Hi, I’m Adrian Tan.
Welcome to my blog.
I started my writing journey in 2005.
It was just random ramblings of things in life. And blogging was the in thing back then.
Being superficial, I migrated to WordPress to take advantage of their easy design function.
I transitioned from writing about my daily boring stuff to professional topics such as recruitment and career.
In 2014, I decided to get my own domain after getting to know about Michael Hyatt and the theme that powers his blog.
I bought that and it is what I’m using today.
To that end, I write mainly on HR Tech. On occasion, I also chronicle down my personal milestone such as my travels or getting my diving license.
If you’re new to my site (and you likely wouldn’t be on this page if you weren’t), here are some of my most popular posts in each category.
My Most Popular Posts
- Empowering today’s connected workforce through a data-driven approach to managing hourly workers
- Amritpal Singh | Business Expansion Without The Compliance Hassle
- 90% of HR jobs in Singapore will be disrupted by technology
I typically post twice a month, occasionally more. To make sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe via e-mail. It’s quick, easy, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Occasionally I also guest write on other platforms. Here are some of them:
Ok. So who exactly are you?
In a sentence, I would describe myself as a serial HR Entrepreneur.
I started my entrepreneurship journey in 2004.
No, actually it dates back to 2001.
Because in that year, I was laid off by the dot-com I was working in.
Stupidly I joined another dot-com and got the axe again.
In 2003, I joined a company that distributes aircraft spare parts. I thought I was safe (from retrenchment).
Then SARS came along.
People stopped flying and business was really bad.
I hate to score a hat-trick in getting retrenched. In a desperate attempt to prevent this from happening, I decided to start my own business.
I won’t fire myself. And I have a friend who started his business a year before. He seems to be doing fine.
So naively a few friends and I jumped into the recruitment industry and started RecruitPlus (exited).
It didn’t cost us much (our total capital was $24K) and if it fails, we just continue our corporate life.
And so a 2-year experiment became an 11-year journey.
I’m fortunate to have led the company to industry accolades such as humanresources HR Vendor of the Year 2013 and 2014).
I also received the HR Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2013.
Given my frequent speaking engagements, I am featured as one of the twelve Asian CEOs profiled in the book titled, “INSPIRIT – How Asian CEOs Inspire Action From The Stage.”
My foray into Career Coaching
In 2013, I co-wrote a career guidebook in 2013. It is called Everything You Wish To Ask a Headhunter. That started my foray into career training and coaching.
Initially, I wrote about career matters on this blog too. But I decided to park that under CareerLadder, the vehicle that I set up to help the mid-career executive in their job search. (CareerLadder has since been acquired by ResumeWriter.Sg)
Future of Work
After my first exit, I wanted to join LinkedIn. But that didn’t happen.
Hired.com came along and again I wasn’t selected.
I believe my lack of internet experience was the key reason.
Fortunately, HackerTrail came along and invited me to join them.
That started my formal involvement in this space which I find fascinating. Not forgetting the opportunity to meet other HR tech companies.
Other Businesses
In Jul 2016 I started The Resource Group, an HR Consultancy business that focuses on levelling up the HR capabilities of Singapore based SMEs. I exited from that business to focus on my previous role with PeopleStrong as the Regional Leader for Client Solutioning.
Career Hero was created in Aug 2016 as a resume optimisation platform to help job seekers gain more job interview opportunities. I have since exited from that in 2020.
My Family
I have been married to my wife, Annie, for more than ten years. We have two sons and two daughters. We live on a hot sunny island called Singapore.
We chronicle our parenting journey at My Funtastic Four. (stopped this website as I didn’t have time to maintain it)
My Contact Information
Like to get in touch? Drop me your message below.