Undergrads get up-to-date career advice
When Mr Low Huai Zhong, 25, graduated with an accountancy degree from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in February, he wondered about his options beyond working in an audit firm.
Last month, he signed up for a four-month National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) Career Discovery & Mentorship Programme where he met his mentor, Mr Edwin Chan, who has more than 10 years of experience in the industry.
Mr Low, who recently started working as an accounts executive at Maybank, is one of the 440 young participants who has benefited from the programme piloted by Young NTUC Youth Career Network last September.
And the labour movement aims to reach out to more tertiary students before they start working.
Yesterday, Young NTUC signed a memorandum of understanding with two universities, SIT and the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), to offer such programmes to their students.
All SUSS year one undergraduates and SIT engineering students will go through the career preparation programme, which will be customised according to the universities' needs.
They plan to recruit and train over 60 career guides and help 500 mentees in both universities in a year.
Mr Desmond Choo, executive secretary of Young NTUC, said that the partnership will augment existing career guidance offices through a peer-to-peer mentoring system.
"Our career guides are easily accessible and being working professionals in different fields, they can share real-time insights into the industries," Mr Choo added.
Senior sales manager at Carlton Hotel, Ms Angel Neo, 31, who has been working in the hospitality industry for seven years and co-founded cold-pressed juice outlet Seed and Soil two years ago, is one of the guides.
Ms Neo said: "The students could approach friends or seniors, but they would probably be around the same age and working for just a few years.
"I hope to be able to relate my work experience, as well as my entrepreneurship journey."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
