S’porean who took a long break from work now feels insecure about their skills and fears making another wrong move, seeks advice AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user asked for some career advice on the platform, explaining that they are kind of at a loss, since they took a long break from work and now feel insecure about their skills.

They are also struggling due to possible burnout, and no longer have the same energy they had when they first started working.

In an Aug 15 (Friday) post on r/askSingapore, u/ OreoSpaceCat wrote that since the company they worked for failed and they were let go, they took a “relatively long break.” At this point, they don’t feel a lot of motivation to have a job just to “survive” and still feel very tired, while at the same time feeling that they can’t just do nothing.

“Previously, I pretty much took a leap of faith and tried pursuing my passion, which all sort of went downhill after the last job. And before that, I had just been trying out different jobs, but they all didn’t feel like something I wanted to pursue in the long run, hence why I chose passion,” the post author wrote.

And while they had once been “super pumped about it and genuinely could see myself doing great in the long run,” they now feel that everything they’re doing is wrong and that they’ve made a big mistake, given that they’re not pursuing a stable job like others are.

They now want to find even a part-time job unrelated to their studies, but feel afraid of choosing the wrong path again.

“How can I move past this hurdle or know I’m doing the right thing?” the post author asked.

Fortunately, there are Reddit users who were willing to dispense advice and wisdom for the post author’s situation.

“Find a job that you don’t dislike, can be damn good at, and pays the bills. The keyword is ‘don’t dislike,’ you don’t have to like it, you just don’t hate it,” a commenter wrote.

Another encouraged the post author to build their self-confidence up again, saying that it “comes with mastery and belief. Take small steps to build that up… allow those small consistent steps to compound. Give yourself 3 months, and you will see a huge difference.

Do silly things, celebrate random stuff. Make a paperball basket shot, celebrate. Say hi to the bus driver and believe that you are a polite fella? Celebrate. And while doing all these, pick up some hard skills/ upskill. Excel skills? Sure. Learn to vibe code? Sure.”

“Having a part-time job is a good way to help you find out if you have enough interest to go full-time, unless you intend to go corporate. A lot of successful people go down several paths before landing on the right one. Don’t be so hard on yourself, you are only mid-20s, it’s still a long way to go!” advised a third. /TISG

Read also: S’porean says he experienced culture shock when he moved from private sector to government work