The choice of educational pathway is critical for students in Singapore and the rest of the world. Global employers apply stringent standards when assessing candidates, and the world’s best universities have exacting qualifications when accepting students for their higher education programs.
It’s an increasingly competitive world, and those who want to succeed must determine an excellent pathway early on.
Building 21st-Century Skills
Young students of today must focus on global competencies that employers are looking for. A few generations ago, hard work and diligence might have sufficed to guarantee a good career.
However, modern environments and business climates present increasingly complex problems, and the biggest companies in the world are racing to solve them. To do so, they need a team with the right skills, coupled with the right work ethic. And they’re willing to pay — many global companies offer not only competitive compensation but also employee perks to attract the best talent.
To be part of outstanding companies, here are a few competencies that twelve leading global employers look for:
- Ability to work with a team. The candidate must have the ability to collaborate with people and teams from different backgrounds and countries.
- Communication skills. The candidate has excellent communication skills, both in speaking and listening.
- The candidate must be driven and passionate to reach their goals. Moreover, they must be resilient. Employers value a candidate who knows how to bounce back from setbacks.
- Ability to learn quickly. Employers prefer a candidate who learns fast and develops new skills needed by the job.
- Self-awareness. Candidates who are self-aware can effectively identify their strengths and weakness and, by extension, know how to improve them. They are more likely to be better leaders, as well.
- Multi-cultural learning agility. The best candidates are those who can learn in any culture or environment. Employers value adaptability.
Your educational pathway has a significant influence over these competencies. For instance, pursuing a diploma will, over the years, instil a sense of resilience and make you understand what it means to be driven. Interacting with your professors and peers also builds your communication skills.
Your first few years in a job also build a solid foundation for these competencies. For instance, in certain job roles in Singapore, you’ll meet different people and learn to work with employees from different cultural backgrounds. You’ll also be exposed to challenges that force you to learn quickly.
A Focus on Specific Skillsets
Apart from the competencies mentioned above, the modern workplace is also significantly influenced by hyperspecialization. This is a trend in which a certain job that used to be performed by one person is now broken down into more specialized jobs accomplished by several people. Hyperspecialization allows companies and institutions to greatly improve quality, cut costs, and speed up processes.
Hyperspecialization has reshaped the employment landscape for decades. Today, employers are looking for extremely specific skills sets for certain job roles. In fact, subject knowledge is one of the most important skills for employers globally.
Your choice of educational pathway determines the skill sets and level of specialization you’ll learn. If, for instance, a student in Singapore chooses a full-time job after their Nitec, they’ll learn and apply specialized skill sets immediately.
While students who choose to further their studies after Nitec will also learn these specializations, those who chose a job have a head start in their careers.
Balancing Theory and Practice
If a student wants to cultivate global competencies and specializations, a work-study diploma is an ideal option. In this option, students work and study at the same time.
Students Learn Theoretical Knowledge in Classes
A portion of the student’s time is spent in the classroom, where they learn important theories in their industries. It also introduces them to the job role and equips them with the knowledge to perform day-to-day duties.
Students Refine Their Skills at Work
Students who pursue a work-study diploma gain valuable work experience that puts them on the path to specialized skill sets. When not in the classroom, the student works at a company, where a trainer supervises their work and assesses their performance.
On top of that, students also earn a monthly salary; they can be financially independent and get special employee perks and privileges. And at the end of a couple of years or so, the student gets a nationally recognized diploma, plus years of work experience.
It may be challenging for students to juggle classes and work, but it will equip them with the proficiency needed by modern workplace challenges. The effort is worth it; once the student completes the program, the world is their oyster.
