For Youths Stressing About Their Future Career Prospects

The most fulfilling work is rarely about titles or salaries. It is about solving real problems for real people.

Yet many young people begin their journey with the question, “What job should I do?”

This question is understandable. It is practical. But it is also limiting.

A better question, perhaps the most important question, can be

“What problem do I want to solve?”

Because when work is rooted in service, meaning follows. And in a time when achievement is often measured by personal gain, choosing to build for others is both uncommon and deeply human.

The Trap of the Job Title

Many people spend years climbing a ladder, only to realise it was leaning against the wrong wall. Titles feel important. But they are often placeholders for things we have not questioned. What we truly seek is contribution, not position.

In the past, purpose was inherited. You became a farmer or merchant because your parents were. Today, we are free to choose. But with that freedom comes confusion. What looks prestigious may feel hollow. What pays well may not feel meaningful. The key is not what label you wear, but what value you create.

In Singapore, where excellence is encouraged and achievement is often public, there is strong momentum to follow paths that are stable, secure and highly regarded. These paths can bring success, but success without reflection can feel empty.

In my opinion, purpose does not come from being impressive. It comes from being useful.

Solving for Others, Finding Yourself

The work that brings the deepest fulfilment often starts with someone else’s need. A gap. A frustration. A quiet pain point. When we choose to solve that problem to bring a change, we access something more lasting than reward.

Ask a great teacher what brings them joy. It is not the lesson plan. It is the moment a student understands something they once feared.

Ask a designer what brings the most meaning. It is not just the final product. It is knowing someone’s life became easier, clearer or calmer.

Real purpose begins when we shift the focus from ourselves to others.

The Problem Is the Starting Point

Instead of asking:

• What industry should I enter?

• What role pays the most?

• What is the most respected?

Try asking:

• What frustrates me about how things are done?

• What could be improved in the world around me?

• Who do I care about helping?

These are the kinds of questions that move us from filling roles to shaping solutions. And they are questions that you, as a student, can begin asking now before entering the workforce upon graduation.

Growing Up in a Nation Built on Solving Problems

Singapore is often admired for its efficiency, planning and innovation. But it is also a country that began with resource constraints and transformed itself through thoughtful problem-solving.

Today, new challenges are emerging. Climate resilience. Mental health in schools. Ageing communities. Urban loneliness. Digital trust. Youth engagement.

These are not abstract issues. They are here, now, and they matter deeply.

Civilisations are shaped by those who respond to the needs of their time. The future belongs to those who choose to care.

We do not need to fix everything. But if we solve one problem well, we might change someone’s life. And that is enough.

Build, Not Just Belong

To work with purpose is not to wait for permission. It is to begin.

You do not need to be perfect. You do not need a title. You only need a reason.

The student who designs a simple tool to help classmates revise. The friend who starts a small mental health support circle. The teen who writes clearly about what school stress actually feels like. These are not minor acts. They are beginnings.

Work becomes meaningful when it touches others. And when it does, it also changes the one doing the work.

Final Thoughts

Not all work is glamorous. Not all impact is loud. But the most enduring satisfaction often comes not from applause, but from contribution.

Instead of asking what job to do, ask where you are needed.

Instead of asking how to win, ask how to serve.

This is not about giving up ambition. It is about anchoring it in something that will last longer than a result slip or a certificate.

Singapore needs dreamers, but also builders. Quiet fixers. Steady helpers. Thoughtful solvers.

When you build for others, you build a future worth stepping into.

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p.s. I just begun a journey of writing my thoughts on my personal site. Feel it to check it out.