NTUC launches ‘career trial model’ for fresh school-leavers and NSmen
SINGAPORE’S labour movement is piloting a “career trial model” for young employees who would like mentorship as they enter working life.
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has planned for the pilot programme – NTUC Career Starter Lab – to help some 300 to 600 youths with one-on-one career mentorship at their workplace. It is open to fresh graduates from universities, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education as well as full-time national servicemen (NSF).
The pilot was conceived following feedback from youth in institutes of higher learning surveyed by the NTUC’s youth taskforce last year.
“Of the 10,000 youths that we’ve actually been engaging so far, a vast majority... are really feeling the anxiety as they transit from school into the workforce,” said Wendy Tan, who heads youth development at NTUC.
On what they thought would help them with the transition, close to one-third of 4,000 youth said quality internships, while 18.9 per cent said career mentorships.
Labour chief Ng Chee Meng said that the career trial model differs from traditional internships in that the latter is usually part of a school curriculum and may lack a structured mentorship programme.
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Instead, Career Starter Lab participants are typically fresh graduates who go on a three-month trial with a host company to “explore a mutual job fit” before taking up full-time employment, although that is not guaranteed. They are paid a monthly salary of S$1,800 to S$4,200, depending on their qualifications and the roles.
One of the programme’s target groups is NSF, said Ng, noting that an estimated 60 per cent of NSFs enter the workforce each year after a two-year conscription.
“We’ll focus on the NSFs because we think there’s a two-year lag. Those that are looking for a job, what we want to do is to help them with job fairs, which we have done so,” he said, adding that NTUC is also helping them with a “skills top-up”.
He pointed out that some companies, especially those in advanced manufacturing and aerospace, have expressed difficulty in keeping in touch with ex-interns after they have gone through national service, let alone offering them full-time jobs.
“So with this, for companies that require technicians and engineers, we hope to be able to match some of the boys in those industries,” he said. NSF that were involved in work related to fighter jets, transport aircraft or engineering, for instance, are an especially good match, he added.
The labour movement hopes to bring 100 companies on board. Some that have agreed to participate include Sats, Copthorne King’s Hotel, Vicinity Studio and YCH Group.
“What we hope to do is to have 100 companies with 300 in situ company mentors, on top of the 400 volunteer mentors that are already in the NTUC youth ecosystem,” said Ng.
Participating companies would receive a training allowance support for graduates from S$7.50 per hour for up to 480 hours – and this will be funded by a government grant.
NTUC, Singapore National Employers Federation and their partners will also provide a career starter guide for employers and jobseekers, as well as training for workplace mentors.
Applicants to the programme may not be able to choose where they want to be placed, as NTUC will match them with suitable positions.
Even so, Pu Huan Jun, a 20-year-old polytechnic graduate who is preparing to study business at university, said she is hopeful about the mentorship opportunities it offers.
“This initiative will actually help me to feel more confident in working in the industry because previously, when I first started an internship, I didn’t know what to expect,” she said.
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