Work. Not everyone enjoys them but sooner or later you will need them in order to 1) Party and 2) Buy clothes amongst many other things.

Job finding is hard, especially when you have zero experience in the outside world. (Yes, the school system sucks cause they don’t teach you stuff like these) So in this article, these will be advice to help you build your resume to apply for that job you wanna do.

#01: Volunteer

Who doesn’t fancy an employee who is always actively helping the community and the causes he believes in?

Volunteering shows your employers a few things. First, it shows that you have a cause you support and is actively trying to push for it. In other words, you’re someone who is altruistic (or in corporate terms, someone who they can throw work to respect).

Second, it shows that you … actually no thats pretty much it.

At the same time volunteering is an excellent place to gain experience for your resume (We will talk about this in another article). And in truth, you really do learn alot.

Some of the more common ones in Singapore are big events like: Citi-YMCA Youth for causes. I have participated in it and it is still one of the most fulfilling volunteer experience I have been through. As a team, you will learn to manage funds, manage your team and set a goal for yourself. At the same time, whatever proceeds you earn will go to the organisation you support.

But what if I want to support Cause X but there is no event for it?

THEN CREATE ONE! And in fact, this will be the best kind of volunteering there is. Why? It shows 1) initiative 2) daring to try 3)leadership skills.

Of course, all jokes aside, volunteers are always needed in the different organisations. But never treat your volunteer experience as a mere stepping stone to get what you want. Volunteer in causes you like and you will definitely be able to add value to those in need and at the same time grow yourself as a human being.

#02: Online Certificates

The internet is awesome. You can watch all those stupid YouTube videos, be on Pornhub or 9gag. Get bored, play some Dota (And yes, LOL is stupid) or Battlefield.

But do you guys know about all the online courses that you can actually join for FREE? Yes, there are actually a lot of courses that you can learn online for free (and pay a little bit to get it certified).

But why learn all these stuff?

Cause they give you skills stupid. Yes, your O level or A level cert may be useful to get you into a school, but in the working world, skills are what matters. Especially compared to Diploma holders, an academic certificate doesn’t give you any skills at all (Lucky you, poly kids)

All these certificate and course are especially especially for those of you who has your own schedule. Of course, there are graded assignments that you will need to submit to prove that you actually learned from the course.

Some of the more common websites that will help:

1. https://www.coursera.org/
2. https://www.edx.org/
3. https://www.edx.org/school/mitx

There are a lot of other sites out there but I personally recommend these few. Very useful (especially if you want to get the job you want)

#03: Real life certificate – the interesting kind

“Wow, another you don’t say moment from the author. Of course I would look for real life certificate. What are you even talking about?”

This means get a certificate about the cool stuff. Did you know you can learn a lot of different things in Singapore? Of course, they are not free (some are. We will get to this) but you get to learn and create a lot of stories with these.

Imagine adding a skill/certificate like “Bartendering”. Just how cool is that! It shows a few things like 1) you are skilled in a wide range of skills 2) you can be the party guy in the company! And these are things you can talk about in the interview as well, which boosts your interesting level to the roof.

Some useful/interesting certificates you can get

1. Bartendering
2. CPR/AED Training (Super useful. Never know when you can save a life Note: All NSF has this, but it expires once you ORD. So maybe retraining just for this skill is super worth it.)
3. Some form of martial art

Free courses – whats up with this?

So a few months before you ORD (YES, I KNOW. PINK IC), MINDEF will give you these credits for you to go on course and learn some skills. These courses range from anything like programming language to some really weird ones like technical skills having to do with electrical terms. (I really have no clue what on earth that is)

Make use of this time to attend some of the courses and use those credits, since these credits do not go to your CPF or anything. They just get voided after you ORD. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to Ns.sg
2. Log in through your Singpass
3. Sign up for your course under e-Prep

Conclusion: I will let you know by today

Thats what you want them to say when reading through all these cool experience you have had and those awesome causes you have supported out of your own free time. But then again, having a good resume alone is never enough (then again, when is being good at only one thing ever enough).

 

So… Whats the point of the resume then?

It is to show that you even qualify for the interview to begin with (and for them to know they are not hiring a psycho or serial killer at work). And the resume shows the type of person they will be hiring and gives the impression that you are a high functioning human being even though you just entered the society.