Letter to the Editor | Our university graduates should look for jobs in the manufacturing and machinery sector

Dear Editor,

I refer to The Independent Singapore’s featured news below:

1. NUS Computer Science grad yet to land job despite sending hundreds of applications (June 13),
2. Nearly 70% of college graduates think it is difficult to land a job this year: Survey (June 7)
3. Job hiring optimism in Singapore declines for 3 consecutive quarters (June 12).

Usually, there are several factors, namely macroeconomic order, micro landscape and domestic environment, and individual conditions affecting employment.

In the Asia Pacific region, only China and India can achieve good GDP growth between 4.5% and 8.2%, respectively.

Simultaneously, The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on 23 May that Singapore’s GDP growth forecast for 2024 has been maintained at “1.0 to 3.0 per cent”. This has shown that Singapore has kept a stable pace of economic growth.

Our university graduates should seriously look for various jobs in the manufacturing and machinery sector, contributing 20% -25% of the country’s annual GDP.

Further, they can also consider attractive job offers in financial services, logistics and transport engineering.

On an individual note, each individual graduate (regardless of which discipline of study) should be mentally prepared for acute job competitions. This is especially so in this open global employment market.

Potential employers also choose the right candidate based on their preferred choices.

For example, the right candidate matches the job’s pre-requisite requirements – academic qualifications, job skills and experiences, individual character, personality, attitudes and social interaction traits.

Hence, while pursuing a university degree and before graduation, each graduate should prepare for whatever employment challenges arise, such as job hunting, interviewing, negotiating, or advocating for a reasonably expected salary and the chosen job once you are employed.

Teo Kueh Liang

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Independent Singapore

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