Career Conversion - Green Collar Careers

Every time I get into a conversation about career conversions, the green story keeps coming up. So I decided to review some possible resources to help it along.

A good place to start is knowing what are the options and requirements, I found Green Careers Guide useful.

It provides a:

1. Rundown of the various green career categories
2. The training required
3. Green entrepreuneurship ideas and
4. General green articles

The nearest equivalent in Singapore is the GREEN BUSINESS TIMES

You get some good info on events, book reviews and a generally dealing of greem Jobs and training side is rather this though.

For training try

• Singapore Environmental Institute
• Energy Efficient Singapore

and to have an idea who are some of the industry players

• Sustainable Energy Association

Sunny economy spurs budding enterprises

Number of new firms jumps 34% in Q4 as economy picks up: study

(SINGAPORE) A sunny economic climate appears to have a positive impact on the level of entrepreneurial activity, according to research by BT and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra).


Looking at the data from 2006 to 2009, the top growing industry was non-specialised retail in-stores, whose numbers grew an average of 30 per cent. This was followed by companies supporting services to education (23.7 per cent), and firms in social and community activities (18.1 per cent).


Article from Business Times

An interesting read for those considering taking the plunge.

Career Conversion : The 10 Worst Mistakes Career Changers Make

For those considering career conversions, some useful advice that I stumbled upon on "10 worst mistakes..." on monster.com.sg

1. Don't look for a job in another field without some intense introspection
2. Don't look for "hot" fields unless they're a good fit for you.
3. Don't go into a field because your friend is doing well in it.
4. Don't stick to possibilities you already know about.
5. Don't let money be the deciding factor
6. Don't keep your dissatisfaction to yourself or try to make the switch alone.
7. Don't go back to school to get retreaded unless you've done some test drives in the new field.
8. Be careful when using placement agencies or search firms.
9. Don't go to a career counsellor or a career transitions agency expecting they can tell you which field to enter.
10. Don't expect to switch overnight.

MedTech Manufacturing

For those who are considering the Career Conversion Medtech

This event might interest you.

Further info can be found at http://medtech-mfg.com/index.php

Solar Panel Industry Prospects

I had a discussion about the prospects of the Solar panel industry and the below video and the article about the solar industry in Singapore should provide some insights.

Hydrogen Cell at home

Looks like maybe Hydrogen cell is not that far away

7 Commom Breakout Patterns

Looks like it is going to get tougher making money on the Stock market this year.

I started to look at breakout patterns and candlesticks.

You will find the below breakout pattern and 6 others at  7 Common Breakout Patterns

Singapore Economy Key Indicators

% changes are compared to same period of previous year


Advance GDP up 3.5% in 4Q2009

CPI remains unchanged in Dec 2009

Total Trade up 20.0% in Dec 2009

Index of Industrial Production up 14.4% in Dec 2009

Retail Sales down 5.0% in Dec 2009

Total Population was 4.99 million in Jun 2009

Employment was 2.99 million in Dec 2009

Unemployment Rate (SA) was 2.1% in Dec 2009

Source : Statistics Singapore

Where to put your money

I was running through "Future Singapore' by Moh Hong Meng and this was a list of his recommendation.

1. Commodities

2. Recycling

3. Water Treatment

4. Transportation

5. Food manufacturing

6. Consumer Goods

7. Luxury Goods

8. Hotels

9. Education

10. Healthcare

Career Conversion : The Best Degrees for Next Generation Jobs

More U.S. based but interesting read for those guys who are still wondering

The Best Degrees for Next Generation Jobs - CNBC

Stockmarket Rally Running Out of Steam ?

I saw the article on Businessweek, "Asia 'Top' Shows Stock Market Rally Is Over: Technical Analysis ... " and it prompted me to check the STI Index.

I put the 100% Fibonacci at the peak in 2007 and the 0% at the bottom in Oct 2008 and guess what?

The market seems to have bounced of the 61% line in Jan '10 and is on the downtrend. Looks like now is not the time to go long.

Career Conversion Medtech

I had an enquiry on how to career convert to the emerging medtech industry.

One possibe option is the graduate diploma in medtech manufacturing. Unfortunately the one that starts in March 2010 has closed for application on 18th Dec last year.

Another option to explore is the Master in Science (Biomedical Engineering).

NTU is running a preview this coming Saturday 6th February 2010. Sign up at : https://wis.ntu.edu.sg/pls/webexe/REGISTER_NTU.REGISTER?EVENT_ID=OA10011516382449