Manpower reporter Tay Hong Yi has written 100 reports for askST Jobs. The series offers practical answers to candid questions on navigating workplace challenges and getting ahead in your career. Here he reflects on what’s next. Get more tips by signing up to The Straits Times’ HeadSTart newsletter.

       A: I took over responsibility for this weekly column on Oct 17, 2022, from a more seasoned colleague who was leaving.

       Since then, the ritual of selecting what question to address and posing it to the right people has become one reassuring constant of the unpredictable work weeks that come with this job.

       I sought to shape the column into one that balances answers to both fresh questions and perennial ones in want of better answers for our local context.

       I also took it upon myself to address issues younger workers – as one myself – face, such as whether to take up a graduate scheme.

       Each column reminds me that I am as much a part of the workforce as many readers are.

       The insights into careers and work life I get to share are often new to me, too, and can be applied in my own life.

       By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

       This milestone is a good time to take stock of what the “greatest hits” have been and why, before laying out what the future holds for this column.

       To my mind, there are three broad categories of askST Jobs articles that all have their place.

       The first involves the questions readers actually send in.

       Cue the shock and horror: Not every question comes verbatim from a reader. Sometimes, we receive reader e-mails that narrate frustrating situations they have experienced at work or during their job search in painstaking detail.

       It is humbling to be entrusted with their stories in hopes of guidance. The onus is on us to do justice to these stories.

       We do so by exercising our editorial judgment to discern the questions of broad applicability that underlie any specific scenario, but may not be explicit in these communications. These include whether to quit a job without an offer, or how to avoid being passed over for job openings due to being overqualified.

       Other times, we get similar questions from multiple readers that we group together into an overarching question.

       How to deal with interview questions about last-drawn salary is one especially popular question to ask, which attests to how many people face this situation.

       Then, there are the questions that stem from issues I am personally curious about but appear to be of wider relevance.

       The April 29 edition typifies this approach by talking about who the different variants of diplomas available in the Singapore education system are meant for.

       Sometimes, these questions call to mind the slogan of the infamous gag Ig Nobel Prize for quirky but serious science: questions that make you laugh, and then make you think.

       The latest entry on being paid more than bosses is one such question that turned out to have a surprisingly nuanced and intuitive answer that provides useful guidance.

       Then there are the more staid but urgent and necessary explainers to major trends sweeping Singapore’s employment landscape.

       Our analytics indicate explainers put in this question-and-answer format and released within a short time do extremely well.

       This points to the appetite for clear, well-structured and comprehensive explanations that make for easy reading.

       The column on what guidelines on flexible work arrangement requests entail is the most recent example of this, with the highest number of views among all askST Jobs articles published in 2024.

       It is a real privilege to be entrusted with a column on work issues that has such great reach and impact on public discourse – while getting to learn so much myself as I chart my own career.

       We at ST intend to make the content of this column even more engaging, relevant and accessible.

       To do so, we will tie the content more closely to HeadSTart, our initiative to reach out to young audiences, especially working adults in search of solidarity and help in a world of growing complexity in work, personal finance and life.

       HeadSTart started with a newsletter, but now also encompasses a podcast that I co-host, events and much more.

       Issues we cover under askST Jobs can and will be further fleshed out in ways that complement this written column, provoking deeper conversations on subjects close to the heart of all who work, live and dream.

       So, for the 100th time, let’s talk.

       Have a question? Send it to askst@sph.com.sg