Business grad snags job with Google thanks to Govt programme

SINGAPORE — While he has always been wowed by “bleeding edge technologies” as a child and aspired to work in the tech industry, Mr Ronnie Lee studied for a business degree because he felt that this would help him run his own start-up in the future.

After graduating from the Singapore Management University in May last year, Mr Lee jumped at the chance to take part in the Squared Data and Analytics Programme — a collaboration between Google and the former Infocommunications Development Authority — to help grow Singapore’s talent pool in analytics.

The course is now part of TechSkills Accelerator (Tesa), a series of programmes open to Singaporean fresh graduates and mid-career professionals looking to acquire information and communications technology (ICT) skills.

About 1,000 professionals have been trained in various fields of ICT over the last three months since Tesa was rolled out, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said on Friday (Sept 30) at the launch of the Info-communications Media Development Authority.

Apart from company-led initiatives such as Google’s programme, Tesa also has intensive placement programmes to help non-ICT professionals prepare for the industry, and course certifications for existing ICT professionals.

In August last year, Mr Lee was one of 25 Singaporean graduates who joined the data analytics programme that comprises two months of intensive training by Google — with support from experts and Singapore-based agencies — and six months of mentoring by an industry veteran.

He said: “I thought it would pave an in-road to the tech industry, which is what I have always wanted to do. Google’s brand name was definitely a pull factor ... I learnt the most from working with brilliant people who were willing to teach, mentor and inspire me.”

The programme also deepened his skills in coding and analytics, and Mr Lee added that he would not have tried entering the tech industry “this early” in his career without the training.

He scored a one-year contract with Google through the programme, and since February, he has been working there as a business analyst, ploughing through data sets and developing business strategies for clients in the consumer banking sector — a role that marries his skills in business and analytics.