In a 2023 survey conducted by Randstad, a global talent agency, 48% of Singaporean workers admitted being afraid of losing their jobs, and part of that sentiment has also led to more signing up for short online courses in the hope they can benefit their careers.
This was revealed by data from United States-based Coursera that was released to the Straits Times, showing that Singaporean workers were picking up certificates in data analytics and project management from tech companies such as Google and IBM.
While it’s certainly great to be reskilling and upskilling with courses that you think will help towards your career goals and aspirations, there seems to also be a growing trend towards more local workers and jobseekers becoming “cert happy”, according to Shane Yan, the co-founder of Growth Beans, a company that provides growth programmes for Singaporean workers to achieve their personal and professional potential.
Being too kiasu about getting certificates and attending training courses for the sake of it can lead to “death by paper”, as Shane shares in this latest podcast by Workipedia by MyCareersFuture.
In addition, she also elaborates on why being paiseh to network is only hurting your career and, ultimately, how to decide and balance between passion and practicality when setting career goals and aspirations at different stages of your life.
If you’re keen to make a shift to the tech industry or just looking at roles that do involve upskilling or reskilling for tech, Shane also reveals how she helped one Singaporean plan for their career switch and the courses she recommended! Listen to the podcast below and find out more.
Key highlights to listen to:
- (2:20) What mistakes do Singaporeans make in setting their career goals.
- (2:45) “Death by paper”- why taking courses for the sake of it doesn’t work.
- (5:47) Learn how this Singaporean planned for a career switch to tech and what courses she took.
- (6:53) Being paiseh to network is only hurting your career- here’s why.
