STEM | HOW TO GET HIRED
Choosing the Right STEM Career and Graduate Employer There are plenty of good employers in Singapore, so how do you choose one? Take some time to think about the sector you want to work in, the career you want to have and the life you want to lead.
G
etting employed is one thing. Getting satisfactory employment, however, is a whole different ball
game. Most firms present a good mix of specialist and management career opportunities – each of which offers a very different type of career springboard. While this may not necessarily determine your future career pathway, it certainly does influence your professional growth as a graduate. For this reason, it’s important that you put some thought into applying to the right employer and position:
What are your priorities? Do you want to develop your technical knowledge to become an expert in a particular field, or would you prefer to throw yourself into the thick of the action in, for example, a manufacturing plant?
What type of function suits you best? Find out what you’re most comfortable with. Perhaps a customer and product-oriented role in supply chain management aligns with your personality? Or is a strategy planning-related position in project management a better fit for your temperament?
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STEM Career Guide 2022
These are only broad guidelines for you to ponder over, however. If you’re still unsure, you may want to try applying to rotational training programmes some companies offer. These are mostly offered by larger organisations, allowing you the opportunity to “sample” a variety of duties across different departments, including commercial and technical ones. Depending on the employer, though, the structure of these courses may or may not be role-specific. Some firms will want their graduate hires to experience the best of both worlds, offering programmes that cross technical and non-technical fields. Others are more particular, sorting applicants out into “streams” upon admission. On the other hand, smaller businesses prefer recruiting directly into specific roles, so make sure you know what you’re aiming for if you want to apply to such firms.
Choosing your working environment Start by considering whether you’re better suited for a fast-paced or researchbased working environment. Factories and manufacturing plants tend to be more exciting, requiring a lot of immediate attention and action. Inversely, R&D and design departments provide more chances for you to work with technology, but tend to be less speedy. If you prefer to spend most of your working hours outdoors, look at positions that require you to travel and perform your duties out of the office, such as in construction or oil extraction. If you’re the opposite of both, consider other fields,
such as design engineering or statistics, which are mainly office-based. The working environment may also affect the type of opportunities and projects offered. Larger corporations with structured training schemes will usually let you participate in big international projects, supported by a good network. Smaller organisations, in contrast, are more selective with their projects, usually going for specialised niches. On top of that, less manpower at such firms means that you’ll be given more early responsibilities, which, in turn, can translate to faster growth and more experience. While this may mean that the learning curve has the potential to be quite steep, you may achieve early acknowledgement if you can pick things up fast enough!
What are you prepared to do? Before you decide on who you want to work for, think about how far you’re willing to go for your work – both literally and metaphorically. Consider these: Are you prepared to move around the region for work, or travel overseas on secondments and long-term project assignments even during this climate? How long will you be willing to do so? Or are you more comfortable being rooted in the office, where you can build positive working relationships with your team members?
