Three in 10 fresh grads quit their first job in less than a year

Even if it takes them up to three months to land a job.

Around 47% of young Singaporeans take one to three months to look for their first job, Monster revealed.

According to a press release, 30% quit in less than a year. When asked about their reasons for quitting, 67% of participants cited professional growth at 67% and 42% said it was money.

One in two or 50% of employers call graduates unprofessional by bringing up salary and compensation over job role first in an interview.

Around 80% of employers believe they provide support for fresh graduates to grow, but only 37% admitted new hires stay with them for no more than two years.

Meanwhile, fresh graduates said the biggest hurdles in their jobs were a lack of leadership and support for entering working life.

Around 61% also said they lacked industry knowledge, and 34% said they lacked mentorship.

Around 27% said they do not think they “were fully prepared for work life”, whilst 25% faced long work hours, and 23% lacked feedback from direct managers.

According to Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com – APAC and Middle East, "There are two interesting aspects to consider here. Clearly, young talent expect to move quickly in their first jobs – they want promotions and pay rises, and they crave the leadership and support necessary to get there. While this could be a call for employers to take note and act quickly to retain young high potential talent, it’s also a wake-up call to fresh graduates to give themselves time to fully grow into a role and figure out where their strengths lie."

Monster also studied the biggest mistakes made during the hiring process.

About 67% of employers spend less than three minutes on a CV, whilst 50% spend one to three minutes, and 17% only glance at it.

When reviewing a CV, employers care most about experience at 68%, qualifications at 58%, and CV readability at 45%.

Employers care the least about spelling and grammar at 11%, portfolio of work at 8%, and volunteer experience at 5%.

Meanwhile, 26% job seekers think that the hardest part of making a CV is tailor-fitting it to the job.

During job interviews, not asking questions is the biggest regret at 60%, followed by lack of research at 51%.

Only 10% believe focusing too much on a salary discussion was a mistake.