Studied too much, stuck in an unstable dead-end job...how?

[Aukang]

Go and teach in the university or poly la.. PhD can be Assoc . Prof...

Edited May 21, 2016 by Aukang

[Little_prince]

TLDR.

 

I already understood The root cause of your problem from the first sentence.

 

You studied engineering.

[Little_prince]

Go and teach in the university or poly la.. PhD can be Assoc . Prof...

Nope.

 

Local Uni almost never take back their own PhD. Academic in breeding.

 

And almost impossible for fresh PhD to get a professorship. Much less Assoc prof. Usually start as a research fellow somewhere first.

 

If sibei Heng. Then Kio a Asst prof role some where.

 

Even then Long way to tenure.

 

But local Uni Pay professors well though.

 

Just not singaporeans that they train though. Lol

[Porker]

@zyklon,

 

Further thoughts to augment my post.

 

1) My 700K net worth friend   mentioned to work for at least 5 years before talking about experience. Please do not take this statement seriously because people learn at different speed. Some are really quick and some are slow. If you feel you have what it takes after just a few months please go ahead and demonstrate your ability.

 

2) In conjunction with point 1, please remember there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Manage your interpersonal skills. Having said that, ang moh dua kees are more receptive to open demonstration of abilities (especially the Americans) while Asians like to portray faux humility (i.e. they think very highly of themselves in private but do not dare to portray that and instead bitch and whine about passed opportunities and there is nothing more disgusting than such fake behavior). Know who you work for and play the cards right. Of course it will be suicidal to demonstrate your ability and show that you think highly of yourself if you work for a f*cking Asian boss. EQ! EQ! Well you probably know my stance on working with Asians by now 

 

3) Think of your personality and determine which culture you fit best and start from there.

[Jamesc]

TS it really doesn't matter how highly you value yourself.

 

The only thing that matters is how highly the market values you.

 

Since you send resumes and no one is biting that's your true value.

 

Your classmates who take a year longer than you and earn 30% more

 

That's their market value. Anyway you stated a lot of your PhD is due

 

To your professors and ex bosses. I guess when you stop learning and start

 

Teaching your market value will rise. Until then maybe you should stay and learn

 

More and when you are an expert jobs will come looking for you.

 

:)

[Jamesc]

Title is misleading.

 

It should be

 

Studies too much but didn't learn enough.

 

But thinks he knows it all.

 

:)

[Jamesc]

TS you should stop bad mouthing your seniors

 

Saying they are useless and cannot teach you

 

Anything. Especially if one of them is a James.

 

If none of them are a James please feel free to

 

To blast away how useless they are. Just hope

 

For your sake none of the are MCF members.

 

:)

[Watwheels]

What my wife say about the first ever job that you have after graduating is most important. What you do and how long you have been on the job will more or less let the interviewer know what you are made of. She works in the fiance sector not engineering but what she said is relevant.

 

So since your first job allows you to have time to study part time for your PhD means that job is not that demanding and you don't really work overtime a lot. I mean it's not wrong to pursue your PhD but that's not what your employer is looking for. Many employers will look at what company you worked in and what you do in the first 5 years after you graduate. If your position is those relac and not paying well or you job hop a lot these ppl will be striked out immediately. You know not the kinda worker anyone will want. When interviewers tell you that the relevant experience is lacking what they meant is quite straight forward.

 

You can tell the employer you are a fast learner and hard worker but that should be when you started work after graduating not after many years dan you do these. In other words your work history will tell a lot when they look at your resume. The issue will most likely lies there in your work history.

 

But since you have a PhD you might want to consider a career in academics.

 

Many ppl think have good academics will have no problem finding a job. But for me showing work achievements shows a lot more about what kinda worker and attitude towards work a person has.

 

Your first job imo should not be in SMEs since you are in the top 10% of your cohort but rather some MNC or big company. Since ppl are young at that stage they should chiong and work their way up from there. Achieved something or some position before moving on to other companies. That should be the way.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Watwheels

[Jamesc]

I really don't know why TS is asking us - HOW?

 

He is the one with the PhD, he is the one with the

 

thesis done in 3.5 years when many cannot complete.

 

He is the one that is smarter than his useless bosses.

 

It's really ironic but I don't think the TS is smart enough

 

To see the funny side of things. I think it's absolutely

 

hilarious. TS if you are really so smart why do you need

 

to even ask us?

 

:)

[Jamesc]

 

But since you have a PhD you might want to consider a career in academics.

 

 

Absolutely right.

 

If you cannot do, you can always teach.

 

:)

[macrosszero]

TS acknowledged his ex-bosses among others for supporting him while he was doing his PhD yet, he jumped ship after getting it

[Gitanic]

my take is find a boss that appreciates you and willing to pay you fairly.

 

no point wasting years on one that doesn't appreciate you and not all bosses are the same hor.

[Karoon]

sorry TS but I have to agree @Jamesc . If others are doing better and you're not maybe its you. Your attitude does not show you to be someone who gets along well with others especially those who appraise you. Don't be pissed, we're pointing the fairly obvious based on your limited inputs, to help you.

 

Also, you can stalk your peers on social media and see what they're doing different to you.

also your bosses are doing things right according to accepted management practice:

 

ie hire someone smarter than them to make their job easier.

only that someone seems not willing to play ball.

[Albeniz]

1st class Honours and then PhD?

 

Try A-Star research institutes for a few years. At least pay should still be acceptable and they recognize your first class.

[GLZT]

TS acknowledged his ex-bosses among others for supporting him while he was doing his PhD yet, he jumped ship after getting it

Nowadays very few ppl practice 饮水思源. Got better opportunity jump ship liao.

[Jamesc]

1st class Honours and then PhD?

 

Try A-Star research institutes for a few years. At least pay should still be acceptable and they recognize your first class.

And the best thing is once get in

 

can walk naked to a Holland Village

 

drinking hole. But if TS is not a syt

 

then please don't. I might be drinking there

 

And don't want to spit out my beer.

 

:)

[Gitanic]

And the best thing is once get in

 

can walk naked to a Holland Village

 

drinking hole. But if TS is not a syt

 

then please don't. I might be drinking there

 

And don't want to spit out my beer.

 

:)

 

bite banana also quite thrilling one 

[Watwheels]

Nowadays very few ppl practice 饮水思源. Got better opportunity jump ship liao.

 

After doing his PhD his peers would have made a mark for themselves and moving on to better paid jobs. He's like just started out. Peer pressure I guess. His PhD is not helping him to get better paid jobs. Maybe in the beginning he did not make good decisions before he decided to pursue his PhD.

 

His situation is similar to those "slackers" who started off their career with easy jobs that have hardly any work stress and can get off work on time. And when they see their peers  doing better dan them after 5 years the slacker starts to panic and try to look for better paid jobs to "keep up". From "dream job" it became "dead end job" if you know what I mean. But when interviewers see their resume they knew what they were looking at. IMO might be too late.