Top marks for camp that helped 16-year-olds in choice of career path

Recently, an Integrated Programme school in the western part of Singapore organised a unique learning activity for all Year 4 students, which helped the pupils in considering their career choices.

The cohort was divided into two groups. Each group of students took turns to stay in the school hostel for three days. During those days, they participated in lessons conducted in an innovative and refreshing manner outside the school.

The students took a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment to better understand their personality. Some guidance on their possible choices of career was given based on their personality.

This led to active discussions between the teachers and students, and among the students, to explore the various careers the students intend to embark on.

During the day, the students left the school to interview select working professionals, including lecturers in polytechnics and universities, doctors in hospitals, experienced editors in Singapore’s mainstream newspapers, lawyers and accountants, to name a few.

The students learnt how to approach various professionals to request for a short interview. They also learnt how to manage their time in planning the interviews so that they could speak to a few professionals in those couple of days.

They also discussed among themselves the crafting of appropriate questions to ask so as to get the best out of the short interviews.

Not all the professionals approached participated, but those who accepted the interviews offered invaluable advice on career prospects, which served as a strong motivation for the students to continue to excel in their studies.

In the evening, former students now working in various industries were invited to share their career stories. Representatives of other popular professions, including from the Navy, participated on another evening.

The students learnt more about the different careers through the formal and informal channels organised by the school.

Besides understanding the different careers available so they can make informed choices of subjects to study next year and later in the university, the students forged a closer friendship by staying under one roof at that time.

I applaud the efforts by the teachers involved and the school for arranging this well-thought-out activity. This is a well-defined learning activity that truly benefited the students.