Career development for youths
Stepping into the working world can be nerve-wracking – job-related questions haunt you late at night, with thoughts like Does my resume look decent? and What should I wear to my job interview?. The working world is undoubtedly a new playing field but there’s no need to stress.
As recently discovered by the National Youth Council, through Youth Conversations, most young people place a great deal of importance on emotional well-being – things like personal growth, freedom, and passion in their jobs.
From mentoring programmes to career talks, here are 13 platforms that’ll help you chase after your career dreams:
1. nEBO’s – youth bazaar & networking sessions
Image credit: nEBO
It’s entirely by youths for youths at nEBO, all aged between 12 to 25 years old. They offer plenty of programmes for young people to delve into the working world, such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium – loaded with mentorship opportunities, workshops, and networking sessions.
Image credit: nEBO
There’s also an annual bazaar, Bazaar Malam! which is solely developed by youths themselves – everything from stall designs to product sourcing.
Find out more about nEBO.
2. Praxium – silkscreen printing and game coding workshops
Image credit: @edugrow_
Praxium runs a huge range of workshops, ranging from Silkscreen Printing to Game Development – each designed to help with your future career path or simply as a casual side-gig. They also regularly have free workshops like “Making Peanut Butter” and “How To Get A Raise”.
Find out more about Praxium.
3. My Working Title – career board game
Career SUPERDRIVE™ session at The Learning Festival organised by MENDAKI.
Image credit: My Working Title
My Working Title takes a unique approach to landing an internship and job. They term themselves as a “career design” company and help others to plan the nitty-gritty details of their career. With Discover our Career SUPERDRIVE™” workshops, youths can do exactly that – through their Career SUPERDRIVE™ Board Game for one.
It’s a mashup between Monopoly and Cranium and takes roughly 1 hour to complete. Questions throughout include reflective ones like What are you willing to work hard for? and What types of people do you work best with?
You can go for board game sessions at schools and organisations like NUS Business School, SUTD, MENDAKI, NAFA, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and Wantedly.
Find out more about My Working Title.
4. Bold @ Work – career design workshops
Life’s filled with choices: some we make easily with a snap of the finger while others…we’ll be pondering over them for weeks. When it comes to the working world, Bold @ Work offers Do Your Life as a support system so you’re not overwhelmed with choice overload.
Whether you’re considering a job change or a mini-life crisis, it’s a 3-day workshop that’s sure to get you back on track with your next step.
Find out more about Bold @ Work.
5. Code for Asia – workshops, conferences, & hackathons
Image credit: Code for Asia
Code for Asia’s brainchild – CodeCircles Youth – is a series of workshops, conferences, and hackathon designed to empower youths to code for good. They’ve got some senpai-level mentors and experts from Google and Microsoft to do so.
Find out more about the Code for Asia.
6. Indian Muslim Professional (IM.PROF) – seminars, “Chai Chats”, & Shark Tank-type pitching
Image credit: IM.PROF
As a community for young Indian Muslims, Indian Muslim Professional (IM.PROF) runs regular thematic meetups and networking sessions for all to catch up on the nuances of the working world. Aptly-named, Chai Chats are cosy gatherings where young adults can talk through their troubles – whether it’s work-related or on a personal level.
They also host Brain Drain, which is something like Shark Tank – where angel investors will fund your budding business. In this rendition, youths can pitch ideas to fellow pitchers and an advisory panel.
Find out more about IM.PROF.
7. TalentTribe – behind-the-scenes looks into companies & careers
Often, we enter a particular industry because we’ve heard amazing things. Interns get $8k a month? You get to travel to Europe frequently because that’s where the main office is? There’s a flat hierarchical structure and everyone lunches together?
Before you enter your first career based on hearsay, check out Talent Tribe for their in-depth features of different careers and companies in Singapore. They offer a behind-the-scenes look into companies – including a visual tour of office spaces along with insight into office culture and the day-to-day activities.
Find out more about TalentTribe.
8. The Apprenticeship Collective – mentorships & apprenticeships
The age-old advice is that you should explore your career options sooner rather than later – since you’ll eventually have to make career-related decisions. The Apprenticeship Collective is exactly this: a platform that helps you explore diverse career options so you can discover your interests.
Find out more about The Apprenticeship Collective.
9. Young AMP – webisodes & 15-min talk series
Image credit: @youngampsg
It’s a tough world out there – something we all realise after graduation. But Young AMP eases us into the working world with Windows on Work (WOW), an initiative that preps youths through short webisodes and articles.
As a programme with 3 phases, WOW involves career exploration to explore different career paths, competency development to build skills, and job shadowing to experience your coveted profession.
They also have a forum called #OOTB (Out of the Box) where industry experts discuss evergreen topics like Fintech, and a series of fireside chats called Kopi With…Series where you can learn plenty through sharing sessions led by industry experts.
Find out more about Young AMP.
10. SINDA – mentoring programme
The Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) runs “Mentor Me”, a career guidance and mentoring programme – to match tertiary students with suitable working professionals. They’re required to have at least 5 years of relevant working experience, so students, feel free to rapidly fire away questions as ambitious as “What are the exit pathways” to those on work-life balance like “How often do you have to OT?”.
Find out more about SINDA.
11. Advisory.sg – expert panels & interviews
As a youth-led nonprofit, Advisory is a massive information base for all young Singaporeans – you can get everything from career guidance to further education choices. They’ve got an online platform filled with useful articles, such as Conversations (interviews with working professionals), Reflections (interviews with industry veterans), and Insights (features on key industry topics).
Students will also find their Discovery and Experience series useful – for the former, they’ll be networking with working professionals and the latter, they’ll get to visit workplaces to learn more about their industry of interest.
Find out more about Advisory.
12. Young NTUC – skills marketplace & support network
Get connected to industry experts with Todo Todo.
Image credit: @liakoyaki
Everything career-related can be found on Todo Todo, a collab between NTUC and People’s Association. No more stress dreams where you’re wondering what to do next with their career profiling tests, networking sessions with potential employers, and 4-month mentorships with Todo Todo’s career guides.
Find out more about Todo Todo.
13. MENDAKI – TED-style sessions with industry experts
MENDAKI’s inaugural public ‘Future Of…Series’ titled ‘Future of Personal Branding and Human Connections
Image credit: MENDAKI
In supporting youths to be future-ready, MENDAKI hosts a session called Future of Series (FOS) for those aged 17 and beyond – it helps with soft skills and personal branding in this digital age. All sessions are conducted TED-style and industry experts will share their thoughts about a topic before opening it up to a panel discussion.
Career resources for fresh grads in Singapore
Once you step into working life, it’s a tough new world but Singapore has plenty of platforms – to help us transit from student life to the working world. Whether it’s helpful career workshops or mentoring programmes, these organisations readily offer up useful advice and support.
Find out more about Youth Conversations here
This post was brought to you by National Youth Council.