Career Development Handbook Career-Development-Handbook | Page 3

Foreword
The Career Impact Series is meant to provide the final polish to graduating students who are
embarking on possibly the most important quest at this point in their young lives – the search for full
time employment.
The first full time role in a Professional’s life is very important as this will be the first “real” contact
with the working world. While this first role does not define the Professional, and it certainly does
not restrict what other roles, or fields of endeavour, the Professional may enter into subsequently, it
is very important as this first full time role sets the tone for the next few years; the next steps of the
Professional’s career.
A simple estimation indicate that for any reasonably desirable job in Singapore, the competition will
be stiff. A graduating University student will face thousands of other candidates gunning for the
same role. The new graduate will not only face competition from students from
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other local Universities
PEIs (Private Education Institutions) twinning with overseas Universities
overseas University graduates
Polytechnic graduates with some years of experience
The most fearsome competition of all - University graduates with already some years of experience
seeking to improve their Professional prospects.
In the face of such competition, it is important that the aspiring Professional prepares well, and
hard; to find, research and finally secure that important first full time role. While there is no
substitute for hard work, having some guidance does help a little.
This Career Development Handbook is meant to provide that little extra to your search for that all-
important first job. We hope that you will find the contents useful as a guide to your job search.
The CareerDev Team is geared up to support you in this very important task. Do drop by the
CareerDev Office for a chat. Call your Mentor, send a note, set an appointment for a chat, a resume
review, an interview prep.
Remember - we are all rooting for you!
William Tan ,
Head, Office of Career Development
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