NTU grad chooses retail job over bookkeeping

He would have secured a job with one of the Big Four accounting firms.

He also turned down a good offer from another.

The honours graduate in accountancy from Nanyang Technological University walked away from it all to fold clothes, recommend them to customers and vacuum the shop floor.

Mr Jareth Tan, who graduated last year, does not regret giving up a potentially lucrative career to pursue what he considers his true passion - fashion and frontline retail.

"Money isn't everything, I can make do with what I have; anyway, I consider what I earn quite comfortable," explains Mr Tan, who says his salary falls in the mid-$2,000 range.

The extroverted 26-year-old declares his career path with Jay Gee Enterprises as his calling.

He started in July as one of its management trainees, and for the past three months, he has been dressing mannequins, manning the till and folding jeans bottoms at the Levi's store in Ion Orchard mall.

These are tasks Mr Tan will continue to do even if he gets promoted to boutique manager, a prospect he is looking forward to in a year's time.

While frontline-service positions may be considered too menial for some, it is certainly not beneath him, insists the older of two sons in his home and who admits that he rarely helps out with household chores at home.

Some might argue the sales job is elementary and reserved for non-graduates, but Mr Tan finds fulfilment and challenge in it.

He elaborates: "There's a great sense of satisfaction in dressing customers well and seeing them leave the store very happy with their buys.

"There's challenge in helping them locate the perfect pair of jeans, with the right type of colour and wash and the right level of material thickness.

"I feel like I've found my calling. I'm running on pure ability and personality, and I look forward to coming to work," he says.

Like many in the service sector, Mr Tan gets only one Saturday or Sunday off in a month. His other rest days fall on weekdays.

If he had remained at the auditing firm, he might be earning more and spending most of his time seated, rather than having to stand for eight hours at a time.

But Mr Tan views these sacrifices as water off a duck's back. "I'm very comfortable and happy where I'm now. And I don't think I would ever go back," he explains.

Graduates like him are not common, say recruiters and career counsellors.

Only a handful of graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) choose to go into the food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries, says Ms Corrine Ong, director of the NUS Career Centre.

"Most of our graduates are holding professional jobs in industries such as public service, banking and finance, engineering and manufacturing, IT and education," she adds.

Recruiter Daisy Tan, from human resource firm TBC HR Consulting, agrees.

"Many fresh grads have a preference for jobs in prestigious MNCs (multinational companies) in 'hot' industries such as banking and finance, statutory boards, or healthcare.

"Having to 'burn' weekends or do shift work is a major minus when considering a job," says Miss Tan, who specialises in retail and hospitality recruitment.

Those who excel academically typically want to take up jobs related to their field of study, she adds.

In a recent survey conducted by the NUS Career Centre, students rated interest as the top criteria when selecting a job, says career counsellor Ms Ong.

This was followed by attractive pay, work-life balance, supportive bosses and colleagues, and finally, job security.

"From my experience, about 60 per cent of graduates are also heavily influenced by the opinion of their parents and peers.

"The remaining 40 per cent value passion more than these things," says Miss Tan, who has been in the recruitment industry for the past five years.

Although his friends have not expressed surprise or disdain at his career switch, Mr Tan feels "an interesting kind of weird" when he hangs out with them.

"Sometimes, I think to myself that they're going somewhere in life, maybe earning more, but I always come back to the realisation that everyone has a different path to take in life," he reflects candidly.

He recalls going through the books at a client's office located at One Raffles Quay, decked out in a dress shirt and tie.

"I was dragging myself to work every day. My mother literally had to wake me up in the mornings. It wasn't hard; it just felt like a chore, something very tedious.

"It's ironic. On the outside, it looks very prestigious, putting on corporate wear and working in a glamorous building located in a prime district.

"But the highest level of human interaction I got was talking to the admin aunty and getting the right documents," he says jokingly.

What would be Mr Tan's advice to his juniors, who may be looking for a job?

"Think outside the box, and don't restrict yourself. It doesn't mean that if your degree states that you possess a specific skill set, you have to work in an industry which directly utilises that.

"The university education actually equips you with many soft skills which can be useful in industries you did not think of," he says.

"There's a great sense of satisfaction in dressing customers well and seeing them leave the store very happy with their buys.