He used to earn a five-figure monthly salary, but no one is willing to hire him now even though he is willing to settle for S$3,000 a month.

Mr Roland Ang, 52, told Shin Min Daily that he used to manage a hedge fund in an investment firm, but lost his job when his company folded last November.

He joined the finance department of a bank after serving national service, and worked his way up from an administrative assistant to department head, but his highest educational qualification stops at secondary school.

He also says that he was headhunted four times in the nineties, and commanded a pay of about $15,000 a month, not including annual bonuses. But he finds it hard, if not impossible to find a job now.

He and his wife have three children aged eight to 16, and they are also taking care of his 90-year-old mother.

Sends out 20-30 applications a month

Mr Roland Ang has been actively seeking employment, and sends out 20 to 30 job applications a month on average. He says he went for two interviews a month but was always unsuccessful.

He thinks that it is his lack of educational qualifications and age that is deterring employers.

"When they see that I have no university degree, they say they will contact me again but they never do. Even when I indicate that I am willing to lower my salary expectations to only S$3,000, which is the starting pay of a fresh grad.

"They say that I have too much experience. I don't understand, why don't companies want to employ an experienced staff who is willing to work for less pay? Isn't that a good thing? So I think that my age is a factor."

HR expert says...

Mr David Ang, Executive Director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) told Shin Min daily that employers should not view age and educational qualifications as critical factors when hiring.

He pointed out that they should give older workers a chance, meet them face to face to find out if their experience and skills are relevant before making a decision.

He also says that he empathises with Mr Ang's plight, but feels that offering to lower his pay does not help as companies generally pay according to the position and whether the applicant is willing to lower his expectations is not a factor in their hiring decision.

He also noted that Mr Ang may not have angled his resume and job applications to suit the requirements of the jobs he applied for.

"Companies receive a lot of job applications, if your resume does not have have any factor that captures the attention of the employer, it will be overlooked, so job seekers should customise each application to the job they are applying for."

He added that older job seekers who have ample experience, should not be discouraged although they may face rejection during the process of looking for a job, because employers who recognise their ability will hire them.