Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

NTUC helps students prepare to join the workforce

SINGAPORE — For polytechnic student Marcus Low (picture), 20, a course conducted by the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) opened his eyes to new ways to connect with a wider network of contacts, which could even lead to job openings.

Polytechnic student Marcus Low. Photo: Koh Mui Fong

Polytechnic student Marcus Low. Photo: Koh Mui Fong

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — For polytechnic student Marcus Low (picture), 20, a course conducted by the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) opened his eyes to new ways to connect with a wider network of contacts, which could even lead to job openings.

Last month, on the encouragement of a lecturer, the third-year Nanyang Polytechnic student signed up for the all-day course, which taught participants how to improve one’s reach on social media to connect to more people.

This, he acknowledged, could even land him a job in future.

Tapping social-media tools such as blogs, LinkedIn and YouTube, the course imparted skills on how to set up a profile on the Internet that will get him noticed by prospective employers.

“It’s a great way to prepare yourself for future jobs … (but to me) it’s another great way to connect with people,” Mr Low said.

Now studying electrical engineering with eco-design, he plans to create a blog soon that will discuss, among other things, the events he had taken part in at school and elsewhere.

Mr Low is just one of the students who have benefited from the partnerships that the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has with 14 institutes of higher learning, in getting students up to speed with work matters even before they step into the labour force.

Mr Gilbert Tan, chief executive officer of e2i, told TODAY earlier this week that they do this by organising preparatory workshops customised to students’ needs at the various institutes, and curating modules to get adult learners up to speed with new skills, for instance.

At Temasek Polytechnic, some alumni members took part in a two-day workshop last month where they learnt how to handle job interviews, for example, in a bid to raise their employability as they move between jobs. They also benefited from e2i’s follow-up sessions after the workshop and job-referral services, which resulted in half the attendees landing a job within one-and-a-half months of the workshop, the polytechnic said.

In another collaboration announced yesterday at the launch of the Singapore Management University Academy, e2i would partner the academy in developing programmes to sharpen the workforce’s digital capabilities in areas such as financial services, and human capital management and leadership. KENNETH CHENG

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.