My story
In 2016, Bart and I decided that by the end of the year, we would have left the UK for a new adventure. He got a job offer and in October 2016, we moved to Singapore. We were young and craved a new experience more than anything else, so we barely researched the market and went on our way.
While packing, I researched anything online related to my own country, in Singapore, to see who I could get in touch with ASAP. I looked-up the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and managed to get an appointment for 2 days after we had landed. I had a 1 hour appointment and it was great for me to understand the market. The one thing I still remember from that meeting was "everyone finds something, even if it takes time" this stayed with me and reassured m e in moments of doubts.
When I look back on what I did, I could have probably done more but I wasn't really sure which way I wanted to go with my career and needed time to think. I left London feeling drained after working on an international market for 2 Years, different time zones everyday, massive burn out. Just thinking about going back to recruitment, re-living the same stress, I had panic attacks and insomnias for months. Early December, I met up with my mom in Hong Kong and it solved everything "so you haven't been sleeping and you have panic attacks? Why would you even go back to recruitment if that's how you feel?" - "Good point, I'm going to turn down all the job offers I got and I'm not going back to that". Funny enough, it's all it took and I slept like a baby after that.
I went on with my Job Search and decided to extend my network, meet people and understand what was out there, in the French community and others. What's an international background for if you don't tap on it?
I went to many networking events, did some career coaching, met up with people who could help me go further and I kept in touch with the French Chamber of Commerce. I always wanted to work for one, at least once in my life. I kept in touch with the team there, sent them my resume updates, asked if they had anything suitable roles within the chamber etc and when a role opened, they called me. In December 2017, I started there as an HR and Recruiter the scope was different to what I had done before and I really enjoyed it for 2 years.
You calculated well, it did take me a year to really find something I liked, which is why I could have probably done things differently but I'm picky, I don't regret any of it. In the end, I got the job I really wanted.
Annabelle's story
We all go through different stages / processes during our job search and it is important to know what to do and to do it well. Due to covid-19, the job market is a bit different now. I wanted to share with you Annabelle's job search in Singapore in April 2020. Her industry was affected by covid-19 and she had to get creative in her job search in order to find a new opportunity and stay in the fine city. Annabelle has a sales background and has always worked for a software company. Due to her studies in France and Asia, she decided to stay in SEA to get her international career going. See our interview below:
If you would like to see her video resume that helped her secure her current position, please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4d-CQ-v-Vo
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