My Questionable Career Advice

My Questionable Career Advice

• When we are young, there is always a stair for us to climb if we just follow the education system. We will almost always be rewarded adequately if we put in the effort. There is always something to work toward to.
• After, we get out of school the stairs suddenly disappeared. Soon you will discover, most of the time, rewards just dont match the effort you put in. Is all about playing the politic game.

• However, we need to really be focus on what we actually want to achieve within this 30 years of working life, because a job is a race against time.
• Many time people will fall into a trap, where they let their job dictate who they are and climbing the corporate ladder is the only way.
• Once they lose the job, they lose their income and they lose themself, especially when they are near retirement age.
• Job security is a myth it doesnt matter how loyal, how hardworking or how knoweldgable you are. Nobody is indispensable. Is all about profit and loss.

• Some money is just not worth taking, but if you are ruthless you will thrive. So the best way to survive is to stay low as long the salary matches the job market, why so serious. 🙈🙉🙊. The bigger the company, the more political it will get. Welcome to the corporate world.

• If you really decide to climb the corporate ladder. A more efficient way is simply just to switch job, and bypass all the conflict.
• Switching job posed an opportunity to increase your earning but also a risk of landing in a place worst than your previous enviroment.
• It is often more cost effective to hire people from outside than having an internal promotion.
• This usually result in hiring someone who do not know anything to manage someone who had been doing the job their whole life that know the products inside out.

• However, the best way is still knowing the people at the top. Your networking skill and as long you are able to perform basic tasks that fulfilled the job requirements, you are good to go. How many of us can do that?

What do you really want to achieve?

• Money? Sense of superiority? Follow your passion? Prestigious job title?
• No matter what you are chasing you must be able to anwser the 3 questions:

1) How long you want to work?

2) How long can you work?

3) How long your boss wants you to work?

The correct answer is "Is not up to you".

1) If you do not saved up enough, you will have to work until you die.

2) Some job are physically / mentally intensive you are getting older every year. Can you keep up?

3) Your are old and expensive, you may have a slight advantage over the fresh graduates, who is hungrier and cheaper, does your experience justify your high salary?

• What truly matter is you are able to increase your networth every year, not to subject to lifestyle inflation and hopefully have the option to retire by then.

• Your salary is largely dependent on the market price and every role has a cap. Upgrading skills can only ensure a chance for your salary to match the market. Promotion is not up to you. Job hopping dependent on, if the interviewer willing to give you a chance, is not up to you.

• Singapore system is designed to allow majority of Singaporean to retired at 65 years old. Try to aim for at least a median income, else it may be challenging for retirement planning or you may even need to partially/fully dependant on your children for retirement. FIRE will required even more stringent requirement.