Professional Development Week Summary Taylor’s Professional Development Week was a future career fair for students to think about their professional working career. Usually, it is a physical event for companies to host talks and discuss to graduating students about the truths and realities about the working life. This year, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the event was withheld to online conferences through Zoom. The first talk was the keynote address that will set the tone for the event for the next week to come. The talk was called ‘One Year Later: Employability During the Pandemic Crisis’ held by Mr. Farid of the ‘Malaysian Employer Federation’. As it is the keynote address, the talk was a compulsory one for everybody to join. The talk itself was pretty interesting, as it covered topics such as employability in the pandemic, which is very relevant in today’s environment. The speaker also gave out tips to stand yourself out from the crowd to make getting employed easier for you. The second talk I attended was also held on the first day. It was called ‘Financial Literacy for Fresh Graduates’ held by Mr. Terrence of CIMB. The talk was mainly regarding what fresh graduates should do with their money once they are finished. The speaker also elaborated on the importance of how knowledge combined with power can give rise to unlimited knowledge. The third talk that I attended was held on the third day. The talk was titled ‘Rock Your Profile: How to Build Your Network and Advance Your Career with LinkedIn’ by Mr. Ryan of LinkedIn. For this talk, the speaker decided to focus on what and how a fresh graduate can use LinkedIn to its highest capabilities in order to get a jumpstart in their working life. The use of social media and networking will be a useful asset for everyone to learn in the future. The fourth talk that I attended was held on the third day. The talk was called ‘Preparing for Borderless Careers’ by Mr. Zac of Schlumberger. During the talk, the speaker talked about how many careers in the future won’t be set back by borders, but rather by an open mind. The future of employment will be one that takes someone across the world for occupation, and the best advice that the speaker can give would be to ‘always be ready for change’. The fifth talk that I attended for PDW was called ‘Exploring Further Studies, by Mrs. Renee from the University of Oxford. The main reason for the talk was for the speaker to promote the Rhodes Scholarship, a scholarship program aimed at students who are preparing to go abroad to finish their formal studies, and what to expect when they are there. The final talk that I attended for PDW was titled ‘Serial Entrepreneurship, Multiplying Success: Lessons from a Life Journey’ held by Dato’ James Foo. The speaker talked about the blueprint and footsteps that he followed at the beginning in order to get to where he is today. He also gave tips and info on how the business world
works and what we, as future potential business owners, need to do to differentiate ourselves from other businesses. All in all, I definitely think that Taylor’s Professional Development Week is definitely a beneficial tool for students to enquire about during their formal studies. My favorite talk was my final one that I attended, held by Dato’ James Foo. It really gave me a much needed perspective on what I can do in the future.
Summary of FORUM 1: Architect’s Act In my opinion, there are certain and obvious advantages to being a registered Interior Designer that you don't get with being a fresh graduate jumping into the workforce straight away post graduation. A scenario that could come in handy would be when any liabilities or legal matters are involved, the extra few years and classes of learning the ins and outs of the trade would be a beneficial trait that companies will see as a positive. Another positive would be in terms of the reliability in producing consistent work as a result of an extra few years of experience, which makes companies more inclined to choose a registered Interior Designer over a fresh graduate. On the other hand, there may be factors that a fresh graduate might not be able to afford in order to become a registered ID, such as finance and time. Summary of FORUM 2: The disabled (MS1184) In my opinion, yes disablled people should have the same rights and privileges that able bodies people are able to enjoy. There should also be a stronger initiative from the government in order to implement a more disabled inclusivity throughout our designs. Malaysia by itself, could do better in terms of the accommodations that we give towards the disable. Therefore, with this mindset, Malaysia is not a disabled friendly nation. The owners of every building should make an effort in order to make their building be as disabled friendly and not just the likes of schools and hospitals. Recreational spaces such as theme parks and funfairs should also try to accommodate the disabled. As a designer, I also have my own thoughts and opinions on disabled matters. One aspect that we can improve in would be to increase the use of ramps into public buildings to make access easy for everybody. Summary of FORUM 3: Fire Regulations for Buildings In my opinion, fire regulations in Malaysia should be more enforced and fire safety classes should be more prevalent throughout the society. It was interesting to learn about all the ways that fire could be easily prevented and the different things that everyday citizens can do to make our house more fireproof.
Watching the videos that were linked also gave me an insight of the work that our fellow safety officers and firefighters do. Viewing their work opened me up to a new perspective and appreciation for service workers. Another interesting point that I saw was the point of passive fire safety. Just little adjustments we can make inside our homes that can contribute to a whole lot of differences down the road. Aspects such as using different materials during construction, ventilation thru hallways, and open air ducts have definitely opened my eyes to the different small adjustments that I can make to ensure my safety in the long run.