‘6 months, 250 applications, and still no job’: Local says ‘he’s getting really tired’ from job hunting

SINGAPORE: Desperate to leave his current job, one frustrated employee revealed that he has been relentlessly searching for a new position for the past six months. 

However, despite his efforts, he revealed in a post on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Saturday (Oct 11) that he still has not landed a role.

In his post, he explained that he has submitted nearly 250 job applications, attended about 20 interviews, and received only two offers—both of which, he admitted, were “honestly quite bad.”

Moreover, the employee shared that “running out of leave” was putting additional pressure on his job search.

“I can do this forever, but I am honestly running out of leaves. I try to schedule them after working hours so I can sneak off a little earlier to attend to them. If that fails, I try to schedule two interviews in one afternoon, so I have to only take half a day of leave,” he explained. 

“Even so, my leaves are still running out… And to be honest, I am getting really tired.”

Turning to the online community for advice, he asked fellow Redditors, “Would appreciate it if anyone could share how they are interviewing while employed? Or just share their job search story? Thanks.”

“Aim to be more selective about which interviews you take.”

His post resonated with many who understand the challenge of being trapped in a job they want to leave while dealing with the exhaustion, time constraints, and uncertainty of finding a better opportunity.

Trying to offer some helpful tips, one Singaporean Reddit user wrote, “First, I’d advise to try scheduling interviews during lunch breaks, or after work as much as possible. Schedule ‘work meetings’ and ‘afternoon breaks’. If the timeframe isn’t a constraint, aim to be more selective about which interviews you take. Ask as many administrative queries as possible upfront, and weed out those that aren’t offering what you’re looking for. Hope this helps.”

Another agreed with this, stating that the employee should “read Glassdoor reviews” or research the company culture before agreeing to interviews.

A third added, “You can take MC too, unless you’re running out of medical leave too. The number of interviews you get is actually good. Unfortunately, it is a numbers game. Just keep on applying. My friend even applied so much that Jobstreet told her to stop because she hit the limit.”

A fourth shared, “Before I found my current job, I was doing Zoom interviews at my previous workplace during lunch hours, as well as physical job interviews. My RO allowed me to go off work to attend interviews without any pay cut. My job search took about 2-3 months. It really depends on your company. My partner’s company, he had to take no-pay leave to go to interviews.”

In other news, a young woman battling an eating disorder says she was left devastated after her boyfriend, who had once urged her to eat more healthily, ended their relationship and told her with a “straight face” that she was “too fat.”

Detailing their relationship and breakup in a post on r/SGexams on Saturday (Oct 4), the woman revealed that she had a crush on her ex for four years and that they had been in the “talking stage” for two years before officially becoming a couple in February this year.

Read more: Woman with eating disorder says BF broke up with her because she was ‘too fat,’ but claims he’s the one who convinced her to eat more