Dear TRS,
I'm a Singaporean who has just graduated from university. I managed to get my dream job as a broker in a pretty good firm, and would like to take the opportunity to share with fellow Singaporeans about the steps I took. It's obvious that there has been much grievance about the job market, and many people are finding it hard to secure decent jobs, much less spectacular ones. This, to me, is a structural problem which locals must find a way around for the time being until the situation improves. If we do not find a way around this problem, but insist on waiting until favourable policies get implemented, we will let many opportunities pass us by. As I am new to the company and would not want to undertake the employment risks associated with publicity, I will keep certain details, such as names, type of industry, company etc anonymous. Nonetheless, the events and steps that took place are 100% true. But before I list the steps, here are some basic details about myself:
1) So-so university results, no honours
2) No broker experience, or any previous work experience related to the industry
3) Degree course totally unrelated to the industry
4) 4 years of work experience while studying at the same time (to pay for school fees), with some achievements.
Given the above facts, many graduates would agree that it would be very hard to find a good job. There's no prior related work experience, no educational experience, mediocre results. The only consolation was that I had actually worked full-time, rather than doing internships. Moreover, very very few (less than 1%) of applicants ever get a broker job right away. They must usually do a stint in operations for 2-3 years, and even then a successful transfer is non-guaranteed. Faced with the above situation, these are the steps I took:
1) Set up a LinkedIn account. Messaged every single Singapore-based broker I could find. In order to message them, I had to upgrade my account to a premium account which costs about $60/mth (if I remember correctly). However, I opted for the trial period and tried to do whatever I could. I still ended up getting billed because I forgot to cancel the subscription, but that's a different matter. Basically, I attempted to make friends with them and started off by appearing curious about the industry. I specifically mentioned that I was not looking for job offers, but just to gain a credible perspective of the job. Those that I had gotten closer to, ended up speaking to me on the phone, Whatsapping, and a very small number met up with me for drinks (I paid).
2) Paid someone with 20-years of experience in the industry to edit my cover letter and resume for me. It costed me USD20.
3) Bought two books online about the industry and the job itself. I read each of them 4 times. It costed me 60 pounds, or about SGD150.
4) Tailored a suit for the interview. I have to admit, it looks damn good. It costed me SGD750.
5) Spoke to anyone I knew, friends, friends of friends, about the industry and if they had any contacts. Not much results.
6) Wrote my own textbook about the job. It had 264 pages. After looking hard enough, I actually found an overseas programme that offers a certificate for passing their exams. Instead of enrolling for the course which costs a lot of money and takes a few years to complete, I got a hold of their exam syllabus and started putting the book together myself. Whenever I had no information about any of the topics, I searched online (Wikipedia is surprisingly good and detailed), read the books I bought, went to bookstores to read more books and took notes, spoke to other brokers. I added pictures, got them printed and bounded. It costed me SGD45.
7) Obtained letters of recommendation from my previous employers and university.
8) Learnt as much as I could about the company I was applying to. Such as who's the one actually reading the job applications, who's the one in-charge, what are the company values, what is the company's history, their area of specialization, who makes up their clients, their financiers, their competition. I even managed to find a report online that lists the historical change of directors within the company and their birth dates.
9) Subscribed to an international newspaper specifically dedicated to the industry. It costed me SGD100 per month. Needless to say, I read every issue thoroughly.
It must be added that in addition to the above actions I took, I was also very diligent in responding to the e-mails sent by the company I applied to. I took great pains to draft, and re-draft, every word, every sentence. After sending the e-mail, I would read, and re-read again. I would show the drafts to my friends, and my family.
THE OUTCOME: With the 'perfect' resume and cover letter, I managed to secure a phone interview. Because i already knew a thing or two about the job from my preparations, I was able to convince the HR to offer me an interview. The first interview led to a second interview. The second and final interview was a success. The director of the company was very pleased with the positive signs I was giving, and especially pleased with the textbook. Even though I had mediocre results and no related work/educational experience, the textbook demonstrates that I knew what other graduates would know (in fact, with my discussions with some of them, I realised I knew more than them). Apparently, to him, how hard you work at getting the job demonstrates determination, which happened to be a very valuable trait to him. Additionally, the letters of recommendation, the good dressing (it's the suit, I tell you), and well-rehearsed answers to interview questions all contributed in their own ways. A week later, I received a letter from the company telling me that i had been chosen. Surprisingly, while there were many applicants, I subsequently learnt that there was only one position available.
Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes I made and wish for others not to follow was that I only applied to one company. I am a sentimental person and if I love a company, I will start believing in destiny and stuff like that to convince myself that I'm meant to be in that company. It was very risky. However, with that aside, I hope this short article will be of help for those struggling to find a job. It is not enough to just e-mail your resume out and wait for results.
If you do that, you become a victim to 'screening'. Screening basically means that the employer judges your overall worth based on just a few lines in your resume and then decides if he wants to read further or not. Screening is not fair because it is not a fair assessment of an applicants true core competencies, experience, values, and so on. However, because of the numerous applications everyday, many will fall victim to screening. Your role is to ensure you are not one of those 'screened' people. And to do that, you need to secure an interview at all costs. Don't just e-mail your resume, snail mail, like I did, use good quality paper. Memorise their names, and address every message to the specific person and not just the company in general.
In conclusion, I am now happy. There are challenges ahead, no doubt. But I wish to take this chance to share my experience with you guys so that hopefully it will helpful. You may not need to go through the extremes that I did, or perhaps you may need to do more than what I did. But I wish everyone the best. Regardless of how bad the job market is, do not be cynical. You need to remain positive. Tell yourself that if you want something, you will damn sure get it. Good luck.
Happy
TRS Conrtibutor