LinkedIn research reveals the majority of the Singaporean workforce over-estimate the time required per day to further their career.
Expert reveals that 9 minutes a day is all it takes to maintain a healthy, successful career.

Infographic of LinkedIn research conducted by IPSOS Mori and Catalyst
Over 81% of Singaporean professionals believe that the ideal amount of time spent daily on progressing your career should be in excess of 30 minutes, according to the research.
“Fitting 9 minutes of career management into your daily schedule is all it takes without adding stress or pressure,” says Arruda, who partnered with LinkedIn to identify the optimum amount of time to spend daily on what he has termed ‘continuous career management’.The research was undertaken by IPSOS Mori and Catalyst and involved 3,200 working professionals worldwide, including 400 in Singapore.
World leading personal branding expert William Arruda instead presents a far more appealing and realistic time commitment.
He advocates that by spending just 9 minutes a day you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and successful career. Here are 9 activities that he suggests you can do during those 9 minutes.
“9 minutes is the optimum amount of time recommended, because it also gives you complete focus, and educators to psychologists agree that the ability to focus one’s attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one’s goals,” Arruda elaborated.The public perception of 3.5+hrs per week is a stark contrast to Arruda’s recommendation of 45 minutes per week.
Other results reveal that – given an hour – 95% believe it’s more useful to spend time keeping in with the boss (making them tea) than spending time building their network or finessing their CV.
Here are some other results from the research:
- Given an hour – 95% believe it’s more useful to spend time keeping in with the boss (making them tea) than spending time building their network or finessing their CV.
- Men perceived as better networkers than women. 42% of the population think that men are better than women at networking, versus only 9% believing women were better.
- Nine in 10 professionals agree that having a professional network of connections is crucial during economic uncertainty.
IPSOS MORI is part of the IPSOS Group, a leading market research company in the UK and Ireland.
Professionals deemed to be the most effective networkers:
| 46% |
Marketing |
| 17% |
Sales |
| 15% |
Bankers & Stockbrokers |
| 1-2% |
Nurse, Teachers, Legal and Retail
|
In Singapore and Australia, the research was conducted by Australian research firm Catalyst Consultancy & Research.
The research asked 3,200 working professionals globally about their daily work habits, with markets being the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Singapore and Australia.