SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old fresh grad recently shared on social media that it’s “hard to get a job these days—even with a degree”.
Posting on Reddit’s Ask Singapore forum on Wednesday (April 16), she wrote, “I recently graduated literally four days ago and even before then, I’ve been job hunting, and yet I’ve got nothing to show for it.
“It’s so painfully depressing that even entry-level or fresh grad jobs are somehow still too hard to get, even with a degree, and now I’m working on a cert to boost it. I always hear ‘job market has been bad,’ but like.. is it getting even worse?”
She then asked the locals, “How likely can I get a full-time job (not F&B, unfortunately, family issues with it) that’s related to my degree or even my diploma? (Business Info Systems degree, Game Design Diploma).”
“The job market has been pretty rough lately.”
Her post resonated with other young Singaporeans who also feel stuck in a cycle of applying and hearing nothing back. One individual shared her own experience, writing, “I feel you on this! I’ve recently graduated too and have been on this job hunt cycle in tech since January or February. Some companies take more than a month to get a response from, and I’ve been told it’s considered normal to take up to one whole year to find a job which kind of sucks.”
Another commented, “Yes, the job market has been bad and is getting worse. Many companies are freezing hiring. Several of them keep openings listed because they do not want to spook their investors.”
A third wrote, “The job market has been pretty rough lately — it took me about four months to land a role after graduation. So if things are moving slowly for you, that’s totally normal.”
Others, however, stepped in to offer advice on how she could better navigate the current job market. Some told her to start by polishing her resume, ensuring that it clearly highlights her skills, qualifications, and experience, and setting up a LinkedIn profile to connect with people in her industry, former classmates, or alumni.
In addition, several others encouraged her to reach out to her former internship mentors or supervisors. They pointed out that since they had already worked with her, they might be able to refer her for job openings or even help her secure interviews in their companies.
One individual added, “Do some small projects to gain a better understanding of IT, and with that, you can showcase them during interviews. This will put you ahead of other candidates. It’s best if you can describe what you did clearly, or if you’re into coding, a brief showcase of your code would also be helpful.”
In other news, a woman, who’s still adjusting to her new role as a mum, vented on social media about how “some aunties” have shamed her for using the hybrid policy and working from home on some days.
In a post on the NUSWhispers Facebook page, the woman said that these aunties are “now approaching retirement” and refuse to work from home, despite having the option to.
She explained, “They love to come to the office daily, and to make it worse, they come in way before the official start time and leave way after the official end time. Even though the company has a hybrid work policy, they don’t want to WFH and they make you look bad for wanting to work from home. Like, please, the birth rate is already so damn low.”
