- yesterday
You've definitely heard of career progression through upskilling or reskilling, but is it really necessary? Also, whose responsibility is it to ensure one remains relevant and employable?
In this episode of Got People Say, we delve into this subject matter and learn about the different schemes available to support Singaporeans in their personal and professional development.
This post is in partnership with gov.sg
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
In this episode of Got People Say, we delve into this subject matter and learn about the different schemes available to support Singaporeans in their personal and professional development.
This post is in partnership with gov.sg
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00What would you say is the right time to upskill?
00:04There's no right time or wrong time.
00:06Skill upgrading, as far as you know, you're behind time.
00:11Go for it.
00:12Wow, throwing down the facts right here.
00:25Got people say, why upskill or reskill?
00:29Meanwhile, others aren't quite sure how to go about it and to what extent the employers will support them during this process.
00:37Now, with the increasing uncertainties both globally and locally, there comes day-to-day pressures of remaining employed.
00:45But whose responsibility is it really?
00:48And how can individuals take action in tandem with the support the government provides?
00:54This is Got People Say, a talk show where we provide a space for healthy discourse on topics often left unspoken.
01:02I'm your host, Muna Bahgarib, and today we delve into the very important topic of staying relevant and employable.
01:09And with me, I have a panel of experts with insights and experiences themselves.
01:14Let's meet them, shall we?
01:16Please introduce yourself.
01:17Hi, my name is Rekha.
01:19I'm with SBS Transit, as a station manager, downtown line.
01:23Hi, I'm Kelvin, principal career coach from Workforce Singapore.
01:27I'm Nai Chen, managing director, Onchong Jewelry.
01:31Hi, I'm Kelvin from Onchong Jewelry, assistant operation manager.
01:34All right, let's start with Kelvin, the age-old question.
01:38How does one remain relevant and employable?
01:41I think the quick and short answer will be really knowing what you want and doing what you need to get there.
01:48It's just like if you are thinking about being healthy.
01:51So you want to make sure that you know what are the end states you want, how much you want to weigh, how you want to look,
02:00and start doing things that are in line to reach there.
02:03Yeah, it doesn't happen overnight.
02:05Similarly, I think if you put that into the context of career, you will see that it's very similar,
02:11knowing where you want to go, and after knowing your aspiration, set up steps for you to move towards it.
02:19In WSG, we have programs such as career guidance program Polaris.
02:24It helps our clients to really get a better understanding and clarity on their aspiration,
02:31and after that, setting steps to move towards it.
02:34And at the same time, within our websites, there's a careers finder area where you can use it to understand
02:42what are the other options that you can have based on what you have,
02:47and of course, there will also be suggestions for you to lead you to training that are relevant for you.
02:52If you are talking about resources and understanding the market, what's happening in the labor market,
02:59we also have this volunteer career advisor scheme for you to meet up with potential mentors or people that are in the industry.
03:07Yeah, so you can gain more knowledge, and I would say hear it from the horse's mouth.
03:11And I also know there's something called the Career Conversion Programme, right?
03:16So can you maybe briefly talk about it?
03:18So we also have this Career Conversion Programme to help meet career people who want to switch their runway
03:24to something new which they may not have experience in.
03:27And it will definitely be very useful for people who have understanding that they may not want to stay in their current role,
03:35and they wanted something else, and this will be a good place to start.
03:38And in fact, we have a beneficiary from the programme itself.
03:42Rekha, what was your experience reskilling through Workforce Singapore's Career Conversion Programme like?
03:48I have been in the hospitality industry as a hotelier for more than 20 years,
03:52and I myself felt that I was actually falling into a comfort zone.
03:56So my brother, who also works with SBS Transit, encouraged me actually to move forward and take a step
04:04to try, you know, apply for a station manager position in SBS Transit, which I did, and I was like,
04:10wow, I got it, you know, it was amazing.
04:13Eventually, they enrolled me in this professional conversion programme for station managers
04:18and assistant station managers.
04:21Being enrolled in this position, I had to ensure I have an open mindset, a positive attitude.
04:27And that actually allowed me to fit right in into my role and have a better understanding.
04:33You know, you get hands-on training and, you know, you will encounter some digital and technical challenges along the way,
04:43which is all related to the modern real.
04:46So eventually, I got hang of it and it kind of became a very smooth transition for me.
04:51And now I'm already into my sixth year.
04:54Yeah, you're saying that you are very passionate about what you do now, and it shows.
04:59So I want to know, what do you love about your new role?
05:03My new role itself, one is, of course, you know, my passengers.
05:07I have my tourists, you know, I'm also like a working directory for them, do concierge services as well.
05:13So it's similar to the people aspects as well.
05:16I'm also very comfortable with the structured shift that we have.
05:19This actually gives me flexibility and time to plan for family as well as my own me time.
05:26All right.
05:27Now, apart from switching career paths, I believe many have also thought about upskilling to progress in their career,
05:33but maybe haven't found motivation to do so.
05:36So I want to hear from you, Mr Ho, from an employer's point of view,
05:40why is it important to encourage employees to upskill?
05:43As far as I'm concerned, I always look at, from the point of view of customer,
05:49what a customer needs is to look for somebody who is knowledgeable,
05:54who can effectively communicate product knowledge.
05:58And by doing so, I think we need training, especially for our employees,
06:04in terms of like social media, emails, how to communicate effectively, choice of words and so on.
06:12All right.
06:13And with regards to your company, how do you decide an employee's suitability?
06:17Well, there are so many staff and my HR manager will be on the lookout for people with different talents
06:24and certain people, they have a skill gap and they want to fill in
06:28and then we send them for certain training courses.
06:31Okay.
06:32Maybe you can share an example.
06:33Say, for example, now the intern is AI, artificial intelligence.
06:37Exactly.
06:38And how, I mean, a lot of employees will be asking me, I want to know Chad GPT.
06:44I want to know a Gemini, how to have a simple design and also want to do a presentation by using gamma and so on.
06:52So all these courses are very relevant for training.
06:55And I believe Kevin works with you and you've chosen him to go for an upskilling course.
07:00So may we talk about that?
07:01Well, Kevin joined us for about slightly more than 10 years.
07:04He came here as somebody who just like any ordinary person with very limited knowledge on technology
07:13and also product knowledge, which I find that we need to enhance.
07:18So by sending Kevin to all the courses, I think all together he attended about 60 over courses
07:24and with 60 over certificates.
07:26Whatever he has is marketable and transferable.
07:30All right, Kevin, a man of many certificates.
07:33Tell us about your experience going through this.
07:37Okay, firstly, I need to have time for my job, for my all this training.
07:42So thanks to the company, Mr. Ho, we have to, you know, go through the HR.
07:47Then after that, they bring us to like your working time.
07:51After work, then you go for the training session through all this.
07:54Just like the retail management, it takes me about one over a year to complete nine modules.
07:58And after that, they have to send me to the customer excellence service.
08:03All these things to see what customer needs and what customer wants.
08:07And then the management side for the referral to how to handle every day, like all these post systems
08:15and all these things to see every day job going smoothly.
08:19The most demanding is the product knowledge that Mr. Ho took our talent telling us about.
08:23You have to know like from like diamonds, gemstones, how to identify all the fixed ones, all the man-made and whatsoever.
08:34As long as you keep knowledgeable about the work you do, right?
08:36Yes, because every day, every day there's new products coming in.
08:39Every day there's new like lab-grown diamonds.
08:41You have to use three machines to test.
08:43Wow, I see the upskilling in action right now.
08:46But yeah, that is important because customers look to you for your expertise, right?
08:50Yes, and some customers, they will come in to test your knowledge.
08:54They give you the synthetic ones, ask if it's fake or real.
08:57So you have to tell them whether it's fake or real.
09:02What has been the most significant certification you've attained?
09:05It's the diploma of retail management.
09:08It was solely sponsored by the company at first.
09:12And then after that, the other certificates are really sponsored by SkillFuture.
09:16The SkillFuture level program to make it easier,
09:20and then the government provides 4,000 SkillFuture credit top-up for the 40 years old and above.
09:27It's very good to us.
09:29Rather than you have to pay everything for the courses.
09:33And then the best thing is that they have subsidized everything for us.
09:37So would you say that these subsidies actually help with professional development and even career longevity?
09:43Yes.
09:44It's very good for career management.
09:47What about the rest of you?
09:48What would you say is the right time to upskill?
09:53There's no right time or wrong time.
09:54Oh, alright.
09:56Skill upgrading, as far as you know, that you're behind time.
10:00You look at the world and then it's changing very rapidly.
10:04So you have to do something.
10:06So there's no right or wrong time.
10:07That's right.
10:08Anytime that you feel that you are lagging behind, go for it.
10:12Wow.
10:12Throwing down the facts right here.
10:14How about you, Rekha?
10:15I mean, having gone through it yourself, what would you say is the right time?
10:19Well, as frontliners, I would say upskilling is very much necessary.
10:24It's also for operations as well as learning how to serve our passengers better.
10:31And at SBS Transit itself, we have regular refresher trainings all year round to make sure that, you know, we are all ready and well-equipped.
10:42And there are these courses and resources out there for you to support you, right?
10:47So there's not really much fear that can go into it.
10:52I mean, I'm just trying to understand from my point of view, it is quite daunting to just switch careers or learn something new.
10:59But with resources, I think that really helps.
11:02Yes.
11:02I mean, it helps you to settle down better.
11:04And, you know, when you go through the process along the way, it kind of guides you through the learning journey.
11:11All right.
11:12How about you, Kelvin?
11:13When is the right time?
11:16I would like to think that everyone works on different clock.
11:19Different individuals will have, at different stages of life, they may want different things.
11:25So for some, maybe about going up the corporate ladder.
11:29For some, maybe expanding the things that they are able to do, become more flexible in the industry.
11:34For some, maybe going deeper into their area of expertise.
11:38And like you said, there are advices that people can turn to in order to help them find a path for their career, right?
11:44Where else they want to head to?
11:45Yes.
11:46So they definitely can gain clarity from some of this, talking to some of us.
11:51At the end of the day, I think the individuals will be in their driver's seat, managing their own career development.
11:58And a lot of times, I think employers are really there to do the facilitator role to help to support individuals with their upgrading.
12:05And for individuals, I think one of the possible easy way to look at it is, you can look at this thing called a VIPS.
12:14Values, interests, personality and skills.
12:17So looking at what are the, how are these aligned to what you want?
12:22So it's not just professionally, also your personal life goals.
12:27How are they aligned?
12:28And could it also be about finding balance in life?
12:32So, you know, upskilling might not be just about getting ahead.
12:36It could be about finding the right balance now in your career, right?
12:40Yeah.
12:41So upgrading, upskilling also helps individuals to stay relevant with what may be needed.
12:48Another angle is to look at it from the industry point of view.
12:51Like, what is being needed so you can upgrade in the way that you are more up to date with the industry then.
12:59Yeah, I agree.
12:59I think it is helpful to have that clarity of what path you want to take and then decide how you want to get to where you want to be, right?
13:08Mr. Ho, have there been any challenges in trying to get employees to go for these upskilling courses?
13:15Sure, I think many, many challenges along the way when you get your staff to go for training.
13:22I think most importantly, some of the staff may not be so conversant with certain language.
13:28And then we have to do a buddy system whereby the youngest staff can actually go for training.
13:34And when they come back, they do an in-house training in different language.
13:37So this is one of the ways in order to benefit all, not only those younger staff.
13:45And we have a buddy system that, you know, the older generation, they can serve customers very well.
13:52But technology-wise, they are not so good.
13:55So we need to train the younger staff so that they can work together with the older staff and mutually pass on knowledges to each another.
14:03Okay, and Kelvin, I understand that there's a new SkillsFuture Job Seeker Support Scheme,
14:08which grants lower-to-middle-income workers who are involuntary unemployed up to $6,000 in financial support over a period of up to six months.
14:19So do you think that having financial support helps those that are retrenched to upskill and get a chance to enter the workforce sooner?
14:27Yes, I would say this financial support helps individuals to tie over this transition period.
14:35And they can make use of this period of time to focus on upskilling and upgrading and equipping themselves with whatever skills that they may have put off when they are working, they are busy.
14:45So this is a good chance for them to equip themselves.
14:47And at the same time, this will make them more marketable for employers to see that, oh, you have not been resting, you are still doing things to make yourself more valuable in the market.
14:58Then this will help individuals to feel more confident in their own career too.
15:04Well, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Got People Say.
15:07And of course, sharing your insights and experiences on career upskilling.
15:11Now, I hope you learn a thing or two, be it about career conversion, upskilling or reskilling, and can use it to stay relevant and employable.
15:20Till then, I'm Muna Bargarib, and I'll see you on the next episode of Got People Say.
15:41Got People Say.
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