Asian woman using her laptop, looks gloomy/stressed
‘Where are we supposed to get the experience?’: Singapore fresh grad frustrated after lab jobs ask for 1-2 years’ experience
SINGAPORE: Breaking into the job market can be difficult enough for fresh graduates, but some say the experience requirements attached to even entry-level roles are making it harder for them to get their first foot in the door.
Recently, a biomedical science graduate vented online after repeatedly coming across laboratory jobs asking for one to two years of experience, despite the positions being relatively junior.
“WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET THE EXPERIENCE?” she asked. “It’s a genuine question because I feel like I’m missing something here. A lot of the lab roles I’ve been looking at ask for 1-2 years of experience even for pretty junior positions. But if fresh grads aren’t considered because we don’t have experience… where exactly does year 1 come from??”
The woman, who graduated from a private university, said her school did not really provide internships.
After graduating, she wanted to build a portfolio related to her degree and gain proper hands-on laboratory experience, so she applied to laboratories, hospitals, and diagnostic companies.
She eventually landed a job “advertised along the lines of specimen reception and assistant laboratory technician,” hoping it would give her the practical experience she was looking for.
However, she said the role turned out to be very different from what she had expected.
According to her, she was assigned to do “data entry all day” and is now considering leaving because she felt the job description was very misleading.
“The funny part is the actual lab is literally right in front of me. I’m basically doing the pre-lab/admin side while watching the lab work happen 5 metres away.”
She then approached her manager and HR to ask whether she could move into vacant positions that involved actual laboratory work.
However, they turned her down and said she needed “one year of experience first.”
This statement, she wrote, left her wondering how fresh graduates are supposed to gain laboratory experience if they are not considered for positions that would allow them to acquire it.
“It just made me realise that this industry seems way more experience-based than I expected, and now I'm wondering how people actually get their foot in the door in the first place,” she said.
She added that she had applied to quite a few laboratories and hospitals but had received “mostly radio silence so far.”
With few options seemingly opening up, she asked other Singaporeans, particularly those who graduated from private universities without internships, how they managed to secure their first relevant job in biomedical or life sciences.
“How did you actually get your first relevant job? Because apparently I need experience to get experience so that I can finally acquire the experience required to get experience.”
‘Be more proactive’
In the comments, several users suggested that she consider taking up internships first to build the experience employers are looking for.
Others said she should continue applying for full-time roles anyway, as some employers might be willing to make exceptions.
One user, meanwhile, suggested that she make use of the opportunity she already has at her current workplace by seeking guidance from more experienced colleagues.
“Why do you think people spend their holidays and spare time at uni volunteering/interning in labs before they graduate? Now that you’re already in a lab, ask your colleagues if you can shadow them in your spare time to learn wet lab skills and be more proactive.”
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Another advised, “Ask a professor from your uni to write a recommendation letter on how you can suitably contribute to lab work. Worth a try.”
Some commenters, however, gave her a reality check, saying that the difficulty she was facing was simply part of entering the workforce and that experience requirements were unlikely to disappear.
One said, “[These companies] want to lowball entire workforces. Literal industries are subtly working together. These jobs you talk about, those are meant to take mid-experience unemployed but lowball them with an entry package. The fresh grads—they want you to take up internships, big brands, even unpaid.”
Another shared that they could relate to the poster’s experience, writing, “I am in the same boat as you. In fact, many of my biomedical science classmates are still jobless. Really don’t know what to do… I even put my expected salary at as low as S$2k from S$2.5k.”