• Nov 30,2021

Job Hunting as Squid Game players

Have you watched the Squid Game? With this Netflix hit series being the talk of the town, it’s likely that you have.

But was it a waste of time binge watching it? I don’t think so.

Here, we will share job-hunting lessons that we can take away from the games played in the series.

The first game played was the Red Light – Green Light game.
In this game, it taught us that we should pace ourselves and not panic as it will cause us to make a wrong move. When hunting for jobs, many leave it to the last minute and end up panicking near graduation with no idea about what kind of job they want. This results in people mass mailing resumes to every open position hastily, and often end up in a job that they are not passionate about. What you should do is to pace yourself, take up as many internships as you can during the course of your study to gain exposure. In times when you realise the field you have been studying for is not your passion, stay calm, re-evaluate other choices and quickly adapt to another field.

The second game played was the Honeycomb game.
This game taught us to be creative and showed us that to survive, we need to challenge conventional methods and think outside the box. When job hunting, you should try unconventional ways of applying for jobs such as by approaching a company’s HR or their in-house recruiter personally to ask for job openings as not all types of jobs are publicly advertised. If that doesn’t work, you can also make use of your network and approach your school alumni or acquaintances to ask for referrals to get a job. It is said that a candidate who is referred is up to 14 times more likely to be hired than someone who applies without!

The third game played was the Tug of War.
This game taught us that balance is key - In the game, the physically disadvantaged team managed to win over the opposing team filled with strong men with their balancing strategy. Applying this to job hunting, not always those with robust transcripts and credentials make a great candidate. If the academic achievements on your resume are great but you lack the interpersonal skills to communicate, it might cut you out of the job. So don’t be disheartened if you feel that you are falling behind others, instead, work on your other strengths to make yourself a more well-balanced candidate.

The fourth game played was the Marble game.
This game showed us that sacrifices have to be made when needed. Player Ji-Yeong sacrificed herself for Player Sae-byeok as she knows it will be for the greater good as Sae-byeok will get to reunite with her family while she herself had nothing else to live for. In the case of Job Hunting, you need to know that there is no perfect job. Keep your expectations realistic and be ready to sacrifice on some of your “wants” because nothing good comes without a challenge or struggle. For instance, instead of expecting an unrealistic perfect job, weigh your priorities when applying for jobs and ask yourself what is important to you; Is it the career growth opportunities? Or the work culture of the organisation? Only when you are able to lower your expectations and focus on your selected priorities, you will be able to find the greater good.

The fifth game played was the Glass stepping stones game.
Here, we can take away that learning from mistakes is crucial, from one you made yourself and from others’. To land the job that you want, you need to learn from the rejections you received, mistakes you made during an interview, and quickly brush up your skills. Only when you manage to figure out what can put you on the path of doing better, will you experience lesser rejections in the future.

The last and final game played was the Squid Game.
In this game, it is critical to understand the competitive advantages - meaning both your strengths and the others’. In the face of fierce competition when job hunting, you should know the best of your skills and strengths and be on the offence to utilise it fully when applying for jobs.

The job-hunting process is definitely exhausting and can be described as an emotional roller coaster with plenty of ups and downs. And that is why we often share advice and tips to job hunters like yourself on our instagram @SearchAsia.sg and linkedin @SearchAsiaConsulting to help out with the process, so do check it out!