New graduate employed for just 3 months says, ‘Working life is terrible!’

SINGAPORE: A young worker who has only been at their full-time job for the past three months took to Reddit to share how difficult they’re finding life at the moment. They asked others on the platform, “How do you guys do this?”

In an r/askSingapore post on Wednesday (March 11), u/yangieeeee appeared surprised that in the short time since landing a job after graduation, they are “already feeling extremely terrible”.

Their first issue concerns the number of hours involved in working full-time. Although their official work hours are only from 8 am to 6 pm, in reality, they stretch from 7 am to 8 pm daily, when travel and wash-up time are factored in.

“There’s barely enough ‘self’ time before I have to sleep so that I don’t feel and look like a zombie the next day,” the post author wrote, acknowledging that they “sound entitled” but adding that they “really can’t see myself doing this until I’m 65”.

Again, they asked how others cope with this type of working schedule.

By far, the most upvoted comment contained the following advice: “Welcome to the real world.. find a job closer to where you live or with shorter hours.”

Others pointed out, however, that this is easier said than done, but it at least appeared to open the post author’s mind to different possibilities.

Another said that if the post author does not own the property where they live, or if they still live with their parents, they can move somewhere closer to where they work.

Some Reddit users encouraged u/yangieeeee to find things to look forward to at work, such as having friends at work they can have lunch with.

“Try to exercise, eat well, and sleep sufficiently. This gives you energy to do things you enjoy out of work. Otherwise you spend weekends catching up on sleep and bed rotting time (which will perpetuate the cycle of dread),” one added.

A Reddit user who described herself as “someone who loves her job” encouraged the post author to treat this first job “like an adventure,” recognising that the first few years, when someone finds their footing at work, will be tough.

Nevertheless, adopting a “grind first” mentality will eventually pay off.

The Reddit user added: “Most of us struggled with the low pay/junior positions but it’s also an opportunity to make mistakes and explore different things. In the working world, attitude and contacts will make or break someone’s career. Learn to understand what you can live with, and what you can’t.

“Can you live with a boss who micromanages you? No? Can you work at a job that requires you to have long hours? Maybe? Can you do a job that requires a large amount of industry knowledge? Yes? Answer those questions for yourself and make your future career choices according to that. Passion, interest, good colleagues, flexible working arrangements make it so so so much easier.” /TISG

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