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14 Feb 2022
3 mins
SMOU Partners e2i to Help Members Build Career Confidence

In the spirit of lifelong learning, SMOU recognises the importance of keeping its members employable and hence partnered with NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to organise the Career and Employment Workshop.

On 13th January 2022, about 20 SMOU members attended the workshop, conducted to help members learn and gain expertise from trained coaches.

SMOU Executive Secretary Mr Alvin Cheong opened the workshop by welcoming members and acknowledged the importance of the career workshop.

Writing a resume is no easy task, and the workshop was organised to help members curate a professional resume, marketing their strengths in concise and impactful manner. The workshop was also intended to teach members about interviews and guide them on how to best answer interview questions.

“SMOU is here to support our members through their career journey,” said Mr Cheong, as he roused members to take advantage of the newly launched NTUC Learning Hub’s Learning Experience Platform (LXP). Registrants will not only be able to offset the cost with their SkillsFuture credits, but SMOU is also offering $50 Lighthouse Bistro vouchers to successful SMOU member sign-ups.

The workshop saw both the young and senior SMOU members and comprised two parts—resume writing and interviews.

SMOU member Mr Teo Shun Bin said, “The lesson was fruitful and very helpful. During the break, Mr Andre (e2i trainer) took a look at my resume and gave me feedback on how to refine it further.”

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The second part of the workshop provided attendees with handles on how to approach a job interview. With the pandemic pushing digitalisation on a fast track, many interviews have taken a virtual format—a different medium from what senior members might be used to. E2i trainers, Mr Andre and Ms Cassandra helped to build confidence by bringing participants through how an online interview might be conducted.

The trainers also went around the room to help members download the Zoom application on their respective devices and gave them tips on the do’s and don’ts of online interviews. Although the senior members were pushed out of their comfort zones, the experience helped to demystify their fears of a virtual interview.

Young SMOU members Takamasa & Farhan participating in a mock in-person interview

At the end of the segment, everyone engaged in a role-play segment to practise what they had learned during the workshop. This was helpful for participants to retain the information, as well as for trainers to give them additional feedback, to prepare them for the real interview.

SMOU member Mr Muhammad Khidhir said prior to signing up for the workshop, he felt intimidated and treated interviews like an examination. His knowledge of resume writing was based on the feedback that the older generation gave him, and he was surprised to learn how different resume writing is today.

Mr Muhammad Khidhir

“The event was helpful for me; I came in not knowing anything, and now I feel more prepared for interviews and can apply the knowledge from this workshop to my resume and future interviews.”

The event concluded with IRO Kelvin Lin informing members about SMOU’s newly launched Telegram channel that will update on job openings in real time. The workshop was enriching, and it helped relieve some of the job-seeking-related anxiety members were facing by equipping them with the skills and confidence for their future interviews.

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