Message for Postgraduates

Message for Undergraduates

Sim Cher Young

Director Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre

My colleagues and I at the SMU Career Centre wish you a Happy New Year and a meaningful 2022 ahead.

The start of the year brings a renewed vigour to converge on our mission of journeying with you in achieving career success through enhancing your employability and hiring prospects. The SMU Internship Programme is one such avenue which your seniors have leveraged in understanding their desired roles and industries, and subsequently, securing full-time employment quickly.

Opportunities abound for those who value variety and abundance, as many vacancies are being curated for you to prime yourself for the working world. Start today to source for your ideal internship by referencing our Internship Guide on OnTRAC for the “what”, “when” and “how”.

Remember, success occurs when preparation meets opportunity. Keep a lookout for our announcements alerting you to a myriad of employer engagements, especially the more than 100 career talks organised each term and our numerous thematic career fairs, where over 120 employers participate in the hope of hiring interns for the imminent internship season and graduands for full-time positions from May 2022.

Besides keeping a watchful eye on our posted openings available to you, do make full use of the career centre’s ample resources to better your chances of landing a job offer. Strategise your job search groundwork by initiating a tête-à-tête with your career coach to explore ways on casting a positive impression on any prospective employer. They may include customising your resume and interview responses, or better attuning your knowledge, skills and aptitude to the innumerable career pathways.

For our senior students on their final lap this year, we would like to once again rev up your career preparation towards fulltime employment by referring you to our dedicated microsite for the graduating cohort: smu.sharepoint.com/sites/ gradcareer.

This central repository of quality career resources aims to support our graduates who would appreciate a one-stop kiosk amidst their understandably hectic job acquisition expedition in a recovering, albeit contracted, job market in 2022. With the evolving COVID-19 situation worldwide, we recommend a prudent approach to start your job search early.

All the best as you embark on a fulfilling career ahead.

“Customers buy for their reasons, not yours.” - Orvel Ray Wilson

Message for Postgraduates

Henry Yeo

Head Postgraduate Career Services

Welcome to the 2022 edition of the SMU Career Guide.

The past one year continued to be challenging and uncertain. We have become familiar with acronyms like CB, SHN, ART, HBL and PCR, as well as gotten used to remote learning, virtual interviews, Zoom meetings, remote internships and working from home, to name a few.

But there is light at the end of this very long tunnel. The economy and job market continues to recover, albeit in an uneven manner – or k-shaped recovery as economists would term it. However, the nature of many types of jobs continue to be transformed, partly in response to current challenges and partly due to organisations’ relentless pursuit of greater efficiency and competitiveness.

Examples of such transformations are numerous; the transition from pandemic to endemic will impact the way work is carried out, such as working in the office, working at home, or a hybrid system. Impending revisions to international tax regulations, managing supply chain disruptions and advances in technology may also influence and determine where firms – and jobs – will eventually be domiciled.

Digitalisation will continue to permeate most sectors, creating new jobs and rendering some others obsolete. Sustainability/ESG will become mainstream, and significantly change the way many traditional job functions are performed, such as that of auditors, fund/portfolio managers, corporate bankers and consultants. The advent of cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currency is likely to have a profound impact on the business models and practices of financial institutions and regulators, as well.

While you may not be able to do much about these mega forces, you must stay optimistic. Continue to look for that silver lining even in these difficult times, and learn to seek opportunities where they might not have been there before. Your education and training in SMU will put you in good stead to navigate the uncertainties and challenges. I am confident all of you are adaptable and will eventually chart a successful career path to meaningfully impact the organisation you choose to work for, as well as the community you live in.

As Winston Churchill famously said during the darkest days of the Second World War, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.

Stay safe and all the best in your endeavours!