you guys know, this isn't the first time I'm going to live overseas. My first trip overseas was to Thailand 2 years ago. That was an eye opener, literally, and I've no doubts it'll be the same this time around.

Yoo Hoo! Korea! The land of Kpop and Kimchi, where the Hallyu wave originates and plastic surgery are abound. I've spend my free time researching about the land that's going to be my home for 5 months - the food, the culture, the places of interests - and I can't wait to find out what's true and what's false. Haha. Even though I'm using Korea as a stepping stone to go to Japan, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in my (temporary) country of residence.

Yeap, Korea, Here I come!