The shades of grey in the job market

Hi all, I have written quite a few articles about degrees and getting a job - it has provoked quite a few robust, defensive responses from SIM students and graduates. One of my readers Di Talasi has actually hit the nail on the head with one of her responses when she pointed out that you don't need a degree from a top university to do mundane jobs lower down the food chain. But it seems that only she seems to get it - the SIM students and graduates have made bold claims about many of their peers being 'gainfully employed' with an SIM degree, so today I shall expand on the point that Di Talasi has made: after all, just because you are employed doesn't mean that your problems are solved. Indeed, there are plenty of people out there who are overworked, underpaid and miserable in their jobs - yes they are employed, but are they happy? Of course not, so let's look at what happens when people don't get their dream jobs.

Here's the thing about these rather defensive SIM students who have come onto my blog with their 'success' stories. Their defence seems to be, "look I graduated from SIM and managed to get a job, so you see, it all worked out and it justifies my choice of degree." But these people seem to be very much focused on their individual circumstances rather than look at the wider picture and I'd like to talk about that today. When a young person first graduates and is looking for his/her first job, it is an extremely difficult challenge. Companies usually have gatekeepers whose job is to ensure that they select the best possible candidate for the job, so it is a complete fallacy to think that getting a degree is merely a box-ticking exercise. You're still up against all the other candidates who have applied for that position and that's when it gets interesting. So, please allow me to break it down for you.

When a good company advertises for a position, the quality of the applicants they receive depend on a number of factors: the starting pay, career prospects, the prestige of the company and other perks like the fun factor. So for example, a world famous investment bank running a graduate recruitment programme would typically tick all of those boxes, whilst a small local accounting firm in a small town would offer a far less attractive proposition. Naturally, the investment bank would receive a much higher quality of candidates applying for the jobs, whilst the local accounting firm will struggle to attract good quality candidates. So those with good degrees will have a much better chance in getting that first job with the prestigious companies (such as that famous investment bank), but if you are not successful with them, well it isn't the end of the world. You'll probably just end up working or a company like that small local accounting firm. It won't be as well paid but hey, it's a job right? As long as you're working and not unemployed, that's good enough right? Who needs to be happy? Who needs job satisfaction? Oh, you do? Then please read on.

Are you happy in your job?

So let's imagine there are two candidates: Olivia and Simei. Olivia went to Oxford whilst Simei went to SIM. Olivia got her first job with an investment bank's accounting division, traveling the world whilst Simei ended up working for a small accounting firm with a offices in a grim looking, windowless small office in Hougang industrial estate. Both ladies remain 'gainfully employed' at their respective companies. So, let's fast forward five years, a famous American management consultancy sets up its first branch in Singapore and are recruiting for new talent locally, rather than bring in staff from abroad. Both Olivia and Simei apply for the job and let's say they both have the same kind of experience with accounting - the HR manager at the American company looks at both their CV. Given that they both have five years' working experience, their degrees have become almost irrelevant at this stage. So are both Olivia and Simei competing on equal footing? Not at all - quite the opposite in fact!

You see, firstly, the HR manager will recognize Olivia's current employer, whilst the name of Simei's employer will only draw a blank stare - after all, few people outside Hougang would have heard of that company. Secondly, Olivia would have had the opportunity to travel the world, dealing with international clients, working on projects in different countries whilst Simei would have mostly dealt with clients in Hougang, with a handful in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Serangoon. But it doesn't stop there, Olivia's employer would have had the resources to invest in her training and CPD (Continual Professional Development), whilst Simei's employers are barely able to pay her CPF. Olivia's peers in her company would be ambitious, hungry former scholars who are keen to climb the corporate ladder, whilst Simei's peers are the type who want to leave work on time to get home to spend time with their kids and make dinner for their family. Even though they both have had 5 years worth of work experience, Olivia's CV would shine far brighter than Simei's - so if they both went for the same job, then Olivia would get it and not Simei as her work experience trumps Simei's.

Do you want a good start to your career or a bad one?

So by that token, Simei will probably have a decent life - that means she will be gainfully employed, she will be able to put food on the table, pay her bills, support her family but she will never taste the kind of success that Olivia will. Simei will always be several steps behind Olivia when climbing the same career ladder and it is quite plausible that if this gap gets big enough, then eventually Olivia may end up being Simei's boss when they are both in their 40s or 50s. Such is the kind of advantage that having a degree from a prestigious university like Oxford can give you but if you are happy to take Simei's path, then fine: this is when we turn to the settler vs maximizer theory. Are you the kind of person who is completely content to get by with a simpler life: look at Simei, she isn't career driven, she leaves the office at 5:30 pm on the dot so she can get home and enjoy quality time with her family. Sure she isn't earning as much as Olivia, but she also has a more carefree lifestyle with a lot less stress. Whilst Olivia worked crazy hard at university, Simei's more relaxed schedule meant she had an active social life and plenty of time for her friends.  If you are happy to take Simei's path, then you're a settler - you would settle for less given that you're not willing to pay the price for more. But some people are the opposite, if you know you have the potential to achieve a lot, then you would be like Olivia: you would work hard enough to get into the best university in the world and then push yourself to compete with the best in the top companies in the world, just to maximize your potential and see just how far you can go - if you identify with that ethos, then you are a maximizer. Pause for a moment and think which label applies to you.

But the problem with this theory is that it conveniently slots people into two categories without recognizing the shades of grey in between! I find it hard to say whether I am a settler or a maximizer - it all depends on whom you compare me with. If you look at the way I had been extremely driven in my studies and competitive gymnastics career, then of course that makes me a maximizer. But then again, I look at the people in my industry whom I deal with on a regular basis and I see many of them working far harder than me, achieving far more. I know I could work as hard as them to try to earn more but I also value the luxury of having enough free time on my hands to do the things I enjoy such as sports, travel, writing and just spending time relaxing in my garden. What is the point of having a nice house with a beautiful roof garden if I am working so hard I have no time to appreciate it? What is the point of earning so much money then? I suppose I am indeed somewhere in the middle, but probably towards the maximizer end as I feel that I have already paid by dues by working extremely hard when I was younger and now that I am in my 40s, I can afford to take it a bit easier and enjoy the fruits of my labour. A maximizer would have the luxury to do that - a settler would probably not, given you reap what you sow and settlers would have sown a lot less in their most productive years.

Are you a maximizer or a settler?

Ultimately, where you wish to settle in that scale between total maximizer and relaxed settler is a personal choice - no one should judge you for what you choose. Simei may not want Olivia's kind of life and the same can be true vice versa. However, you can't run away from the basic principle of 'you reap what you sow'. You can't expect to reap as much as a maximizer like Olivia if you have only worked as hard as Simei - it isn't reasonable for someone like Simei to expect to have the same level of success as Olivia. Someone like Olivia will always do better than Simei because of the head start her degree will give her - but what if you find yourself in Simei's shoes and want to improve your odds? What if Simei is not content to work under Olivia and wants to be as successful - is there anything Simei can do to fix the situation despite having a poor start in her career? Well, there are a few possibilities that I can suggest for her.

Firstly, the problem with many students is that they lack imagination when it comes to their career options - that is mostly down to their parents pushing their kids down some well-trodden career path (doctor, lawyer, engineer, banker etc) but they never consider anything more esoteric, something quite niche which could be just as rewarding and potentially a lot more interesting. Taking these alternative routes mean facing far less competition and thus lower entry requirements - let me give you an example. Ellie left school at the age of 18 with poor results, unable to get into any decent university, she didn't quite know what to do. Being half Korean, her Korean mother had a family friend (distantly related, Ellie refers to her as her auntie) in London who had a small business in New Malden - the Korean community often spends a lot of money visiting specialist shops which import a lot of Korean foodstuffs from Korea and whilst you can get anything you want, it is often quite expensive. Likewise, you can order items from various retailers online, but having the items flown or shipped over from Korea isn't cheap. Her Korean auntie came upon the idea of producing some of the more popular Korean foodstuffs in London, so they would be a lot cheaper than the imports from Korea. She mainly focused on kimchi (Korean pickled vegetables)- which is one of the most popular dishes consumed amongst the Koreans, but it is heavy and bulky,  high volume and low value. In Korea, kimchi is relatively inexpensive but in London, a small packet of Korean kimchi shipped in from Korea or China is not cheap, given that the general British public tend not to go for such exotic foreign foods and so it is for a very esoteric, limited market. The shops tend to profit from the situation as well - they know they are going to get a Korean student who is desperate for a taste of home and will pay any price for that packet of kimchi especially if it is from a brand they are already familiar with.

So the market for kimchi in the UK is very small, but it exists and within the kimchi lovers in London, they are willing to pay good money for authentic Korean kimchi. Ellie's auntie started supplying various Asian supermarkets with her made-in-London kimchi - the vegetables are local, some of the spices are Korean. Her customers are mostly Korean restaurants who get through a large volume of kimchi on a daily basis - a foreign student may be quite happy to pay £5 for a small packet of kimchi but a restaurant would need much cheaper kimchi than that. Ellie's auntie has a small but lucrative business, catering for a very niche market within the Korean community. Given that Ellie's auntie is already in her 50s, she is training Ellie to one day take over the business, given that (irony, oh irony) her own children have become doctors and lawyers and have quite literally turned their noses up at the kimchi-making business. Today, Ellie is happily working for her auntie's business, knowing that they have a good position in a very niche market.

The second route that one could consider is to be your own boss - Ellie's auntie started her own business because English was her second language and she felt handicapped by her inability to communicate efficiently in English. She had originally trained as an accountant back in South Korea but decided to start her own business because she wanted to take charge of her own career. By being her own boss and choosing to work within the Korean community, she had put herself in a position whereby she is no longer held back by her poor English and felt far more in control of her business relationships as she no longer had to worry about what her boss or manager thought about her. Of course, in return for this 'freedom from judgement', she had to take on a lot more responsibility when she ran her own business, but that was a price she was willing to pay and thankfully, things worked out very well for her. Running your own business or at least choosing to become self-employed is a big step for many people, but if you are sick and tired of being constantly harshly judged by others for having had a poor CV, then it is definitely a good option to consider.

Would you like to run your own business?

Veering off the well-beaten path may lead to dead ends, but you are never ever going to discover anything brand new if you are working for someone who is providing a product or service that isn't pushing the boundaries. Someone like Ellie and her auntie may have been forced off the well-beaten path by their circumstances, but they have discovered a lucrative niche in the market. There's obviously stopping me from veering off the well-beaten path too and taking a risk to start my own business (which I have actually tried to do before), but it is so much easier working for someone else and letting them take the risks whilst I just get paid for the work I do for the company. I have the luxury of sticking to the well-beaten path and doing quite well on it, whilst Ellie and her auntie don't have that luxury - either way, things have all worked out okay for us. Maybe one day I will try to start my own business again, but that will depend on me having the right opportunity and until that comes along, I am quite happy doing what I am doing for now.

I hope I have shown you some of the shades of grey in the job market. Simei may be perfectly happy with her life, but let's not pretend that she's even half as successful as someone like Olivia or earning as much as Olivia. Nonetheless, people like Ellie and her auntie have bravely stepped off the well-beaten path and have found their own routes to success. The key thing is to have a game plan and know what your options are - make the most of the opportunities presented to you and don't be afraid to ask for help. Let me know what you think please, many thanks for reading.