Unemployment Rate in June 2011: Still Unemployed?

The latest Singapore stats is showing a 2.1% unemployment rate in June. According to a global comparison on Trading Economics, we are number 3 in term of least number of unemployment, only Thailand and Qatar is ahead of us with 0.5%. Our neighbor in the north is looking at 3% and our fiercest financial competitor (Hong Kong) is standing at 3.5%.

With a population of 5 million, we are looking at about 105,000 unemployed. In our heated economy, you truly need to do some self-reflection if you belonged to the 2.1% involuntarily.

But there are certain things we can learn from those that don’t have a lack of offers every other week. Here are what we can learn from them:

Be in a job. Any job. It can be a temp or a short term contract. This doesn’t just provide recentness to your experience, it also indicate demand for your talents. The concern about notice period is no longer a major concern in the present market.

Be ubiquitous. Smart job seekers don’t find jobs. The jobs find them. Make sure you have an updated presence common recruiter databases like Monster.com or LinkedIN. Ensure relevant key words are present in those profiles so searches on those key words will have your profile on top of the search results.

Don’t discount yourself. It may be tempting to price yourself competitively to stand out. But in the current market of inflated salary packages, anything lower may draw suspicions instead of higher interest.

It is still a paper society. Very soon a diploma may not even be sufficient for entry level executive jobs. Studying may not be your thing but the society thinks otherwise. So unless you can convince the masses, it is time to dust your pencil case and head back to school. If a 18 month course doesn’t appeal, take on specialized certifications that will be directly relevant to your career direction.

Finding a job is never easy. But don’t assume that because you’re unemployed you’ll never find work again. Many people can benefit from making some changes in how they approach their job hunts.

- Adrian Tan, Managing Director