Many fresh graduates often have this question in mind: ” Should i go into a sales job?” The answers often will be: “i don’t have sales experience and it is too shameful to beg people to buy from you something’

Well i had to admit that i used to have such thinking before but thank god that i am someone who will go ahead to do what i think it is correct without thinking much about the consequences. My philosophy in life is the same as Nike: “Just do it” Well i wouldn’t that such thinking is good because there are many things in life that have to go through the thinking system before proceeding before it leads to a disasterous results. Eg: following people to do illegal earnings such as collecting soccer bets or even worse taking drugs.

But in life, there are many situations that requires us to take action immediately and don’t bother so much about other things. Eg: Today there is a super good offer of 50% off regular price and it lasts for only one day. So happen that this thing is something that is good to have but not a MUST. The question is:  ” Will you buy or you will think again”

Many times, good jobs offer are presented in front of you but because of certain people’s opinion, it actually makes you to think twice about the offer. End of the day, you got to ask yourselves: ” Is your future more important or people’s opinion important” Outsider normally does not have relevant experience in the area so i wonder what makes their opinion so important. I mean unless they have been there done that, if not i won’t think much about their comments. I mean we can always listen but ultimately must follow our heart and dreams.

People said that sales line is tough and it is not good. But have you ever think about what will happen if the economy has no sales activities going on? I can assure you that the next moment, the world economy will go into recession. That is why personally sales job is something very crucial and important. The fact that it is important to the world, it means that if you can succeed in sales, you are excellent in anything! More importantly, doing the right kind of sales can bring you to the level of wealth that you desired!

All of us are born salesman! From the moment you start calling your parents to buy things for you, you are already selling to them. Eg: Get good result will buy presents. The kid is trying to sell the product (result) to the parent in exchange for money (presents). Another classic example: A guy going after a girl with romantic dinner and intelligent conversation. The same thing the guy is selling himself to the girl, hoping that she will accept him as bf. Therefore with all these example in life, we all should be quite comfortable in doing sales.

So the next time if you have friends that have similar questions in mind, please share with them my example and give them encouragement to go ahead with sales jobs =)

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But there is better news for those in ‘resilient’ industries such as health care, biotechnology and energy as pay has remained stable year-on-year thanks to steady demand, according to findings from the latest Kelly Services Singapore Employment Outlook and Salary Guide 2009/10.

First the bad news: Engineering managers in the manufacturing sector reported an 18 per cent drop in their monthly salaries – from $11,000 in 2008 to $9,000 this year – as the recession has caused reduced demand for such positions.

The minimum monthly salaries for warehouse supervisors also fell by 11 per cent from $1,800 to $1,600 year-on-year as the logistics sector was hit by falling export orders.

The retail industry is also enduring downward salary adjustments, as promoters, sales coordinators and retail assistants reported earning 6-7 per cent lower base pay – from $1,500 and $1,700 last year, to $1,400 and $1,600 this year respectively.

Recruitment group Kelly Services, which will release these salary trends in a handbook to be launched at the HR Summit this morning, said that there is steady demand for talent in the health care, biotechnology, energy and outsourcing industries, as salaries have remained resilient despite the downturn.

Compared to 2008, the health care industry is expected to continue its recruitment drive this year as the need for skills-specific talent remains relatively high, as more research hubs are being set up and medical tourism remains popular in Singapore, the report noted.

The banking and finance industry, which saw major retrenchments in recent months, has seen the ‘most significant’ change in its hiring strategies.

‘Financial institutions have adopted a more cautious recruitment approach owing to the weaker Singapore economy and the global financial turmoil,’ said the report.

Kelly Services’ senior vice-president (Asia-Pacific) Dhirendra Shantilal said: ‘With the economic crisis, we have noticed an increasing acceptance of the importance of talent management as well as motivating and retaining not only the right staff, but passionate talent in the organisation to ensure long-term and sustainable success.’

Still, amid the gloom, the silver lining is that there is a big increase in available talent on the market for all industries, said the report.

‘While there are many opportunities for strong and experienced talent as well as new graduates, we expect a year of cautious hiring,’ said Mr Shantilal.

‘Singapore’s tepid employment climate and outlook means that remuneration will remain competitive and more organisations will choose performance-based incentives over bonuses to reward employees.’

This article was first published in The Business Times .

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Right now, graduates are all worried about not being able to land themselves a job after graduation and most of them have also lowered their expectations towards salary. These can be seen quite commonly as i have been conducting lots of interviews with fresh graduates from university and poly. One of the interesting findings that i found was that there were more and more graduates coming to us seeking for a career in finance industry despite current situation. I believe they have a reason for wanting to join us.

One thing that i can think of is the job stability. Right now, there is no jobs out there that are stable. The only job that is recession-proof is to be self-employed. Hence being a financial planner is one of the best choices. Whether in times of crisis or bull market, our services are always in demand no matter what and it is also one of the most meaningful job so far that i know. Therefore some of them are thinking ‘Why not just give this career a shot’

Second reason for coming to us i believe is also because of the kind of exposures and skills that they can learn over here. Personally after being 4 years into this industry, i can proudly dare to say that i am much more mature in thinking and more confident in myself compared to my peers working in a normal job environment. I have also expanded my network by alot and it has helped me in many areas when it comes to doing corporate tie-up.

Being an entrepreneur over here enables you to really learn alot of things and mature faster. The fact that they come in with the mindset of being self-employed only means that they are committed to make a difference in their life and i think it is something to be proud of. From the moment they enter into this industry, they are already different from the rest. They think and behave different from their peers and next time these are the people that will achieve different results from the rest.

So for those people who are still wondering what to do next after graduation, why not send me your resume and i will invite you down for an interview. From there, you can judge better to see if you want to give this challenging career a shot!

All the best to your future success! Cheers!

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Quote:

‘The finance industry now has an influx of professionals aged below 30 who were retrenched from the foreign banks. How can we new graduates compete with them?’ he said.

Meanwhile, some of those who are not yet in their final year have ‘backup’ plans.

Ms Xu Jieyi, 22, a third-year SMU student doing a four-year double degree in accountancy and economics, will graduate in December next year. But she is taking a part-time diploma course in professional make-up artistry. Her parents paid $4,000 for the five-month-long course which started this month.

1 in 2 students ‘afraid of graduating’, Straits Times February 15, 2009

Comment from me:
I happened to read this quote from online citizen website and i personally find it quite interesting to know the finding. How come these days the young graduates are afraid of losing out to people who have been retrenched or afraid of not being able to get a job?

First of all to the question of losing out to experienced worker, we got to tell ourselves that being young and dynamic are our advantages! It means that we are open to new ideas, more willing to work harder and accept new working style. This is one thing that all employers are looking for. The bosses out there does not want to hire a person who has a certain attitude or mindset about how things are to be run because it may create some conflict and he may also have problems handling him. Although they are experienced in doing sales but if they are not hardworking, they can lose out too. Young people should think that learning how to do sales is easy and all it takes is to find the right person to teach you. You should be excited being a fresh graduates!

Second on the part of not being able to find a job. Personally i think it is quite nonsense to say that there are no jobs in Singapore! There are plenty of jobs out there and the question lies in there are no suitable jobs for them. Many graduates are thinking of getting a decent job of $2.5k on their first job and wont’ settle anything less than that. So this also explains why some of the people i know are jobless after 6 months of graduation. Of course there are some of my graduate friends who don’t mind working for just $1.8k for the time being because their mindset is that it is better than nothing. So therefore the difference here is the expectation. In times like this, expectation has to be lower down.

Anyway i don’t see why people should not work for lesser paying job because what is most important is the experience and not so much of the salary especially for young graduates. The first two years of a young person is to explore working life and to find out what really suits him and what are his strength and weakness. Just remember experience does not come easily but money does!

Since young, i had done all kind of jobs ranging from hawker centre helper, waiter, admin to sales promoter. I would said that it was due to my brother who keep asking me to work for experience that’s why i was willing to work any job. I really got to thank him for that because if not i will not be where i am now today. I appreciated what i am doing now and i told myself that should one day any mishap happens to me, i will not die of hunger because i am able to work any job to keep me alive.

Therefore for my readers, just be aware that it is the expectation that matters and working experience is valuable. Don’t be choosy over jobs. Take it with pride and i am sure some good things will come out from it! To those people who are graduating this year, never be afraid not being able to find a job. There will always be job for you but it’s a matter whether you want to try it!

**You can send your resume to me @mro.career@gmail.com if you like to find out more about what i am doing.

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Postion of Financial Consultants/Management Trainee

Professional guidance and courses will also be provided throughout a series of systematic programs to nurture potential individuals to be our future leaders. Hence this is definitely a place filled with opportunities for career advancements and personal growth.

Key Responsibility

• Handling a portfolio of your own selected niche client base
• Develop and implement financial plans for these individuals and corporations.
• Provide solutions, integration services and sales support to customers
• Strong client relationship management and development aptitude.
  

Our Commitment:

·         Strong Financial Branding

·         Technical Competence

·         Established Initial Fast Start Program

·         In Depth Comprehensive Training

·         Personalize Coaching and Mentoring

·         Proven Tracks Record in Grooming Achiever

Requirements:

• Candidate must possess at least a Diploma, Advanced/Higher/Graduate Diploma, Bachelor’s Degree, Post Graduate Diploma or Professional Degree in any field.
• Fresh graduates/Entry level applicants are encouraged to apply.
• Full-Time positions available.
• Applicants should be Singaporean citizens or hold relevant residence status.

Once you are selected, you can expect to enjoy:

·         1st year Basic Allowance depending on experience and individual performance.

·         Excellent Compensation Package

·         Career growth opportunities

·         Free oversea trips at least 2 twice per year

Individual who are out of the box thinker and strong engaging skills will perform extremely well in this role. A listening ear and strong customization of financial solutions are 2 important keys for one to succeed. Do send you resume to mro.career@gmail.com  so that we could take the discussion further.

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Just yesterday, the Singapore government has unveiled a S$20.5 billion Resilience Package to save jobs, help businesses and enhance competitiveness. The highly expansionary Budget will result in a S$8.7 billion deficit – the country’s largest ever

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in unveiling the budget said the government will dip into the reserves to draw S$4.9 billion to fund two temporary and extraordinary measures – Jobs Credit and a Special Risk-Sharing Initiative.

The Budget also sees corporate income tax down to 17 per cent effective from Year of Assessment 2010.

To help households, the government will double the GST Credits that households will receive in 2009. Each household will get an additional payout of GST Credits, on top of the one that they will receive in July. The additional GST Credits will be paid out on 1 March. Additional rebates given for rentals and service and conservancy charges in public housing.

In terms of personal tax, there will be a 20 per cent income tax rebate for individual tax payers, capped at S$2,000, and a 40 per cent property tax rebate for owner-occupied homes.

Personally i felt that more should be done on cost reduction which seems to be the most urgent things to do. Most people are having their bonus freeze and pay cut hence the government should look out on areas that can cut costs. At least the govt decided to double up our GST Credit this year to help those lower income famiies. I believe this is the best time to introduce such package. But overall plans to help Singaporeans keep jobs and viable companies to stay afloat are good. Especially the Job Credit that was introduced for companies to make sure that they don’t cut jobs unnecessary so that more people can still be employed. Very good move! 

In times like that, spending more on infrastructures and companies are the way to go in order for Singapore to weather through this recession.  And for those entrepreneurs out there, it’s also time for us to change our business strategy to make sure we can stay afloat during this period! 

*Things do not change; we change.  ~Henry David Thoreau*

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