SINGAPORE: A Malaysian student who’s set to graduate from one of Singapore’s local universities in about a month and a half has taken to Reddit to ask for some tips on job searching.
Posting on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Thursday (Apr 10), he shared that despite sending out “hundreds of job applications since August 2024″, he’s only been invited to four interviews — all of which ended in rejection.
“As I am Malaysian (not PR), I have taken a tuition bond, and I need to work three years in Singapore to fulfil the bond,” he continued. “As I’m getting closer to graduating but still yet to find a job, I’m starting to get really anxious. Any advice, please? I’m desperate.”
“Even Singaporean graduates have a hard time finding a job.”
In the comments, one Singaporean Redditor suggested that the student start by reaching out to the companies where he previously interned as they might be more open to hiring him or referring him elsewhere since they are already familiar with his work ethics and capabilities.
The Redditor also emphasised the importance of networking, noting that connections can often play a key role in the job search process. They said, “Hope you didn’t focus all your time on studies and have a decent LinkedIn account and also hope you’re friends with all of your colleagues.”
“Reach out to every single one. You’ll be surprised by who has the connections… yes, sometimes it that sotong who has the leads. That’s how they get their job. That’s why you should be nice to everyone.”
Another Redditor commented, “Are you only sending applications to tech jobs? If so, it’s very normal to not get any callbacks because it’s an employer’s market now. Expand your search a bit to traditional engineering jobs and you might have better luck. A job at hand is still better than no job.”
“Even Singaporean graduates have a hard time finding a job. Just grab whatever you can get. Good luck!” a third remarked
A fourth commenter, however, went a step further by offering direct assistance, writing, “You can DM me for a referral at big tech (company). No guarantees but worth a shot.”
In other news, a concerned Singaporean took to an online forum to ask whether pedestrian safety is still being properly taught in school.
In his Reddit post, he pointed out that many children today do not seem to understand basic road safety, such as recognising red and green man signals or waiting for their turn to cross. This led him to wonder whether traffic safety education has “changed over the years” or if people are simply “becoming more careless”.
Featured image by freepik (for illustration purposes only)