Wong Zi Ying, 25, graduated from polytechnic with a diploma in food science. She joined the food industry right away to find out if this line was where she would like to have a career in. She did an internship as a food technologist and was offered a full-time job as a lab technician. In early 2020, after working for three years, she decided to pursue a degree and she resigned from her position to continue her studies.

“I flew to Brisbane to embark on my university journey. As the modules I took in polytechnic were relevant, the university took two years off my degree. This allowed me to complete it within the year,” she explained. Little did she know that the pandemic would affect her job prospects when she officially graduated in December 2020.

Although she was excited to head back home to Singapore, she was worried about the idea of looking for a new job. “I knew I was competing with local university students who graduated around the same time as me and other job seekers who lost their job during the pandemic.”

No leads

As she had expected, the job search was challenging. There were a few companies that got in touch with her, citing that she had relevant experience and was a good fit for the position they were filling. But she didn’t receive any updates after sending in her resume.

She had no qualms about approaching an agency to help with her job search and actually felt more comfortable having them liaise with the companies on her behalf. “I shared my resume with Re Source Partners just to see if there were any opportunities. After a month, Kristin from Re Source Partners reached out to me with some good news.” According to Kristin, Zi Ying was a good fit for a position their client was trying to fill. “They did everything for me — they followed up and discussed the details of the position with the company, and kept me updated on the progress.”

A foot in the door

According to Zi Ying, scoring a job interview was most important to her because she struggled to get to this stage when she was doing the job hunt on her own. The interview that Re Source Partners arranged for her was the only one she was shortlisted for so she’s thankful for the opportunity.

At the same time, it was also a big leap for her as the position meant that she is now project lead — a greater opportunity from her previous role as lab technician assisting flavorist. “I was fortunate enough to be offered the job. I’m more than grateful to have Kristin who allowed me to showcase my skills to my manager and mentor, and eventually, land the job.”

More than just job matching

Zi Ying added that Re Source Partners helped her in more ways than one. Upon receiving the job description, she initially felt underqualified for it but the agency was quick to give her a morale boost. “They gave me the confidence I needed to go through with it, assuring me that I was a good fit for the position. They encouraged me every step of the way and checked in on me before and after the interview. This allowed me to reflect on how well I performed in the interview and to learn how to improve for the next round.”

Looking back, Zi Ying believes that worrying and being afraid of the future is counterproductive and it’s more important to have confidence in yourself and to be yourself. “Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get the job offer. Treat every interview as a learning experience for you to brush up and work harder for the next round!”