Man who’s been job searching for 10 months says “My mental health is the poorest it’s ever been and I struggle to go on”

SINGAPORE: Not finding a job can strike a blow to someone’s confidence, and a Reddit user went online to crowdsource advice for coping with joblessness.

“I wasn’t able to secure a job before graduation and now I’m paying the price, as my search approaches its 10th month my mental health is the poorest it’s ever been and I struggle to go on,” wrote u/Ill-Cry-825 on Sept 16 (Saturday) on r/askSingapore.

He acknowledged that he shouldn’t compare himself with other fresh graduates but feels like a failure nevertheless.

“Am I gonna be jobless even an entire year after I graduated? Two years? Or maybe stuck working with conniving bosses who take advantage of my inexperience, already had some run-ins with that. Maybe the rest of my life will just be a string of more failures, building up on one another as I fall further and further behind. How can I cope with these thoughts?” he added.

Fortunately, many commenters offered him encouragement and advice.

“What you can do: Network network network. Not even for specific jobs but talk to people, find out what they’re doing, and sometimes it lands you an opportunity. It helps you to find an interest instead of just trying to fit in somewhere, then realizing it’s a soul sucking job you hate,” wrote one.

A fellow Reddit user even offered him a potential job lead.

“Don’t let your job status define you or change your outlook in life. Take care of yourself, go exercise and continue to take courses to improve your situation (Coursera, LinkedIn Learning are relatively low cost). Do a review on your fashion sense, how you are presenting yourself and what do you wear to an interview. Small little things matter,” wrote another.

One suggested that he “try freelance remote work. US and AU has been offshoring jobs to Asian countries. In terms of WLB maybe UK assignments as not a total time zone opposite. At least you wont be vacant as you are gaining overseas experience.”

“It’s tough to graduate in an economic downturn. I graduated in 1998 and only found a job in Nov 1999 so I feel you. Survive doing tuition for that 1.5 years. What you need to do is to look for jobs in industries that are still looking to add ie: healthcare (public hospitals), transport (SBS Transit, SMRT), port operations (PSA Corporation). Worst case join MOE or sign on home team. These are non glamorous industries people normally won’t consider cos it involves shift duties. Give it a try,” a commenter suggested.

/TISG

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