Man takes 6-month break after graduation to care for sick family member but is now struggling to find jobs in tough market

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man, who graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from a local university in January 2024, took to social media to open up about the challenges he’s faced since finishing school.

In his post on r/askSingapore, he shared that he had to hit pause on his job search for six months because he needed to take care of a family member who was dealing with a chronic illness.

“Thankfully, they’ve since made a full recovery, and I started applying for jobs around August,” he said.

However, he soon discovered that things were not going to get easier for him. “I’ve realized that it’s been extremely difficult to find a job, especially with the job market slowing down as we approach the year-end,” he wrote.

He also shared that he’s had to adjust his expectations. “At this point, I don’t have high expectations for finding a specific role. As long as it’s within the field of engineering, I’m open to it,” he said.

“My priority is to secure my first job and gain a foothold in the industry. From there, I can start planning for my career path, ideally toward facilities engineering. I am open to any advice.”

“Just keep looking; don’t ever stop. I believe you’ll find a job one day.”

In the discussion thread, many Redditors chimed in to offer support and advice.  One Redditor, who said they were also in the engineering field, encouraged him not to lose hope and shared a similar experience.

They wrote, “I had the same situation as you. I finished my studies in Dec 2019, but my dog fell very sick and couldn’t walk, so I decided to not look for a job to take care of him full time until August 2020, when he passed away. Covid also happened during that time; the job market was bad. I was lucky that I found a company that understood my situation, and they offered me a job.

“Just keep looking; don’t ever stop. I believe you’ll find a job one day. Best of luck.”

Another suggested considering temporary or contract roles as a way to build experience and get a foot in the door. They said, “Don’t restrict yourself if there’s no opening. Take up internship/part-time assistant roles so you can learn something.”

Several Redditors also offered advice on where to look for job opportunities. One said, “Try shift jobs at semiconductor fabs, which are unpopular with Singaporean engineering graduates because the hours are generally not convenient. They take in electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering fresh graduates.”

Another suggested, “Try manufacturing engineer roles; they are always in need of engineers.”

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