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Student asks, “How common is it for S’poreans to venture into different field from what they had studied?”

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SINGAPORE: Curious about career progression, a student asked on social media, “How common it was for Singaporeans to venture into a completely different field from what they had studied.”

“How often do people end up successfully changing industries and doing smth completely unrelated to what they had studied? eg studied engineering but is now doing auditing as a job. If so, how long upon graduation did they switch industries? and how did they do it since they don’t have any degree/certs (related to the field) to back them up?” the student asked on r/askSingapore on Monday (March 4).

The student also disclosed the reason for his inquiry, stating he’s not sure where he’s headed career-wise. He admitted feeling overwhelmed by the pressure of selecting a degree or course, as he was still unsure of his goals.

Additionally, he confessed to being fearful of choosing a course he might dislike and finding himself trapped without an alternative path forward.

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Singaporeans say ‘it’s extremely common’

Singaporean Redditors stated that it is extremely common for people nowadays to pursue a career completely unrelated to their degrees.

One individual said, “Extremely common. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed now. If it helps, the job that you’ll eventually be doing 20 years from now, may not even exist now.

Who knew what a prompt engineer was 10 years ago? Pick something that interests you. There’s no wrong decision.”

Another commented, “Very common among those who studied social sciences, e.g., not all psychology students end up being psychologists. The key is to sell your transferable skills.”

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To further ease the student’s anxieties, an individual shared that 85% of his peers in the hospitality field had moved on to other industries, with some going on to work in “sales, L&D, recruiter, customer experience.”

He added, “I personally went into sustainability, and I knew I wanted to switch right after graduating (I discovered my interest during uni).”

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On the other hand, a few Redditors argued that some people couldn’t switch careers and had found themselves trapped in unsatisfactory career paths.

They explained that changing careers typically entails starting over, possibly with an entry-level salary, which may not be feasible for everyone due to financial obligations for family, property, education, and eldercare.

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In related news, an exhausted staff nurse took to social media earlier this year to ask her fellow Singaporeans how to switch jobs.

“Before anyone says that I might be feeling this way because I’m exhausted, I’ve been wanting to change jobs ever since I’ve joined just that I’m not sure what I want to do,” the staff nurse wrote on NUSWhispers.

Read more: Exhausted staff nurse seeks help on how to switch jobs

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