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https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ngi-airport-hospital-healthcare-jobs-14170438
As a Changi Airport experience manager, she was deeply passionate about her work, going to lengths to help, for example, a passenger who’d missed a flight get to her father’s funeral on time.
“We had to be able to change all complaints to a compliment,” she said.
But her career came to an abrupt halt, when the airport announced plans for manpower cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had devastated air traffic.
She was paying for her mother’s and her husband’s medical bills, including for the latter’s post-stroke physiotherapy sessions.
Both also needed regular diabetes and hypertension check-ups as well as medication.
The total medical bills, after MediSave deductions, came up to roughly S$300 a month.
She also was paying S$500 in cash for monthly instalments on her flat’s mortgage, and still supporting her youngest daughter who was in polytechnic.
Her older daughter and son were able to chip in to help financially.
And the COVID-19 Support Grant provided her with S$800 a month for three months, which helped with grocery expenses and the bills.
But while this, as well as her retrenchment package and five months’ worth of personal savings, gave her a cushion, she knew the money wouldn’t last long. She felt the urgency to find a new job.
She began by taking stock of the skills she’d honed: Customer service, the ability to work in a team, and people management. She also had some prior experience working in the security industry.
With her children introducing her to job portals like JobStreet and JobsDB, and teaching her how to navigate them, she applied to “more than 50 companies”, sometimes staying up as late as 1am to work on her applications.
“It’s a bit tedious, but the job won’t come to you just by staying at home and waiting for other people to help you,” she said.
To better her chances, she used her SkillsFuture credits for a security course to upgrade herself.
She also got in touch with Workforce Singapore’s Careers Connect for help with her resume. Not having written one for more than a decade, she’d only listed her two most recent jobs.
She was advised to reframe her resume by specifying her interests, desired job scope, and courses she’d attended, such as a civil defence course as part of her airport job.
Her children taught her how to use Skype and Zoom for online job interviews. “We also assisted her in customising different resumes for customer service, healthcare or administrative jobs,” said her 30-year-old elder daughter who was shocked at her mum being retrenched.
When her mum had first told them about the manpower cuts, she recalled, “we told her, ‘You definitely won’t be retrenched, mummy, you’re so experienced’.”
As a Changi Airport experience manager, she was deeply passionate about her work, going to lengths to help, for example, a passenger who’d missed a flight get to her father’s funeral on time.
“We had to be able to change all complaints to a compliment,” she said.
But her career came to an abrupt halt, when the airport announced plans for manpower cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had devastated air traffic.
She was paying for her mother’s and her husband’s medical bills, including for the latter’s post-stroke physiotherapy sessions.
Both also needed regular diabetes and hypertension check-ups as well as medication.
The total medical bills, after MediSave deductions, came up to roughly S$300 a month.
She also was paying S$500 in cash for monthly instalments on her flat’s mortgage, and still supporting her youngest daughter who was in polytechnic.
Her older daughter and son were able to chip in to help financially.
And the COVID-19 Support Grant provided her with S$800 a month for three months, which helped with grocery expenses and the bills.
But while this, as well as her retrenchment package and five months’ worth of personal savings, gave her a cushion, she knew the money wouldn’t last long. She felt the urgency to find a new job.
She began by taking stock of the skills she’d honed: Customer service, the ability to work in a team, and people management. She also had some prior experience working in the security industry.
With her children introducing her to job portals like JobStreet and JobsDB, and teaching her how to navigate them, she applied to “more than 50 companies”, sometimes staying up as late as 1am to work on her applications.
“It’s a bit tedious, but the job won’t come to you just by staying at home and waiting for other people to help you,” she said.
To better her chances, she used her SkillsFuture credits for a security course to upgrade herself.
She also got in touch with Workforce Singapore’s Careers Connect for help with her resume. Not having written one for more than a decade, she’d only listed her two most recent jobs.
She was advised to reframe her resume by specifying her interests, desired job scope, and courses she’d attended, such as a civil defence course as part of her airport job.
Her children taught her how to use Skype and Zoom for online job interviews. “We also assisted her in customising different resumes for customer service, healthcare or administrative jobs,” said her 30-year-old elder daughter who was shocked at her mum being retrenched.
When her mum had first told them about the manpower cuts, she recalled, “we told her, ‘You definitely won’t be retrenched, mummy, you’re so experienced’.”
