Thanks Kenneth for telling us about the types of jobs available! =) Also got to agree with him about being politics-cognizant in your work place. Even though everyone might treat each other with respect, there is a hierarchy--for example, director, assistant manager, senior executive, executive, assistant--and there will be people who take instructions and people who give instructions. Be smart and say the right thing!
Now I want to highlight a couple of ways to source for jobs.
1. Company websites.
I discovered this when I applied to volunteer at St Luke's Hospital--SLH had a section where they posted job openings. This section is different from the volunteer section and will say something like "Careers" or "Join Us". So I thought of other big name companies and searched their websites too! The downside is that you have to actually KNOW that these companies exist first, and then you have to go to their INDIVIDUAL websites. But I like that the application process is very straightforward and you don't have to through a 3rd party e.g. a recruiter.
Tip: Singhealth and National Healthcare Group are giant business partnerships with a whole range of work options. Go to their websites at look for all the TEMP or CONTRACT jobs. Naturally, don't go for the two-year contract or permanent jobs.
2. Broadsheet newspapers.
Say hello to your local The Straits Times. And you don't even have to buy the paper; just go down to your nearest public library! Check out the Recruit section. If you know what field you want to work in (e.g. executive, healthcare, sales, teaching/tuition), you can just go straight to the relevant list of jobs. If not, you can comb the entire section for, again, TEMP or CONTRACT jobs. Then you email/sms/call the contact, depending on what the advertisement tells you to do.
I personally had no success with this technique, probably because I didn't really search hard. The people I contacted either never replied, wanted a long-term employee or simply found someone else already.
3. Shopping. And basically getting out of your house to look around at the world.
Lots of shops post their advertisements on their shop window. Some even have walk-in interviews! o.O Again, a very straightforward recruitment process.
4. Applying for scholarships or combing the website of scholarship-awarding bodies.
The jobs you get through here are what Kenneth described as "internships". Some scholarship-awarding bodies actually require you to do an internship e.g. PUB. I think the pay is generally not very good, along the lines of $1.50-$3 per hour. The poly people who have to do internships will be very aware of this.
Tip: However, MOE's 6-month teaching internship pays well, and, I personally think, is a very meaningful job as well. That said, there is a screening process to go through. It is difficult for me to get information on this process now but we might be able to get more on this after June.
5. Lobang.
I have friends who have the most fantastic tuition jobs purely by recommendation from other contacts e.g. friends, family members, church friends (They earn as much as I do in 6 hours in ONE hour of contact time). Then there are those who have parents in high places who can link them to a temporary position at their own company, or at a friend's company. Then I know a friend who stumbled across her ex-teacher (or was it ex-trainer) on the bus and this guy subsequently offered her a job in a training company (think Nascans, Adam Khoo). Finally, I have a friend who is connected with the music scene in Singapore and got some short-term violin classes during a 3-month summer break.
As an introvert, I don't have any experience in this. Plus, there's just so much serendipity involved that it is hard for me to tell you what exactly to do.
6. Recruiters.
My friend told me that one tuition recruitment website will take some money after they pair you up with a student; not sure about this myself so just be aware of how your recruiter works. Some of my friends use this: http://www.recruitexpress.com.sg/. There is also: http://jobscentral.com.sg/.
7. Doing what you love, all the time, and being good at it + Serendipity + Taking risks
For this, I refer to Sidwyn's post: http://nushscollegetalk.blogspot.com/2010/09/journey.html
I think I have covered the most general ways of getting jobs. Of course, there are other ways. NUS High peeps will know that there is one job opening commonly secured by fresh NUS High graduates. There is freelancing. And of course, there is "being born a male".
No comments:
Post a Comment