Career support and learning & development initiatives for the Class of 2020
Career support
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges to economies and societies. It has also affected the job prospects of our Class of 2020. To assist them, the Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre (DKHMCC) and the Postgraduate Career Services Centre (PGCS) have stepped up their efforts and rolled out several initiatives to help our graduating cohort secure permanent or contract employment. Their efforts have been well-received, as seen from the feedback below:
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“I received multiple job offers before graduation by participating in DKHMCC’s physical career fair in 2019, as well as the virtual career fair in March 2020 and through the job portal OnTRACII. “By mentoring, guiding, growing, my career coach Aaron Chong at DKHMCC has been literally by my side from the first year of my SMU education journey. He outlined my career options, my needs and wants, and guided me on my module choices, career opportunities and how best to prepare for the kind of job and type of career I want. Even during the current pandemic when my peers were fretting over the lack of interviews and jobs, Aaron was helping me to shortlist, analyse and fine tune my career choices.” – Tan Chuan Yong, School of Information Systems |
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“Generally I think OnTRACII is a good place to start to source for job openings. It was the primary medium I used to apply for jobs and internships while at SMU. The filters made it a lot easier to navigate and search for specific listings, and having a dedicated site to look at jobs for graduating students definitely made the search a lot easier as well. I also submitted my resume to the Career Champions at DKHMCC for review, it provided me with a fuss free and convenient way to be able to gain feedback and make the relevant changes to my resume. “While preparing for the SG United Traineeship at a global dairy nutrition company I am currently with, I met with my DKHMCC career coach to run through the possible interview questions and the ways for me to know the company and the industry at a deeper level.” – Alexis See Hui Xin, Lee Kong Chian School of Business |
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“I was blown away by the services that PGCS provided. There were many alumni’s that reached out, combined with the proactive emails and calls from my career counsellor, I never felt alone in my job hunt. My current role in the banking sector was shared by an SMU alumni. I can’t emphasise how grateful I am to the alumni network for presenting such amazing opportunities. “I have given great reviews regarding PGCS, in particular my career counsellor Veronica Yeow, who provided advice which enabled me to polish my resume, understand my career goals better and how I should market myself to have the best opportunity to succeed. I will definitely continue speaking highly of the PGCS team.” – Nicholas Teo, Master of Science in Quantitative Finance |
Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre
(i) Sourced and posted full-time jobs for graduates on SMU’s in-house internship / job portal, OnTRACII. It has been actively reaching out to employers to facilitate permanent and contract employment recruitment, as well as to our alumni on offering traineeship and employment opportunities;
(ii) Increased the number of online Employability Clinics where priority is given to those seeking full-time jobs;
(iii) Since the pandemic, SMU has organised three virtual career fairs on 27 March, 22 May and 24 July 2020.
(iv) Started a matching service where students who have yet to secure full time employment are matched with employers who are still looking for graduates to fill vacant positions.
(v) SMU Career Coaches are reaching out to the Class of 2020 to check on their employment status and offer any assistance they may need. DKHMCC is also sharing details of the available SGUnited Traineeship opportunities and encouraging them to apply. DKHMCC and the Office of Dean of Students - in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Singapore - worked closely with SMU schools and offices to create close to 100 SGUnited Traineeships especially for the graduating Classes of 2020 and 2019. These specially-created research assistant and administrative SMU Traineeships are part of the nation-wide SGUnited Traineeship Programme.
Postgraduate Career Services Centre
- Organised events such as virtual career fairs and virtual panel discussions on job search/career management in times of crisis;
- Collaborated with the Office of Alumni Relations on initiatives and communications to encourage alumni to consider SMU postgraduate students for full-time job and internship opportunities;
- Tapped into the networks of SMU faculty and advisory boards members for job and internship opportunities;
- Stepped up the sourcing of job opportunities in key overseas markets such as China, India and Southeast Asia;
- Coached students to enhance their employability such as by sharpening their resumes, polishing their interview skills (especially online), refining search strategy and addressing any skill gaps.
Learning and development
As a forward-looking education institution and a strong advocate of lifelong learning, SMU units have put in place learning and development initiatives for the Class of 2020 to upskill and reskill themselves, in preparation for the upturn in the economy.
Many from the Class of 2020 have made use of these learning and development opportunities, and benefitted from them, as can be seen from their comments below:
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“While still a student at SIS, I had taken a CET course at the SMU Academy which I found useful. I then identified a few courses I was interested in, including Tableau, which is critical for roles such as Business Analysts and Product Managers to communicate data/ information visually. I attended the two-day CET course Tableau: Unlocking Insights with Analytics in July this year. I was impressed with how the module was conducted, which adopted a sequential approach to visual storytelling as well as the hands-on exercises of analysing real data. I am interested in the follow-on course titled Tableau: Unlocking Insights with Analytics II, as well as other courses on digital marketing. Personally, I feel SMU’s initiative to offer four complimentary CET modules helps the Class of 2020 mainly in two ways: improve their employability by upskilling; and for those who are still looking for a job, they can make use of this period to pick up useful skills.” – Clarence Pang Zhi Wey, School of Information Systems |
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“I am a firm believer in lifelong learning. The four modules in Digital Marketing I have taken up at the SMU Academy provides me with a good opportunity to upskill, so as to better equip myself for my career in marketing and hopefully open doors to more opportunities in the future. With the market being so competitive, this initiative by the Academy to offer four complimentary CET modules to our graduating Class of 2020 is a good one. I would encourage my peers to make full use of it” – Kong Min Li, Lee Kong Chian School of Business |
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“The initiative by OAR to set up a microsite is fantastic and is a step towards building a cohesive alumni community. I appreciate the measure and look forward to creating a stronger connection in the future. “I have immensely benefited from the Creating Effective Digital Marketing Campaigns workshop as it has given me the missing link that inhibited me in completing my job. It has saved me countless hours of research and allows me to improve my quality of work – as against spending time to figure out how to do that work at a growing, entrepreneurially driven business that I am with. Together with another workshop which I have attended, I have strong faith in the OAR and its ability to lend support to the alumni community. I look forward to attend more workshops so as to upskill myself for career progression and contribute back to SMU to improve such initiatives. - Aditya Rai, Master of Science in Management |
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“The OAR microsite is very useful and acts like a ‘one-stop service’ where there are many resources and useful information. It also creates a sense of belonging, knowing that my journey with SMU does not just end as a student but there is a big alumni community which I can be a part of. “The workshop on Foundations of Brand Storytelling under the “Skilled for the Future” series jointly organized by SMU Academy and OAR was indeed an insightful session. Although I majored in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources, I have been wanting to acquire skills and knowledge in Marketing and Corporate Communication upon graduation. This workshop has given me a glimpse of the industry and a renewed perspective. Brand storytelling is now the way to promote businesses and its products. A captivating brand story will keep the consumers engaged and leave a strong impression.” - Teo Siang Joo, Lee Kong Chian School of Business |
(i) Our Office of Alumni Relations has launched a microsite on 30 April which contains online resources, webinars, virtual workshops, podcasts, as well as articles and references published by SMU’s Schools and Centres.
(ii) The SMU Academy, the university’s professional training arm, is offering four complimentary Continuing Education and Training (CET) modules to our graduating Class of 2020. The Academy currently has close to 500 CET modules available, of varying topics and duration.
In addition, our alumni and the graduating Class of 2020 will be able to attend the ‘Skilled for the Future’ series of micro workshops co-organised by the SMU Academy and Office of Alumni Relations. The workshops, conducted virtually, last up to 1.5 hours each, and are based on some of the most popular topics taught by the Academy's instructors.
(iii) SMU alumni will enjoy a 20% discount (up from the current 10% discount) for Postgraduate Professional Programmes starting between July 2020 and January 2021.