Budget 2021: She didn’t want to be ‘stagnant’ at work during Covid-19 crisis so she joined another industry

• DPM Heng Swee Keat encourages Singaporeans to arm themselves with the skills and agility to move between jobs
• Ms Lim Hwee Ling, 44, was one who did that, leaving her sales job at a small construction firm
• She took up a course under the Professional Conversion Programme to work in a different industry
• Now she is helping to manage commercial operations at an offshore solutions company

SINGAPORE — Faced with the realisation that her career prospects were limited while working on sales at a small construction firm, Ms Lim Hwee Ling made a leap in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to join the offshore marine industry.

Despite her initial concerns about making the switch the same year that her son was having his Primary School Leaving Examination, the 44-year-old found the job under government agency Workforce Singapore’s Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), which equipped her with the know-how and skills needed to perform her new role.

“If I don’t take this opportunity now, then when would I? So I asked myself what I am looking for and decided to make this switch. And so far, I have no regrets,” she told TODAY.

As the economy recovers slowly from the pandemic and industries transform, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday (Feb 16) called on Singaporeans to arm themselves with the skills and the agility to move between jobs.

An extra S$5.4 billion will be pumped into the SG United Jobs and Skills Package to help Singaporean workers pick up new knowledge and skills to bounce back from the economic fallout. 

Of this sum, S$5.2 billion will be set aside for the Jobs Growth Incentive, which has been extended by seven months to September this year. 

The scheme provides companies with up to one year of salary support from the Government, from the month each new Singapore resident was hired since September last year.

Ms Lim left her sales job in September last year for a mostly backend role as an assistant manager of commercial operations at Posh Semco, a Kuok Singapore Group subsidiary that provides vessels for offshore energy operations.

Where she was once collating all the data she had into spreadsheets, she is now using advanced data visualisation and analytics software to track the performances of the company’s vessels.

“When I’m equipped with this sort of knowledge to handle digital tools, it’s a (means of) growth for me and I will not be stagnant,” she said. 

She added that while her job transition was challenging, her colleagues at Posh Semco have been very helpful. 

Her employer even encouraged her to take leave to coach her son through his national examination but she declined.

As part of her transition, Ms Lim has been receiving on-the-job training to help her adapt to the new sector. 

Later this year, she will be attending formal classroom lessons as part of the PCP for sea transport professionals, which is organised by the Singapore Polytechnic and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The course, held over six months, will teach her industry-specific lessons covering insurance and contractual considerations.

Ms Lim hopes that other mid-career workers mulling over a career switch will consider their long-term goals instead of focusing on the immediate challenges.

“It’s not going to be easy (making the switch) because many things are different. The jargon is different. You’ll take a long while to understand the acronyms,” she said.

“You will not have the courage to ask questions because you’re at this age where you’re supposed to be more experienced. But put aside all these and you will find that people are willing to teach and guide you if you have the right mentality.”