Take 5: 26 Jan 2015 Presented by Ms Ow Yong Wai Kae
Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, Colleagues and all Gessians,
Today marks the start of our first Education and Career Guidance Week (ECG Week). The objective of this ECG Week is to expose all Gessians in exploring possible career options through various short and impactful career talks by professional working adults, ranging from solicitor to event organiser & radio programmer. You may refer to the ECG Board located at the school foyer for more details of the week’s programme.
During this week, your CCE teachers will also be revisiting ecareers portal with you to help you access profiling and assessment tools like Personal Globe Inventory, information on job market conditions and career opportunities. I would like to urge all students to share this one-stop online careers portal with your parents so that you can make better education and career choices with them.
Some of you may wonder: Why is ECG important?
In the 21st Century, young people like you today, face a future that will be very different from that experienced by your parents and teachers. With technological advances, new career opportunities are created rapidly and some existing jobs are either threatened or replaced by the introduction of robots and advanced automation.
The average working adult today can expect to change jobs several times and very often in completely different sectors. Hence, it is essential that you are prepared for “a lifetime of careers” instead of “a career-for-life”. This can be achieved through constant learning and upgrading of skills on a lifelong basis.
Planning this journey starts now as you make choices that reflect your interests and strengths, and at the same time, not closing any doors prematurely to possible future pathways.
I would like to share an extract from a speech by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister of Educations, for Parliamentary Debate on the Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review (ASPIRE) Report on 9 September 2014. He said, “Qualifications matter, but they must be the right qualifications, and of the right standard, for what we want to do…. The right qualification signifies that you have the right skills – the right combination of knowledge, application and experience. But not all qualifications matter – not if they do not help us build the right skills for what we want to do. This can happen when we seek qualifications as a paper chase rather than as a quest for skills.”
As you explore the various career options during your visit to the career fair and/or career talks, ask yourself this important question – ‘Where do my interests lie?’. Zeroing in on your interests will help steer you in the right direction for a career, and choosing a path you are already interested in will keep you happier in the long run.
It is never too early to begin planning for your future. The main benefit of preparing for your future is that you will be able to identify:
• courses you may wish to take
• critical skills and knowledge that you may need to obtain and develop
• post-secondary institutions you may wish to attend
Remember, a critical component of planning for your career aspirations is having options. Identifying multiple occupational options will allow you greater success at achieving personal life goals. Do attend the talks armed with lots of questions for the speakers. This may be the career of your interest.
I would like to conclude by quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, “The future is literally in our hands to mould as we like. But we cannot wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is now.” With this, I wish all Gessians a fruitful week ahead in your career exploration.
Thank you.